Having a baby has totally turned life upside-down (in the most amazing, best way possible) but one thing that makes me feel sane, grounded, and like myself is cooking. Since we were in the hospital for quite a while before our little one was even born, it’s been quite a while before I’ve created anything in the kitchen. And it was time. Elizabeth, knowing my need for a quick slow cooker meal, sent over this recipe for Buffalo Chickpea Soft Tacos. The only thing that required any amount of work was chopping an onion and opening the cans of chickpeas. I modified the recipe to make it even simpler, and larger so we could get a couple meals out of it.

Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas, drained

1 bag cauliflower florets

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce, Buffalo style

2 Tbsp Earth Balance

2 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp minced garlic (I used the pre-minced jarred garlic)

Salt to taste

Crunchy tacos

Shredded soy cheese

Place chickpeas, cauliflower, onion, hot sauce, Earth Balance, sesame oil, garlic and salt in the slow cooker on low for three hours, then on high for the last hour. Once this is cooked, scoop chickpea cauliflower mixture in crunchy taco shells.

We like to sprinkle cheese in the bottom of the taco shell and microwave it until the cheese melts. This helps prevent the taco from crumbling when you bite into it, and then you get some cheesy-ness in every bite! Then add the filling.

This was even better the second day because the flavors had time to meld a little more. I think anything tastes good at this point, since I’m pretty ravenous ’round-the-clock from feeding my 3-week-old, but this super easy recipe is a keeper.

We had a baby!

Funk and I welcomed Zachary David into the world on Tuesday, April 16th at 3:37pm, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 20.5″ long. He’s our perfect little miracle and by far the best thing we have ever cooked up.

Things will be a little slow on the blog front as I get used to mommhood and enjoy tons of snuggles and smiles with our sweet boy, but I look forward to getting back into the cooking groove soon and sharing it with you. I’m afraid to admit how much my eating habits have changed in the past month and can’t wait to get back into a routine! For now we’re surviving on Trader Joe’s frozen meals (many of which have a dietitian-approved ingredient list, thank goodness), FoMu coconut-based ice cream and vegan take-out meals from Elizabeth, bagels galore, and lots of cold grain salads from my mom. The only thing I’ve cooked in the past three weeks is an egg, so as soon as I make something a little more share-worthy, I’ll be back on the blog again.

Thanks to everyone who has already given us an outpouring of love and support for our family of three.

Love,

Janel

This recipe post doubles as an entry for the Bob’s Red Milla Gluten Free Muesli Recipe Contest. When my pals at Bob’s Red Mill asked if I’d like to enter, I knew I wanted to try making a gluten free snack bar. I work with many clients from students to adults who are following a gluten free diet, and they’re always looking for simple, nutritious, gluten free recipes to make at home, since so many prepared, processed gluten free products can be so expensive, and oftentimes not even that healthy!

I think these bars will be a huge hit with any snack lover, whether or not you follow a gluten free diet:

Ingredients:

3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Muesli
1 cup crushed gluten free whole grain cereal, like Erewhon Buckwheat & Hemp
1.5 cups creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill dried tart cherries
1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour
3/4 cup honey

I recently had the opportunity to attend A Spoonful of Ginger at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston. A Spoonful of Ginger is a glamorous event in one of the most stunning sections of the MFA that brings together some of Boston’s finest chefs for a food tasting to support the Joslin Diabetes Center’s Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI). There is a rising number of Asian Americans living with diabetes – I think I read that 1 in 6 Asian Americans in NYC has diabetes!

When I saw that a few of the chefs of the night included Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery, Andy Husbands of Tremont 647, Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger and the new Blue Dragon, and Jasper White from Summer Shack, I knew I was in for a night of amazing eats.

Upon arriving at the event, I immediately saw a trio of gorgeously costumed dancers and music to set the stage for the evening. Then I found two of my favorite fellow RD bloggers Janice and Liz of Meal Makeover Moms before strolling around to grab tastes of some of the most delicious soups, mini tacos, wontons, and desserts. There were many restaurants represented at Ginger, including Myers + Chang, Blue Ginger, Empire, Flour, and Tamarind Bay. I tasted everything from little bite-sized lobster tacos to ginger crème caramel.

