This was a quick dish I made with some leftover brown rice and leftover broccoli.  I use a rice cooker to make my rice and the ratio is about 3 cups of liquid to 2 cups of rice and I have to allow it to cook for 45 minutes longer than it cooks for white rice.  I often use vegetable broth or a vegetable broth/water mix as my liquid to add flavor to the rice.

I usually steam my broccoli when I make it, but I only allow it to steam for 5-6 minutes so that I don’t loose too much of the nutritional value.  If your broccoli is a dark olive green color, you have cooked it too long and destroyed all of the nutrients.  Green vegetables should be bright green in color when cooked.  This also means that they will be on the crunchy side and not soft and mushy.  After I steam it, I dump it in a colander and run cold water and/or ice on it to stop the cooking process and to help preserve the bright green color.  There is a technical cooking term for this…but it’s escaping me at the moment.

For the stir-fry, I marinated some tofu overnight in the refrigerator in soy sauce, 2 minced garlic cloves and a tablespoon of fresh grated ginger.  With some olive oil, I sautéed the tofu and a ½ cup of chopped white onion.  Tofu just has to be heated through.  Once it was ready, I added my leftover rice and broccoli and about a tablespoon of sesame oil and tossed in a few sesame seeds for good measure.  If I had had some green onions, they would have been added to the mix.  It came out pretty good for being mostly leftovers.

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I found this recipe on Pinterest and re-pinned.  Have I mentioned that I really like Pinterest?  This was my snack for my Superbowl party of one.  I’ve been really busy lately with work and unfortunately my workload stretched into Superbowl weekend.  This was my healthy alternative to chips and other fried foods and it was pretty yummy.

Ingredients
1 large cauliflower head
2 tbs olive oil
fresh rosemary
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash the cauliflower and cut the florets off into bite sized pieces.
2. In a bowl, toss the florets in the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper until coated well.
3. Spread the florets on a greased/sprayed baking sheet and place in a pre-heated oven at 350˚F.
4. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes and then toss/turn the florets to allow each side to brown evenly.  Cook for another 30 minutes or until they are browned to your liking.  I let mine get pretty brown.

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This is a great alternative to use instead of jam or butter on toast.  I like to spread this on top of my raisin bread (sprouted of course) toast.  I got my recipe from this video, but because I don’t have a super awesome food processor, mine did not come out quite as smooth and the consistency and color were different.  It still tasted good.  I stored half of the mixture in the freezer and the other half in the fridge since it made so much.  Hazelnuts are not exactly cheap, so I didn’t want anything to spoil and go to waste.  Because mine looked a little bootlegged, I am posting her recipe and adding my notes at the bottom.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups hazelnuts, soaked 6-8 hours, drained, rinsed and dehydrated 8 hours or until crunchy
1 1/2 cups agave nectar
1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut oil, liquid
3/4 cup cacao powder

PROCEDURE:

1. Place hazelnuts, salt and cinnamon into a food processor with the blender and process until nuts become butter (this might take up to 10 – 15 minutes). Periodically, scrape nuts down from the side of processor bowl to keep ingredients well incorporated.
2. Add coconut oil and cacao to nut butter and process again until all ingredients are well combined.
3. Place in airtight glass container. Will keep for one month.

About Chef Tina Jo:

 Chef Tina Jo is a highly respected Gourmet Raw Vegan Chef, Author, Speaker and Coach known internationally for her humor and down–to–earth approach to raw veganism. She, along with her TV show Splendor in the Raw, was awarded Top 10 Best Show, Best Chef and Best Website in the Best of Raw 2009 Awards. She has made it her life’s mission to bring super delicious, fresh, simple, fun, affordable raw vegan food to the mainstream.

Through her books, DVDs, and programs, Chef Tina Jo is teaching Americans how to make healthy lifestyles DELICIOUS, bringing live whole foods back to the dinner table one dinner plate at a time. Learn more at www.cheftinajo.com.

My Notes:

I couldn’t find cacao powder at the store I was in at the time, so I bought cacoa nibs instead.  I was just too lazy to head over to Whole Foods.  I substituted the Himalayan pink salt for regular sea salt.  :) My let my food processor run for almost 30 minutes and almost burnt out the motor trying to get the same consistency as her with no luck.  It tasted good, so I gave up.

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I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and I of course re-pinned and modified it for the ingredients that I already had on hand.  It came out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 tomato
2 medium potatoes
½ medium white onion
1 can black beans (I prefer the Goya brand)
1 Tbs olive oil
salt, pepper, cumin to taste

Directions:

1. Wash and dice potatoes, onion and tomato.  I left the skins on the potatoes.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil.
3. Add the potatoes to the oil and allow to cook, covered for about 15-20 minutes.  Check often and stir if needed.
4. Add the tomatoes, black beans, salt, pepper and cumin to the pan and allow the mixture to cook for another 10 minutes while covered. Check often and stir if needed.
5. Add the onions and cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.  Stir frequently to prevent any sticking and to toss the ingredients well.

Because I have been doing the “Plant Strong” challenge, I did not add any meat or dairy to the mix, but you could add cheese, sausage, tofu, etc to add some more depth.  Enjoy!

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