Instant Pot Butter Chicken and Soy-Butter Broccoli

A post! After 2 long years! You may be asking, why now? Why this? In reality, it's most likely so I can procrastinate and take a break from working on a grant. However, some of the motivation stems from me realizing I can easily add photos from my phone, and even more of the motivation comes from my excitement about my new Instant Pot. Yes, I finally drank the Insta-Kool-Aid and it is good. In fact, this Instant Pot recipe was so good I wanted to share it with all 0 of my followers. This recipe is actually lifted from here. I followed it exactly, though I did use store bought Garam Masala. We served this over steamed rice and with a broccoli dish (recipe for that follows). 

Ingredients

-2 heads of broccoli, chopped

-4 T of butter

-2 T of soy sauce

Steps

-Place broccoli in a pan with 4 pats of butter. Cover with a lid and heat on med-high for about 5 minutes without stirring (this will allow some of the broccoli to char, which adds nice flavor). 

-After 5 minutes stir in 2 T of soy sauce. Remove from heat and serve.

Cilantro-Avocado-Lime dressing

So I am obsessed with Trader Joe's Cilantro Dressing. I LOVE it on fish tacos (which we've made on the blog before). Unfortunately Trader Joe's is an hour away from our house, so I don't get to go as often as I'd like. This past week we were wanting to make fish tacos without driving an hour, so I decided to try and make my own cilantro dressing. Lucky for us, it turned out great. This is super yummy and I think would be great on salads, as a dip, sandwich spread, and so on. And of course it's awesome on fish tacos.

Ingredients
-5 oz container non-fat Greek yogurt
-juice of 1-2 limes
-2 T EVOO
-1 garlic clove, chopped
-2 large handfuls of cilantro (just trim the bottom stems off)
-1/2 avocado
-salt and cayenne to taste

Steps
1. Blend all of the above in a blender! If you'd like it a bit thinner in consistency, add more lime juice and/or EVOO.

Roasted Corn Salad

I keep forgetting to take pictures of this, so this is just a shot of the left-overs, but you get the idea. Corn has been super cheap and in abundance at the grocery store recently. Couple that with awesome summer weather and basically we've been making this salad/salsa about every week. It's super easy and very fresh and flavorful. If you're not grilling, you can boil the corn (which we've done when rain cancelled our grilling plans). We have combined it with black beans and served the bean/corn mixture over lettuce as a light supper.

Ingredients
-4 ears of corn (in husks if grilling)
-1 red pepper, diced finely
-1/2 red onion, diced finely
-1 bunch cilantro, diced finely
~1/3 C feta cheese (optional if making vegan)
-2 jalapenos, diced finely (optional)

Dressing
~1/4 C EVOO
-juice from 2 limes
-salt and pepper to taste

Steps
1. Run corn (in husks) under running water for a minute.
2. Grill in husks for about 15-20 minutes, rotating at least once. Our internal grill temperature was about 350, and we did direct/semi-direct heat. If boiling, you'll want to clean the corn and boil for about 20 minutes.
3. Slice corn off husks and combine with other salad ingredients. Whisk dressing together and toss with dressing.

Massaged Kale Salad

Huge thanks to my good friend, Amy, for making this salad and turning me on to its deliciousness! Also, big thanks to Amy for showing me that by "massaging" raw kale you can make it taste just like quickly blanched kale. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to make this the way Amy did, so I'm posting both her version and mine, which I improvised with what we had on hand. Both were great and I'll definitely be making the her version soon. Basically I think you can take the base of this salad and add all types of different toppings (e.g., cranberries, seeds, nuts, etc.).

Ingredients (Amy)
-1 bunch kale
~3 oz feta
-1 apple, chopped into bite size pieces
-handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-2 T red wine vinegar
-1 T EVOO

Ingredients (as pictured)
-1 bunch kale
~3 oz blue cheese
-1 apple, chopped into bite size pieces
-handful of pecans, roughly chopped
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-2 T red wine vinegar
-1 T EVOO
-Quorn Chik'n Tenders (you could use real grilled chicken if you prefer)

Steps
1. Start cooking Quorn Chik'n Tenders as directed.
2. Remove spines from kale, wash kale, and dry kale thoroughly.

3. Tear kale into small pieces and place into a large bowl. Sprinkle kale with 1/2 tsp sea salt and massage kale with your hands for about 2-3 minutes, or until reduces in volume by about half.
4. Whisk EVOO and red wine vinegar together in a small bowl and pour over kale.
5. Add in chopped apple, blue cheese, pecans (or walnuts and feta if making Amy's version) and toss well.

