Sunday, January 13, 2013

Tom's Asian Dressing

I created the following recipe to be Vegan, Gluten, and Peanut free.  Adjust as you see fit!


The Sauce-

Blend together:
1 tsp red miso
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 tsp trader joes seasoned rice vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Trader Joes Sunflower Butter
2 cloves garlic peeled
2 tbs peeled fresh ginger



Very good on:
The Salad-
8oz cooked 100% buckwheat Soba noodles chopped to thirds
1 cup chopped Napa (Chinese) cabbage
¼ cup chopped cashews
½ cup chopped English cucumber (seeded if mushy inside)
mix dressing with thoroughly rinsed and shaken dry noodles, then add cabbage, cucumber and cashews and mix again. Serves 2-4 depending on portion size. Serve in bowls to reduce spilling the pooling puddles of dressing at the bottom.

Also Very Good as:
Salad dressing – I think it's similar to the Asian Chicken salad at Applebees!
Marinade on extra firm Tofu before baking!
Dipping sauce for Trader Joe's Thai Vegetable Goyza!




Friday, August 10, 2012

Vegans - the protein and salad stereotypes

So often when someone learns you eat Vegan, they immediately ask where you get your protein, or offer you a salad.  Both ideas come from popular culture, and both are fundamentally biased.

Unfortunately much of the american ideals of protein consumption come from a study done in the early 1900's where a scientist used the measure of protein in rat milk as the determination of how much protein a human should have.  This lead to two amazing ideas, first that rat milk was the perfect nutrition for sewer dwelling nuclear holocaust survivors, and that extra protein in your diet made you stronger.

Recently I had a doctor tell me I was probably having health trouble because I wasn't eating enough protein and recommended 1 gram for every pound I weighed, as this was "the right amount of protein for someone who exercises."  The correct quote the doctor should have stated was 1 gram for every kilogram, so he was recommending 2.2 times too much protein!  

An excellent link to protein and a healthy diet.

When it comes to salad, I love a good salad.  Many vegans though would rather have something much more filling than some iceberg lettuce.  (I'll get around to my favorite salad recipes eventually, ever hear of butter lettuce?)  When it comes to eating something filling, I usually go with TOFU!

So being a Vegan Trader Joe's Blog, I thought it would be best to get tofu out of the way early.  I love Trader Joe's organic high protein super firm tofu.  A single block is about 500 calories, and contains 70 grams of protein.  It fries wonderfully, takes up sauces if you marinate it, and its firm enough to grill and make sandwiches out of, all of which will eventually have step by step recipes here, with pictures!

One thing that makes this tofu particularly excellent for me is that it has a use by date of always more than a month when I buy it, which means it will be good the entire month, until my next Trader Joe's trip.  Being that 1 package can meet three quarters of my daily protein requirements, I don't eat it every day, just once or twice a week.  It's yummy enough that I could easily eat it every day, especially fried, or marinated, or baked, or grilled or...  well you get the idea.

Go try it, and tell me how you like it.  Feel free to always suggest recipes as well.  I plan on videoing a demo of the best recipes as this blog continues.

TJC

p.s. yes, you can do the reverse math and figure out how much I weigh based on my personal protein requirements, but I'm hoping the lb/kg conversion stops most of you.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Why I go to Trader Joe's

I love Trader Joe's.  Yes, its platonic, but I love Trader Joe's.  I also eat vegan and love to dress up in my chef's coat and hat and cook awesome food, using primarily Trader Joe's ingredients.
This blog will be a collection of experiences, and new found foods at Trader Joe's, and the awesome recipes that I make using them.
I live in Washington State and until recently the only Trader Joe's were on the wrong side of the mountains from me.  While I have yet to make it to the new store in Spokane (the Issaquah Store is still closer) it is one of only two stores in Washington I've not yet been to, the other being Silverdale.  The store I go to at the beginning of every month is store #138 (1495 11th Ave NW, Issaquah, WA 98027) it is a bit over 2 hours away, and 130 miles each direction.  It's a commitment, but it's also been a savings.  I save several hundred dollars a month buying food that far away, compared to going to the local Safeway store.
Really, I save that much.  I also get lots of awesome vegan items, of which I will be posting and raving about here soon.
Lots of TJ's Love,
TJC