Janet Wu, reporter from 7 News, was the mistress of ceremonies, and a highlight of the night was when she introduced Ming Tsai, who is a restaurant owner, television personality and, celebrity chef of fusion cuisine. Funk and I have been a fan of Ming ever since the first time we ate at his Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, MA. We recently tried to get into his new Blue Dragon restaurant but couldn’t manage the 2+ hour wait! He’s a popular guy. Ming was honored for his contributions to the AADI’s mission and the Asian American community and it was sweet to see his wife and two boys there supporting him.

It was encouraging to see so many people supporting the initiative to support AADI and raise awareness in finding new treatments for the diabetes epidemic within the Asian American community. The food and drinks were flowing, the silent auction was bustling, and most importantly, money was raised for an important cause.

Thank you to Regan Communications Group for inviting me to this exciting event – I can now check “wined and dined at the Museum of Fine Arts” off my to-do list!

Sweet potatoes and black beans are a match made in heaven. One of my favorite recipes of all time is this Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili, and over the summer, I became addicted to a basic lunch of a baked sweet potato topped with Trader Joe’s black bean spread. So when I had a hankering for enchiladas, I knew sweet potatoes and black beans would make the perfect filling. I used this recipe from Choosing Raw as my inspiration.

Ingredients:

1 package of 12 small corn tortillas

3 sweet potatoes

1 can drained, rinsed black beans

1 onion, diced

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

salt to taste

1 cup soy cheese

1 bottle Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce

grapeseed oil

In a large skillet with grapeseed oil, sauté onions until they begin to brown. Then add in black beans, salt, cumin and chili powder.

Meanwhile cook the sweet potatoes until soft. I did this in the microwave by piercing the potatoes with a fork and wrapping them in water soaked paper towels, then cooking them on high for about 7 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, dice and add them to the onions and beans, cooking a few minutes more. Remove bean and potato mixture from the stove and mash with a fork or potato masher until the potatoes are more lumpy than diced.

Scoop about 1/3 cup of the potato mixture into a corn tortilla, roll, and place seam down in a 9×13 glass baking dish. Repeat with all 12 corn tortillas and the remainder of the filling.

Pour a bottle of prepared enchilada sauce over all tortillas, and sprinkle on cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350, covered, then remove the cover for the remaining 15 minutes.

We had my sister-in-law and her fiancé over for dinner on St. Patrick’s day, and even though there wasn’t a single green ingredient in this dish, we all loved it. I especially loved the simplicity of preparing it. I had prepared everything earlier in the day and just needed to pop it in the oven before we sat down to eat. If you’re not a fan of spice, don’t worry, this dish wasn’t really spicy at all, but I think it’d be great with some heat added, so if you agree, try adding in a diced jalapeno or a few shakes of chipotle powder.

Do you assign colors to months? I do. January is white (snow!), February is pink (obviously), April is pastel, and March is green, not just because of St. Patrick’s day, but because SPRING is coming!!! This month’s Recipe ReDux theme is to use any fresh green herb in a nontraditional way. I knew just the recipe! A few years ago at my bridal shower, someone made these unique cookies with cornmeal and sage. Sage is one of my favorite fresh herbs and I couldn’t get enough! I stashed the leftovers in my freezer and would occasionally defrost one or two to enjoy throughout the following months. I got a hold of the recipe and I’m glad this month’s theme gave me the nudge to make these cookies. I had fresh sage in the freezer from my trip to Arizona over a year ago, when I stayed at Nicole’s dad’s place. He grows fresh sage by the bush in the backyard!

The only modification I made was to use dried peaches in place of dried apricots, since that’s what I had on hand and I wasn’t about to go buy a bag of dried apricots for only ¼ cup.

