I think this might be one of my favorite “I’m not sure this is going to work but then it worked and I really liked it” recipes. So here’s to experiments that go right! Bonus for my friends: It’s vegan AND gluten-free. For this unique salad, you’ll need:

• 1 cup quinoa (dry) - I used red quinoa, but it doesn’t matter
• 1 cucumber
• 1/2 a medium red onion
• 1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves
• 1/4 pine nuts

For the dressing:

• 2tbs olive oil
• 2tbs lime juice
• 1tbs dijon mustard
• 1.5tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp sugar
• Pinch of salt

Cook the quinoa according to package directions, and set aside to cool down to room temperature. Meanwhile, cut the cucumber into small cubes (you can peel it if you want, but I didn’t). Dice the red onion, loosely shred the mint leaves, and lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until slightly fragrant, but be careful not to burn the little suckers. They burn fast!

To make the dressing, whisk together the oil, lime juice, and mustard. Add the cumin, sugar and salt, adjusting amounts to your own taste. Whisk until smooth.

Once the quinoa is cooled, assemble the salad by tossing all the ingredients together with the dressing. Enjoy!

• 3 large tomatoes
• 6 TBS crumbled feta cheese
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven to 450. Slice off the top of and core the tomatoes. Stuff each with about 2tbs feta cheese and 1 sprig of rosemary. Sprinkle a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper on top, and drizzle them with olive oil. Pop them in the 450 oven for about 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked through and the cheese is starting to brown on top.

Enjoy!

Hearty and satisfying but packed full of veggies, this is a easy Sunday-night meal. You’ll need:

• 1 large eggplant, cut into 1” pieces
• 1 large green pepper, cut into 1” pieces
• 1.5-2 cups baby carrots, halved
• 2 cups cauliflower, cut into 1/2” pieces
• 1 can dices tomatoes
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1tsp ground coriander
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1tbs lemon juice
• 1 box Israeli cous cous
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Pine nuts

Chop the veggies, and heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add the cauliflower and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the eggplant, green pepper, and garlic and sautee until the veggies are nearly softened. Add the can of tomatoes, tomato paste, and about 1 cup of water. Stir to incorporate the tomato paste until smooth. Add the spices, lemon juice, and salt/pepper to tase, and simmer until all of the veggies are softened, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the cous cous according to package directions. In a separate dry pan, toast the pine nuts over medium heat until lightly brown but not burned.

To serve, plate about 1/2 cup of cous cous and smother with the stewed vegetables. Top with a sprinkling of crumbled feta and pine nuts. Drizzle a little olive oil on top, and enjoy!

Korean flavors were the inspiration for this BBQ tofu bowl of goodness: a bed of brown rice topped with oven-roasted greens, sweet & spicy bbq tofu, broccoli slaw, and a hard-cooked egg and radishes to garnish. There’s a lot of separate components in this dish, so I’ll break out what you’ll need for 4 servings.

For the BBQ Tofu, you will need:

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and crumbled
• 1/2 cup bbq sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 TBS rice vinegar
• 1 TBS Sriracha (hot chili sauce), optional
• 1/4 TSP ground ginger
• 1/2 TSP sesame seeds
• Pinch of garlic powder

Mix the ingredients for the sauce together in a slow-cooker. Add the tofu and let it simmer low for a few hours. If you don’t have slow-cooker kind of time, you can simmer the sauce in a pan, brown the tofu separately, and then add them together.

For the greens:

• 8-10 cups loosely chopped greens (I used a mixture of collard greens and turnip greens)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 TBS olive oil
• Salt
• 2 TBS lemon juice

Heat the oven to about 400. drizzle 1 TBS of olive oil on a baking sheet. Spread the greens out on the sheet, sprinkle the chopped garlic and a pinch of salt over them, and drizzle the remaining olive oil. Roast them, uncovered, in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the top pieces start to get a little crispy. After taking them out of the oven, toss them with the lemon juice.

