Thai Cucumber Salad

This salad recipe has become our new favorite. It has a very sweet, spicy flavor and the peanuts add a great crunch. I use Korean red pepper flakes instead of jalapenos, add some cherry tomatoes, carrot, lettuce, broccoli and sometimes even some shrimp.

Orange Glazed Carrots

I made this for lunch today and it was awesome. The flavor reminds me of Orange Chicken from Panda Express, only without all the fat and calories. You definitely want to add 1/2 or 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to balance out the sweetness, then serve over rice. Also instead of sugar snap peas, I used green beans.

Tapioca Pudding from the Slow Cooker

This recipe was inspired by this one from allrecipes.com. I used soy milk and splenda for added flavor, also used quick cooking "minute tapioca" to make it cook faster. You could use Asian pearl tapioca and just double the time. The great thing is that it doesn't need constant stirring! You can eat it warm, or let it cool and thicken even more.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup minute tapioca
3 1/2 cups soymilk, original flavor
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup splenda for baking
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Put all the ingredients into a slow cooker and mix well, set on high and let cook for 1 1/2 hours. Every 20 minutes give it a quick stir.

Lentil Quiche

If you enjoy eating lentils, then you might want to try this lentil quiche with broccoli and tomatoes. It is awesome.

I left out the cheese, still turned out great. I also used 1/2 can of stewed tomatoes and some onion powder instead of onions. Perfect in the summer with a salad, almost reminded me of tortilla espanolas.

Of course, if you don't like lentils, just throw in some Spam or something.

Veg Sausage Muffins

Holy cow. These were good. Rarely do I try a recipe for the first time (complete with substitutions) and just decide it's awesome, but this one was great. It's a nice breakfast muffin for the weekends, very filling and just the perfect balance of flavor. The original recipe is here, I made some changes to make it healthier.

I had made some of my vegetarian meatloaf last night, and baked it in mini muffin tins which made them bake much faster. I used this for the sausage. It was the perfect balance between beans and carbs... very filling without having too much fiber, moist and flavorful.

Vegetarian Sausage Muffins

Makes around 2 dozen mini muffins

Dry ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup dried oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Wet:

1/4 cup finely grated carrot
1 egg
1/2 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup applesauce

2/3 cup crumbled vegetarian sausage patties, or imitation meatloaf, veggie burgers etc.

1/4 to 1/2 cup soymilk (add at the end until batter has good consistency, how much you need depends on the dryness of your vegetarian sausage)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients first, then add the wet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until they turn light brown.

Basic Cold Soba

Don't be scared of cold noodles. You eat pasta salad, right? Besides, is this not the most beautiful meal ever? It takes less than 10 min to prepare. The Japanese usually serve cold soba with a side of tempura, but I ate it with some grilled asparagus instead. Not only are the noodles easy to digest (making for excellent carb loading before a long run) but they are made out of buckwheat flour... which contains fiber and protein.

This serves 2. Or if you are hungry and a bottomless pit, like me, serves one. Still has just 360 calories so eat the whole damn thing already!

Ingredients:

2 bunches Soba (buckwheat) noodles, dried
Bonito soup flavoring, enough for 1 cup *
2 tbsp green onion, chopped
Wasabi paste
Sesame seeds (optional)
Dried salted seaweed (optional)

Cook the soba noodles as directed in the package, usually for 5 minutes. Do not let them overcook. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water until they are cool. Set on a plate and garnish with sesame seeds and seaweed, if desired.

Mix enough soup base for 1 cup of cold water and add the chopped green onion. If you are using vegetarian soup base in powder form, mix it to 1 cup of hot water and throw in a few ice cubes to cool it down.

Before eating, add a small dime sized amount of wasabi paste on the side of the bowl and mix it well with your chopsticks. Dip the noodles into the soup before eating. And before you think this sounds like an odd dish, I can assure you IT'S DELICIOUS.

*Bonito soup flavoring is sold in Asian markets or in large supermarkets with an asian section. It comes in a bottle, and you usually add about 1-2 tbsp to one cup of water. If you can't find bonito soup flavoring, use another light soup as substitute. I've used vegetarian chicken flavoring and it still tastes great.

Crab Vegetable Casserole with Cornbread Crust

My asian friends love it when I make this casserole dish because it doesn't have cheese. I've made it perhaps a couple dozen times and don't get tired of it, I just tweak it to use whatever vegetables are sitting in the fridge. Sometimes I use imitation crab, sometimes I leave it out. The best seems to be the imitation lobster that they sell at Aldi's, believe it or not. When serving it needs to be garnished with a few drops of Tabasco to really taste good. It has a thick cornbread crust and bakes just beautifully.

Ingredients:

First layer:

3/4 can of light cream of mushroom soup
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove grated garlic
1/2 cup imitation crab, chopped
3/4 package of California Medley vegetables, thawed
1/4 cup green peas, thawed (optional)
2-3 tsp light mayo (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Crust:

1/4 can of light cream of mushroom soup
1 egg
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup bisquick or baking mix
1/4 cup of soy milk
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Tabasco or hot sauce as garnish.

Preheat the oven to 450. Mix all of the bottom layer ingredients and pour into a greased breadpan.

Mix all of the ingredients for the crust except for the bread crumbs, and pour on top of the bottom layer. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of the crust and bake for 25 min or until the crust has turned golden brown. After serving garnish with the hot sauce, makes 3-4 servings.