Ingredients:

One stick of soy butter (like Earth Balance) or 8 Tbsp
3/4 cup sugar
One egg
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped apricots – I used dried peaches
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup polenta (cornmeal)
1/2 tsp salt

Combine the apricots, sage, polenta, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar and egg until creamy. Stir in flour and baking soda. Then add the apricot/sage mixture and combine well. Drop by spoonfuls one inch apart (cookies will spread quite a bit). Bake at 350 until pale golden. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

The flavor of these cookies is so unique. The sage gives them an earthy flavor and the cornmeal makes them ever-so-slightly taste like cornbread, but not in an overpowering way. But these aren’t savory cookies – the dried fruit and hefty ¾ cup of sugar makes sure of that. I can’t get enough of them dunked into tea.

Looking for more fresh herb inspiration? Check out these other ReDux recipes:

One of my favorite veggie blogs is Oh My Veggies. It seems like everything Kiersten posts appeals to me and I’m constantly flagging her recipes. It could also be that she takes the most gorgeous food photography, so she could make burnt toast look good, but still.

This recipe for Caramelized Onion and Eggplant Puff Pastry Tart caught my eye many months ago. I dare you to look at the photo and not drool. Our friends recently had us over for dinner and they cooked it for us. It was absolutely unreal – savory, flaky, and gorgeous to look at with loads of Mediterranean flavors. Puff pastry is typically loaded with junk ingredients like trans fats, so I never planned on making this meal myself, but I was recently at Trader Joe’s and saw their refrigerated croissant dough had a pretty basic (though not necessarily nutritious) ingredient list. I picked up a tube to use in this puff pastry tart recipe.

I modified the recipe quite a bit – Kiersten’s is way better – but my take got the job done. It was like enjoying a pizza on a different crust. We loved the pillowy, flaky puff pastry as the base and the sweet caramelized onions paired perfectly with savory olive spread.

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated roll of puff pastry or croissants

1 onion, sliced thinly

3-4 tablespoons olive tapenade

1 jar roasted peppers, cut into bite sized pieces

1 eggplant, diced

A handful of soy cheese

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Dice eggplant, and roast about 20-30 minutes until eggplant begins to brown. Meanwhile, sauté onion in a pan until onions brown and caramelize.

Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Unroll the croissant dough on the baking sheet. You may need to use your fingers to piece the croissant triangles back together to make one whole pastry sheet.

Top the puff pastry with caramelized onions, olive tapenade, roasted peppers (I wound up using only about ½ jar) and about 1 cup of diced eggplant. Sprinkle on cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes until pastry begins to brown.

One afterthought I have is to try baking the puff pastry for a few minutes before topping it with any ingredients. While our edges were golden brown and flaky, the center was a bit more doughy, probably because we loaded it with so many wet ingredients.

Cut into four pieces and serve.

When I was little, one of my favorite foods was my mom’s meatloaf. I liked it even better the second day, when I’d have a packed lunch of meatloaf sandwich with ketchup on white bread. The ketchup made the white bread practically disintegrate, and I still remember the smell of meatloaf sitting in my locker all morning, but at the time it was amazing. Probably not to my locker-neighbors, or even my digestive tract (hello, food safety!) but I’m here to tell the tale.

When I switched to a plant-based diet eight years ago, one of the first recipes I experimented with was a lentil loaf. I remember absolutely loving it, even though I had never cooked with lentils before. I credit that recipe to opening my eyes to a whole new flavor palette of plant-based cooking. I wish I saved that recipe! I’ve tried to find it, with no luck, so I did the next best thing: recreate it. Using some Trader Joe’sstaples, this couldn’t have been any easier to whip up.

Ingredients:

1 box Trader Joe’s prepared lentils (or 3 cups cooked lentils*)

1 packet Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice (or 2 cups cooked brown rice)

1 onion, diced

1 egg

2 Tbsp olive oil

¼ cup ketchup plus more for “glaze” on top of the loaf

A few dashes of dried sage

A few dashes of Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute (or any Italian spice blend or Mrs. Dash)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine lentils, onion, rice, egg, olive oil, ketchup, sage and spices and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Spread into a greased loaf pan, and spread on a layer of ketchup glaze.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Let cool slightly before cutting and serving.