For the broccoli slaw:

• 1 package broccoli slaw
• 3 TBS rice vinegar
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1 TBS olive oil

Mix together the vinegar, sugar and oil. Toss in the slaw.

Other ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced
• 8 radishes, sliced

When all of the pieces come together, place about 1/2 cup brown rice in each bowl. Top with 1/4 of the greens, 1/4 of the bbq tofu, 1/4 of the slaw, 1 egg and 2 radishes. Enjoy!

This is a quick and easy thing that you can make for an appetizer or snack… but be careful, they’re kind of addictive. For these oven-roasted gems, you’ll need:

• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 TBS ground ginger
• 1 TBS sesame seeds
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1 TSP salt
• 1 TSP garlic powder
• 1/2 TSP cayenne pepper
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS lemon juice

Preheat the oven to about 400. Mix together the dry ingredients in a plastic bag. Add the chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice, and toss until well-coated. Spread the chickpeas out on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring them around once halfway through. That’s it! Enjoy!

• 1LB carrots
• 2 cups sugar snap peas
• 1 large onion
• 1 large head of bok choy
• 1 package of udon noodles (Makes about 3 cups)
• 3TBS miso paste
• 1TBS red curry paste
• 1TBS chili-garlic sauce
• 1tsp fish sauce (not strictly vegetarian) -OR- soy sauce
• Fresh cilantro for garnish

Heat the oven to about 350. Chop the carrots (I chose not to peel them, but it doesn’t really matter) into about 3-inch slices. Cut them in half length-wise too if they’re too thick. Chop the onion into large chunks, and loosely chop the bok choy.

Spray a large roasting pan with non-stick spray and toss in all the veggies. Drizzle a bit of oil over the vegetables (I used wok oil, which has a bit of a garlic flavor already in it, but you could also use olive oil or sesame oil). Mix the miso with equal parts water and pour over the vegetables. Put the pan in the oven and roast, stirring 2-3 times, for about 40 minutes, or until the carrots are tender-crisp.

While the veggies are roasting, boil a big pot of water and then cook the udon noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse them under cool water and return to the pot, but remove from the heat. Mix up the red chili paste, chili-garlic sauce, fish sauce OR soy sauce, and enough water to make a thick sauce. Pour the spicy sauce over the noodles.

When the vegetables are finished roasting, serve them along side the spicy noodles. Top with some fresh cilantro and a dash of soy sauce. Enjoy!

• 1 cup instant polenta
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 TBS lemon juice)
• 1.5 cups sweet corn kernels
• 2TBS sugar
• 1TSP salt
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 roasted poblano pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• Cayenne pepper - to taste, if desired
• Crumbled queso fresco, chopped red onion and cilantro to garnish

Bring the water to a boil, and in a separate pan, bring the buttermilk up to a hot but not boiling temperature. Add the polenta to the buttermilk, reduce the heat to medium, and add the hot milk. Stir until the polenta starts to firm: About 3 minutes. Add the corn kernels, sugar and salt and continue to stir continuously for another 2-3 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Meanwhile, roast the poblano under the broiler until the skin becomes blistered and blackened. Remove from the oven, wrap in foil, and allow to cool enough to handle it. When the pepper is cool, peel the blistered skin off and slice it into smaller pieces.

Finely chop the garlic. In a sauce pan, heat a bit of olive oil and sautee the garlic for a couple minutes. Add the black beans (do not drain), tomatoes and poblano. Season with salt and/or cayenne pepper for some heat.

To serve, spoon some polenta into a bowl and top with the black bean sauce. Garnish with some crumbled queso fresco, chopped red onion and cilantro. Enjoy!