6. Top with sauteed Quorn tenders.

Maple glazed baked tofu, garlic baby bok choy, and cashew rice

I've done variants of recipes involving tofu, bok choy, and rice a few times before (e.g., here and here), but this was really good so I thought I'd post the newest incarnation. The most novel part of this recipe is the way I cooked the tofu. I used a new marinade and tried baking it, and I thought it turned out great. The other nice thing about this recipe is that it comes together in 30 minutes.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
-1 package extra firm tofu
-2 packages baby bok choy
-boil in bag rice
-handful of cashews, roughly chopped
-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
-1 T butter

-1 T sesame oil

-2T soy sauce
Marinade
-2 T soy sauce
-1 T sesame oil
-1 T rice vinegar
-2 T maple syrup
-pinch red pepper flakes
-pinch of sea salt

Steps (Preheat oven to 400)

1. Make your marinade by combing all marinade ingredients in a dish (I just used the empty tofu package).

2. Slice your tofu into four equal pieces (i.e., slice in half along the longer edge, then slice those two halves in half). Place your tofu slices in between a dish towel or paper towels and set something heavy on top for about 5-10 minutes to remove some of the excess water from the tofu. 

3. Dunk your tofu slices in the marinade and slosh them around so they get well coated.

4. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray some cooking spray on the foil. Place your tofu slices on the foil and baste the tops with a bit more marinade.

5. Cook tofu slices for 30 minutes, flipping once in the middle.

6. While your tofu is cooking, slice your garlic cloves and chop the ends off your baby bok choy.

7. Once you've flipped your tofu after 15 minutes (and basted again with more marinade), get your pot going for your rice (the kind I use has to boil for 10 minutes).

8. When your tofu has about 5 minutes left, heat a large skillet to medium-high. Add 1/2 T sesame oil and saute your garlic for about 30 seconds. Add the baby bok choy and then drizzle with 1/2 T sesame oil and 2 T soy sauce. Saute your baby bok choy for 4 minutes (or less...it starts to wilt very quickly).

9. Hopefully your rice is done about now. Add in 1 T of butter and the handful of cashews and stir.

10. Take your tofu out of the oven. Serve the tofu and bok choy over the cashew rice and drizzle any remaining marinade over everything.

Broccoli Salad

Thanks to my good friend, Lauren, for this fresh, delicious, and easy salad recipe! You know it's good if my husband, who proclaims to hate broccoli, goes back for seconds. This was still really good two days later.

Ingredients
-1 package shredded broccoli slaw (pre-packaged)
-1 chopped cucumber (I used an English hothouse cucumber)
-1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
-1 chopped avocado
~1/2 bunch roughly chopped cilantro (I just cut the top leaves off with a scissors)
Dressing
-fresh squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon or about 1/3 C)
~little less than 1/4 C EVOO
-1 T dijon mustard
-1-2 cloves garlic, finely diced
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/4 tsp pepper

Steps
1. Toss everything together in a large bowl!

Mango Guacamole

Need a last minute Super Bowl snack? Let me suggest this recipe. Guacamole was already pretty much my favorite dip ever, but then I tried a version with mango added in, and it took guacamole to the next level. The sweet, tangy mango is the perfect accompaniment to the creamy avocados. Thanks to Aaron and Liz for sharing this recipe with me!

Ingredients (Super Bowl sized)
-4 ripe avocados
-2 ripe mangoes, diced into small pieces
-1 lime, juiced
~1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
-3 jalapenos, de-seeded and finely diced
-1 white onion, finely diced
-salt, pepper, garlic powder (all to taste)
-chips for dipping

Steps
1. Mash your avocados in a large bowl.
2. Stir in diced onion, mango, cilantro, and jalapeno.
3. Add juice of one lime.
4. Season with salt (I used about 1 tsp), pepper (I used about 1/2 tsp), and garlic powder (I used about 1 tsp)

Tip: Save the guacamole seeds and keep them in the dip until your ready to serve; the seeds help stop the dip from browning.

Vegan Peanut Tofu with Baby Bok Choy

This super yummy recipe came from my friend and colleague, Elise, and she originally got the recipe from This Can't Be Tofu! by Deborah Madison. I modified the recipe just slightly and served it with steamed baby bok choy; my recipe for that can be found here.

Ingredients (makes 3-4 servings)
-1 pkg firm tofu (pressed)
-2 T canola or peanut oil
-2 scallions, sliced diagonally

~1/4 C chopped cashew

-Rice (I used the 10 minute boil in bag kind) or noodles

Peanut Sauce
-1/4 Cup soy sauce
-1/4 Cup peanut putter (I often use a little more)
-2 T rice wine vinegar
-2 T sugar
-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

-1 clove garlic, minced
-2 scallions, chopped (I forgot these)
-1/3 Cup water

Steps
1. Press your tofu for about 30 minutes. I do this by cutting it into about 6 slices and then sandwiching the slices in between a dish towel. Next I place something heavy (like a stack of books) on the tofu to press out the water. Once drained, cut the tofu into bite-size pieces.
2. While tofu is draining, make the peanut sauce. To make sauce, put all sauce ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend.
3. Heat oil in skillet. Fry until golden, then flip over and fry until golden on other side
4. Pour peanut sauce over tofu. Simmer until the sauce thickens to desired consistency. Don't let it get too thick because it will thicken a little after you take it off the burner.