*If you cook your lentils from scratch, I’d recommend cooking them in a vegetable broth for extra flavor.

I added in the egg to help bind this whole loaf together. I’m not sure if it actually helped at all. The loaf was slightly crumbly, but not overly so. I wonder if I left out the egg if it’d hold together just as well, so if you want to keep this loaf vegan, make sure to really mash those lentils, and it should hold together just fine.

The result? Amazing. The apartment smelled amazing. The loaf tasted amazing. And it was so simple! Funk loved it, (and enthusiastically exclaimed, “I LOVE THIS!”) so I’m flagging this recipe as a goof-proof one to make again and again. We paired it with oven roasted green beans, which is my new favorite vegetable to roast. I just drizzled them with some olive oil, sea salt and pepper and roasted in the 350 degree oven towards the end of the loaf baking, for about 25 minutes.

Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday. With Funk out for the evening taking a midterm, I stayed home celebrating a low-key birthday with my friend Alex. I had a few people tell me that day, “I hope you’re not cooking on your birthday!” but to be honest, I was totally happy to cook. My sister even offered me her credit card to order in dinner! There was something I really enjoyed about cooking dinner for myself on my birthday, knowing I was putting together a really nutritious, well-rounded, delicious meal was exactly how I wanted to kick off a new year. To be fair, Alex made me the most decadent pecan pie for dessert (my favorite!) and I had lots of dining out plans with Funk and friends for a delayed birthday celebration over the weekend, so it wasn’t all whole grains and carrot sticks!

I chose to make this Chile-Lime Veggie Noodles meal from Eating Well. For the original recipe click here. My modifications are below.

Ingredients:

8oz whole wheat spaghetti

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 minced garlic clove

3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

a squirt of sriracha sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp grape seed oil

4 eggs, beaten

3 cups sliced mushroom caps

1 cup frozen peas

3 tri-colored bell peppers, sliced

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine rice wine vinegar, lime zest and juice, soy sauce, sriracha, garlic, and brown sugar in a jar or bowl, whisk together, and set aside.

Heat a large flat-bottom pan or wok over high heat. Add oil and coat the pan. Add eggs and create an omelet. Cook until set, flipping once. Remove to a clean cutting board and cut into thin strips.

Add a little more oil to the pan and sauté mushrooms and peppers, stir fry for 3-5 minutes. Add peas at the end of cooking. Add the chile-lime sauce and the noodles; toss to coat. Add the omelet strips and stir-fry until heated through, 1-2 minutes more.

I loved the colors in this dish and the fresh lime flavor. I also loved how this recipe called for spaghetti noodles, which most people have on hand, instead of fancy udon or soba noodles, which may be a little harder to find.

Followed by sticky-sweet pecan pie, this was the perfect birthday balance. Here’s to another year!

After not wanting to cook anything last week, I was determined to get some menu planning done before grocery shopping this week. I pinned a couple recipes from my go-to source, Eating Well, including this recipe for Crab Cake Burgers. Ever since Funk and I started eating eggs again, it’s been a cinch to whip up “burgers” like salmon burgers and veggie burgers, since the egg is helpful for binding. These Crab Cake Burgers looked simple enough, but I read the reviews and people commented that they didn’t hold together well, despite tasting great. I decided to tweak the recipe slightly and using two eggs helped them hold together perfectly. I also baked the burgers instead of pan frying them, and omitted the mayo and a few seasonings that we didn’t have on hand. Here is my modified version:

Ingredients:

1 pound crabmeat

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 dashes hot sauce (I used Frank’s buffalo)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix crab, egg, breadcrumbs, mustard, lemon juice, onion powder, pepper and hot sauce in a large bowl. Form into 5 patties. Let these set in the fridge for about 30 minutes so they really bind together.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway.

I served these on a whole wheat bun with extra crispy roasted Brussels sprouts (my favorite!). They were delicious! I had never bought canned crabmeat before and was pleasantly surprised by it’s taste and texture. Next time I might even add more hot sauce, or top these with some sort of tartar sauce for a little more zing.