Fall is here! Time to roast some squash! For this meal, I used:

• Acorn Squash: 2
• Olive oil, Salt, Pepper

• Israeli Couscous: 1.5 cups
• Sliced Almonds: 1/4 cup
• Scallions: 3-4 sliced
• Garam Masala: 1 TSP
• Goat cheese crumbles: A couple tablespoons
• Olive oil, Lemon juice, Salt, Pepper

• Collard Greens: 8 cups loosely chopped
• Fresh garlic: 3 cloves, sliced
• Olive oil, Lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400. Slice the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and continue slicing into 3/4” strips. I just sliced along the ridges. Leave the skin on. Arrange the squash on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pop them into the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the squash is softened, fragrant, and easily stuck with a fork.

Meanwhile, prepare the Israeli couscous according to package directions. In a separate small pan, toast the almonds until they are fragrant and start to brown. When the couscous is cooked, remove from the heat. Add the almonds, scallions, garam masala, and drizzle with a little olive oil, a splash of lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste.

Next, toss the collard greens with the sliced garlic, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread out on a large baking sheet (you may need to use two), and put them in the oven with the squash for the last 5-10 minutes of baking. You want the greens to be nicely roasted, starting to get crispy on the edges, but not dried out completely.

To serve, arrange a few slices of squash on a plate with the couscous and greens. Top the couscous with a bit of the crumbled goat cheese, and splash the greens with some lemon juice. Enjoy!

This is a quick and simple take on thai curry - a great weeknight meal that’s even better for lunch tomorrow! You will need:

• Fresh sugar snap peas: 2.5-3 cups
• Extra firm tofu: 1 block, pressed and cubed
• Yellow onion: 1 medium
• Fresh garlic: 2-3 cloves
• Light coconut milk: 1 can
• Red curry paste: About 1 TBS
• Brown sugar: About 1 TBS
• Rice: About 2 cups cooked
• Lemon juice: A splash, if desired
• Chili-garlic sauce: To taste, if desired

Start by pressing and cubing the tofu. Heat some oil in a pan and start cooking the tofu until browned. Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic. Once the tofu is browned, turn down the heat and add the onion, garlic and peas. Cook until the peas are bright green but still have some crunch.

Mix in the red curry paste and lemon juice (if using). Slowly stir in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Finally, stir in the brown sugar and chili-garlic sauce (for extra heat, if desired).

Serve over cooked rice. Enjoy!

I got these beautiful cherry tomatoes at Chicago’s Green City Market this weekend, and I knew I had some okra from my dad’s garden in the freezer. What to make? Gumbo! Here is what you’ll need for a big, delicious pot of comfort:

• Onion: 1 medium
• Celery: 5 small stalks
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Flour: 2 TBS
• Vegetable broth: 4 cups
• Cherry tomatoes (about 1.5-2 cups)
• Pearl Barley: About 1 cup dry
• Okra (fresh or frozen): About 2 cups, cut into small pieces
• Ketchup: About 1/4 cup
• Bay leaf: 1
• Chipotle powder: About 1/2 tsp
• Any combination the following (to taste): Hot sauce, cayenne pepper, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice
• Salt & pepper

Start by putting the barley in a sauce pan and covering with water. Bring it to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, and set aside with the lid on. Next, slice the celery and onion, chop the garlic, and slice the tomatoes in half. Heat about 1/4 cup oil in a large pot or dutch oven, and add the celery, garlic and onion. Sautee until the onion starts to become translucent (3-5 mins). Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir until coated. Add the broth and halved tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, to thicken and allow the tomatoes to soften.

Drain the water from the barley and add it to the gumbo pot, along with the okra, ketchup, bay leaf, chipotle powder and salt & pepper to taste. Depending on how hot you want the gumbo, experiment with adding hot sauce(s), cayenne pepper, worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Taste as you go. Simmer the gumbo for about 15-20 minutes, until all the vegetables are softened, the barley is cooked, and the flavors have come together. If it starts to get too thick, add water 1/2 cup at a time until it’s to your desired consistency.

This is fantastic served with warm corn bread. Enjoy!