5. Scatter scallions and cashews over top. Serve over noodles or rice and with a side of baby bok choy.

Zucchini Boats

I have to thank a friend from work, Pam, for this quick, easy, and delicious recipe. It works great as a side dish; we've served it with pasta or burgers, or even just a salad if you wanted a light meal.

Ingredients
-4 zucchini
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-1/2 C mozzarella (any kind of cheese that melts will work)
~1/3 C bread crumbs
~20 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
~2 T EVOO
-salt and pepper to taste

(Preheat oven to 350)
Steps
1. Cut your zucchinis in half, lengthwise; scoop out seeds with a spoon.
2. Lightly grease a large pan. Lay out your zucchinis and lightly baste them with EVOO and the minced garlic.
3. Add the tomatoes, then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Salt and pepper everything.

4. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, then remove and top everything with cheese and cook for broil until cheesy is browned and bubbly.

Grilled Pork Chops and Baby Bok Choy

This was my first time grilling either of these, but the meal turned out great. If you have another person to help you cook, have that person be in charge of the rice. If you don't want to use a grill, I'm sure you could cook the pork chops in a skillet and then you can follow these instructions for sauteed bok choy.

Ingredients
Pork chops
4 boneless pork loin chops
1/4 cup olive oil
3 T soy sauce
1 T steak seasoning
1 clove minced garlic

Baby Bok Choy
-6 heads of baby bok choy
-1.5 T sesame oil, divided
-3 T soy sauce
-3 T mirin (you could sub 2 T sugar and 1 T wine or water if you don't have mirin)
-1 clove minced garlic

Cashew Rice
-1 bag instant brown rice, cooked as directed (I used the 10 minute boil in bag kind)
-1 T butter
-4 T chopped cashews

Steps
1. Mix olive oil, soy sauce, steak seasoning, and garlic in a small bowl and pour into a one-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork chops and set the bag in a baking dish. Marinate in the refrigerator for 3-8 hours (no more than 8). Flip the bag half-way through marinating.

2. Light your coals (I put enough down to get the temp up to 400).
3. Slice the bok choy heads in half vertically, from leaf to stem. Chop the leafy tops off (so they don't char on the grill). Chiffonade the leafy tops and set aside. Put the bok choy in water in a large bowl for about 10 minutes, to get any dirt off and also to help them steam on the grill. Pat dry. Drizzle with about 1 T sesame oil.

4. Put a pot of water on to boil for the rice.
5. Once coals are ready, put the pork directly over the coals and cover. Cook for about 5-6 minutes (more for thicker chops...mine were about 1/3 inch thick).
6. Flip your chops and put the bok choy on the grill, cut side down. Cover grill.

7. Let chops and bok choy cook another 5-7 minutes.
8. Take chops and bok choy off. Place chops in tented foil and let chops rest 5 minutes. Place bok choy in a serving dish.
9. Go back inside. Your rice should be done now. Put rice in small sauce pot on low; stir in the chopped bok choy leaves, butter, and cashews. Stir until melted.
10. Make bok choy dressing by mixing 3 T mirin, 3 T soy sauce, 1/2 T sesame oil, garlic. Pour bok choy dressing over bok choy.
11. Serve chops and bok choy over rice.

Beet and Quinoa Salad

I used to think I hated beets...turns out I love them! This was a really quick salad to make (though I cheated by using pre-cooked beets) with a lot of great flavor. Big thanks to my friend, Liz, for the recipe.

Ingredients
-1 C dry quinoa (cooked according to package instructions)
-3 beets (or 2 packages precooked baby beets from Trader Joe's)
-1 medium-large cucumber
-8 oz feta cheese crumbles
-1 can white beans
-1/8 C EVOO + 1/4 C red wine vinegar (I used some blood orange EVOO and white pear vinegar I got from this store)
-1 shallot, diced
-fresh pepper (to taste)

Steps

1. If cooking your beets...Wash beats, place on pan (foil lined), with oil/salt/pepper. Roast beets in the oven, 45 mins at 375 degrees.
2. Once beets are cooked and have cooled for about 10 minutes, peel them and dice them.
4. In large bowl, toss cooked quinoa, beets, cucumber, shallot, beans, and feta.
5. Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, and pepper in separate bowl. Pour over the quinoa salad and toss to combine.

