Gasp! Another Recipe!

I must be butter. Because I'm on a roll.

Da-Da-Ching!

Okay - that was a completely lame joke. (That's the best I've got).

But I DID cook again. This time I tried to copy a recipe of my mother-in-law's because it was amazing when she made it. It was some sort of rice, tomato, soy sauced up tofu thingy. I really don't know the name of it, but it rocked.

Except the recipe never was written down. So I had to wing it. This is what I think the recipe was. But it may not have been? I don't know...

(Disclaimer: Since I don't know the best way to write a recipe - because, let's be real, I never read them - the way this is written may be annoying. Sorry ahead of time. But this dish had four parts, so that's how I'm splitting it up because that's how it makes sense to me.)

(Also - there aren't any specific measurements in this. We do everything "to taste"... meaning "a lot." Bryant likes to have leftovers, so I always try to make a ton of everything.)

Tomato/Soy Sauce Mixture of Goodness Part:

• tomatoes chopped/diced
• red onion
• cucumber sliced
• cilantro
• small sweet peppers (red, orange, & yellow)
• soy sauce (we use low sodium)
• (You could add other peppers too... like jalepenos or thai chili peppers or something if you like heat.)

Nothing in this part was cooked. Everything was diced/chopped into relatively small pieces and then drowned in soy sauce. Once done, I set aside to let the flavors settle and marinade for a while.

(Did that last sentence make it sound like I know what I'm doing??) 

(Because I don't.)

Quinoa Part:

(My MIL's original recipe used rice instead)

• however many cups you want to make (I used 3 cups so we had leftovers)
• double the cups of water, so 6 for you non-math folks

Throw quinoa and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower temperature to low-medium for 15-ish minutes, or until the quinoa is fluffy and not watery anymore. Get that simmer going.

I mix regular and red quinoa together, hence the red in this

Green Part: 

• coconut oil
• an entire extra large container of fresh spinach
• one bushel of kale (or more... whatever works! Remember, we love our kale around here)
• minced garlic
• garlic powder
• pepper
• 1 lime

I heated the oil on low-medium and then threw all the greens in together, tossed some garlic in, peppered and powdered it (to taste, I guess). Then I squeezed a whole lime over it.  I cooked it like this until the greens were soft and bright green. 

(This portion of the recipe almost didn't make it to the end because I kept eating it from the pan. Oops!)

Tofu Part:

*Alright people, I know most of you probably don't like tofu. BUT this fabulously vegan and uber-healthy meal could be made a little less fabulously vegan and uber-healthy if you substituted chicken or something here.... if, of course, you didn't want to be fabulously vegan and uber-healthy.  BUT... for those who have issues with the texture of tofu - because honestly, it doesn't have much flavor, so I don't buy that excuse - I cooked this tofu more crispy. More like a little tofu-y chicken nugget, if you will. Anyway, I encourage you to give it a try. This is my absolute FAVORITE way to eat tofu. :-)

• extra firm block of tofu
• chili powder
• pepper
• salt
• vegetable oil

The tofu needs to be drained and then squished with a paper towel to get any extra moisture out. From there I sliced it up into bite size pieces. Then I brushed a little bit of oil on them and seasoned with salt, pepper and chili powder. I stuck them on parchment paper (since cleaning pans suck) in the oven (400 degrees) for 10-12 minutes. I then flipped them over (with a little more seasoning on the other side) for another 10-12 minutes. 

Once everything was finished, the last thing to do was combine and enjoy!! I think we've added sunflower seeds to the top before, as well.

Let me know if any of y'all try this and what you think! My mama (who is NOT a tofu-y type person) loved it!

Thanks MIL for the recipe!!

1. Quinoa
2. Greens

3. Spoon tomato concoction with soy sauce over greens 

4. Add tofu