by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast, Sandwich, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Breakfast Sandwich
朝食サンドイッチ

When it comes to breakfast, I have never been so sure of what to do.

I know people always say it’s the most important meal of the day, but I know a lot of people skip breakfast, and I’m usually just not hungry when I get up.

But I’ve been doing some reading about breakfast and general meal time, and I’ve found out that breakfast IS important (duh).

So I’ve started making some changes.

1. Eat breakfast. Actually consume more calories from breakfast than from dinner. It’s okay to eat carbs.
2. Eat dinner early.

I’m not a dietitian, and I’m not saying these are good for everyboey, so these are certainly not any type of recommendations.

But my new meal schedule has been going quite well for me, and I do like how my body feels.

This sandwich was something I recently made for breakfast.

Since there are more hours between the time I finish dinner and the time I get up the next day, I now wake up hungry and am so ready to eat!

So this type of sandwich perfectly makes a great breakfast for me.

Toasted English muffins.

Crunchy tempeh (Tempeh was marinated overnight and then baked. This is delicious!).

Scrambled tofu.

Assembly station.

I’m not a big fan of any processed food, but I’ve been becoming a little more relaxed about vegan cheese lately.

I still don’t eat a lot, but I think it’s okay to enjoy it once in a while.

I’ve tried Provolone and Creamy Original, and they were both pretty good.

I don’t remember which one, but I used one of them for this sandwich.

Breakfast is ready!

I like my sandwich with both mayo and ketchup (I happened to have homemade vegan mayo).

I also like to eat fruit for breakfast; actually I eat fruit pretty much throughout the day.

Have a great weekend everyone!

by : Reiko Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tofu Corn Triangles
豆腐とコーンの三角揚げ

There are so many things you can do with wonton wrappers.

But if you don’t know what to do, fry them!

Doesn’t everyone say anything fried tastes good?

These triangles were stuffed with a mixture of tofu, corn, ginger, and garlic.

I typically deep-fry something like these, but this time I “shallow-fried” them, with less oil.

They still turned out nice and crunchy.

Since there is no raw meat inside, it doesn’t take too long to cook these triangles.

I served them with store-bought sweet chili sauce.

Such a tasty snack!

by : Reiko Leaf Vegetabes, Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Ginger Tofu Dumplings
生姜豆腐ダンプリング

Terry and I are both huge dumpling lovers.

You can use really anything as filling, but this time I decided to go for tofu as a base.

I then added a few more ingredients, minced ginger, garlic, and cooked and chopped cabbage.

I was going to use regular pot-sticker wrappers, but then I noticed that I had some egg roll wrappers in my freezer, and I thought it would be fun to experiment with them.

Dumplings are much easier to make than most people assume.

Especially when you use this large-sized wrappers, the process goes really quick.

I get my side dish ready.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I cooked them in boiling water.

I was afraid that the filling might come out while cooking, but it stayed inside, and I was relieved.

Generously drizzle sesame soy sauce (sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, white vinegar, garlic chili paste) and then sprinkle sesame seeds and scallion.

This was a big hit at our house.

Can’t wait to make these again.

Have a great weekend everyone!

by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Bento/Lunch Box, Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Soboro Bento Box
テンペそぼろ弁当

Today it is well known that Japanese people eat with chopsticks.

But did you know that they “cook” with chopsticks, too?

For cooking we use larger sized chopsticks like these.

I do cook with tongs and wooden spoons, but my go-to cooking utensil is still my old chopsticks that my mom got for me.

I was in a mood for a Japanese Bento lunch.

This Bento is called “Soboro” Bento in Japan.

Typically ground meat is cooked with soy based sweet sauce and then placed on top of rice along with eggs and vegetables.

My version is 100% plant-based, so what you see here are tempeh “soboro”, sugar peas, cumin tofu, and carrots.

This is how you use the big chopsticks (called “Sai-Bashi” in Japanese).

I can’t think of using any other utensils to do this.

Voila!

The colors are so appetizing.

If you take it to work, school, or a picnic, you want to wrap it like this.

The best part of having a Bento is this moment.

It’s always exciting to open it (especially when someone else made it and you don’t know what’s in it).

Well even when I know exactly what’s in it, it’s still a fun moment (lol).

This Soboro Bento is relatively easy to make, as you can prepare some of the toppings the day before.

And it’s nutritious enough as it is, so you just need some fruit or soup to bring with.

Have a great weekend everyone!

by : Reiko Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Avocado Toast with Ginger Marinated Tofu
生姜マリネ豆腐のせアボカドトースト

I haven’t had an avocado toast for a while, and I was definitely in a mood for one today.

I wanted to make my avo-toast a bit different as I had time (Saturday!), so I decided to pair it up with ginger-marinated tofu.

So first I marinated my silken tofu.

While waiting my tofu to be marinated, I enjoyed my coffee time.

Terry’s cold-brewed coffee with almond milk is so good.

I honestly think his cold-brewed coffee is the best coffee ever, and now I hesitate to go to a coffee shop (sad, in a way (lol)).

I used sourdough bread I bought from the local co-op.

I liked it because it’s very thinly sliced and when it’s toasted, it’s so light and crunchy.

The tofu is ready.

Doesn’t it look beautiful?

It almost looks like ricotta cheese.

I love the colors.

The simple green x white combination is so pretty.

In the U.S. people often view tofu as a “healthy” food, but to me tofu is just one of the things I eat because I like how it tastes.

Apparently tofu was a big part of my diet when I grew up in Japan, and I continue to enjoy it for its natural taste.

So once in a while I eat my tofu with very minimum seasonings, like soy sauce and wasabi, or olive and sail, etc.

As I imagined, this avocado toast turned out to be delicious!!

The spiciness from the ginger was just the right amount of kick it needed, too.

Rainy morning is not so bad on a weekend.

Ginger-marinated Tofu

silken tofu
olive oil
salt and pepper
ginger, chopped
scallion

1. Scoop bite sized tofu with a spoon and place on a plate.
2. Drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper, chopped ginger, and chopped scallion.
3. Let it marinated for a half hour to a few hours.

by : Reiko Bread, Leaf Vegetabes, Mushroom, Potato/Squash, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Deep Dish Pizza
ディープディッシュピザ

Deep dish pizza, y’all.

During our recent trip to Chicago, we had fabulous deep dish pizza at Kitchen17.

So since then we’ve been making deep dish pizza more often at our house.

This deep dish pizza oven was gifted to Terry by his dad.

We press the dough on the dish.

Spread homemade cheese, then red sauce.

And then place vegetables.

It’s hard to see what’s all on there because the spinach leaves are covering them up.

This time I used Kabocha squash, onion, mushroom, spinach, and vegan sausage (for half for Terry).

It turned out great!

This deep dish pizza oven does such a great job and gives a beautiful crunchy texture to the outside of the crust.

Isn’t it beautiful or what?!

I always thought I was a thin crust kind of girl, but deep dish pizza has been quickly becoming my another favorite.

One of the keys to good vegan pizza is using good vegan cheese.

I’ve been experimenting for a while, and this is what I’ve been happy with.

Vegan Cheese– revised (9.30.2017)

1 cup cashew, soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes
200g silk tofu, drained, excess water removed
1~2 tablespoon apple cider
1 tablespoon “refined” coconut oil
1 tablespoon canola oil
1~2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
salt

1. Combine all ingredients. Puree until smooth using a hand blender.

Have a great week everyone!!