Steamed Baby Bok Choy and Grilled Tofu

Wow, it's been way too long since I've posted! I actually have a number of new simple recipes I've made and just need to find the time to write them up. I decided to try this recipe after going to the Wing Lei and in Las Vegas and having some outstanding baby bok choy there.

Ingredients (makes enough for two)
-2 packages of baby bok choy (about 5-6 bunches)
-1 package tofu, pressed and drained (see this link for directions on prepping tofu)
-1 red or orange pepper, Julienned
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 T soy sauce, divided
-2 T water
-2 T sesame oil, divided
-2 T canola oil

Steps

1. About an 30 minutes before you're going to start, press your tofu by wrapping the tofu quarters in a towel or paper towels and setting something heavy on top of it.
2. After 30 minutes, put your tofu slices in a shallow dish and pierce on both sides with a fork. Drizzle 1 T soy and 1 T sesame oil on top and brush slices to completely coat. Let marinate while you continue to prep.

3. Chop your garlic, bell pepper, and baby bok choy. To prep baby bok choy just trim off the ends.

4. Once your tofu is ready, put it on to a grill pan (like a George Foreman) for about 4-5 minutes.
5. In a large sauté pan with a lid, heat 2 T canola oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add garlic and pepper, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
6. Add bok choy and stir carefully to cover with oil, then cook for approximately 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and water, then cover pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes more, until steam begins to escape from beneath the lid of the pan.

7. Uncover and continue to cook until liquid is close to evaporated and stalks are soft to the touch, approximately 3 minutes more.
8. Serve with your grilled tofu and drizzle with sesame oil.

Roasted Veggie Bake

I made this super easy dish (recipe courtesy of Budget Bytes) when my mom was in town. We went to the Farmer's Market and got all the ingredients there. This can be a main dish if served with some crusty bread or would be a great side dish.

(p.s. It's been a crazy month, but I have quite a few recipes to post so I will try to catch up this weekend!)

Ingredients
-1 potato, sliced into thin medallions
-1 yellow squash, sliced into thin medallions
-1 zucchini, sliced into thin medallions
-1 large, ripe tomato, sliced into thin medallions
-1 yellow onion, diced
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 tsp thyme
-1 T basil
-1 T EVOO
~1 C shredded mozzarella
-salt and pepper to taste

(preheat oven to 400)
Steps
1. Saute your diced onion with EVOO for about 6 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes.
2. Lightly coat a small baking dish (e.g., 6X6) with EVOO. Layer the bottom with the sauteed garlic and onions.
3. Arrange your veggie slices (tomato, zucchini, squash, potato)  by alternating them in vertical rows. If you run out of one veggie don't worry...the arrangement doesn't have to be equal or perfect.

4. Drizzle veggies with a little EVOO and top with herbs (basil and thyme). Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
5. Remove foil, add cheese, and cook for another 15 minutes.

Pico de Gallo

This is such a great summertime snack. We eat it with chips, but also just pour it over Romaine lettuce instead of using salad dressing. I use cherry tomatoes for this because I think they are a bit firmer, but I'm sure you could use larger tomatoes if your prefer. I actually used heirloom cherry tomatoes in this picture, which added some really nice color.

Ingredients
-1 plastic container of cherry tomatoes, cut into fourths or sixths depending on size
-3 cloves garlic, finely diced
-1 fresh jalapeno, seeds removed, finely diced
-juice of 2 limes
~1/4 - 1/3 C cilantro
-either 1/2 diced white onion or 1/4 diced red onion
-salt and pepper to taste

Steps
1. Combine all of the above in a bowl and stir well.

Super Easy Homemade Pickles

I always thought to pickle something you had to let it sit for days, if not weeks; however, these pickles are ready to eat in a few hours. They do pick up more flavor after several days, but they really are good to go after only a short time. These make for an awesome snack or appetizer.

Note: It's going to seem like you don't have enough liquid for your pickles; however, if you just shake them and rotate the jar every now and again all the cucumbers should soak up enough liquid. Plus, more liquid will be made during the fermentation process.

I made them "Japanese" style by cutting them into thin rounds instead of spears. However, if you prefer spears you can cut them any way you want.

Ingredients
-4 small cucumbers (I recommend getting the pickling kind of cucumbers, sometimes called "hot house")
-1/2 C cider vinegar or distilled vinegar
-1/4 C water
-3 T sugar (I used light brown, but that's the only kind I ever use...)
-several sprigs of dill
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 red onion, cut into thin slices
-2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Steps
1. Cut cucumbers into thin, round slices.  Put cucumber and onion slices in a large mason jar or some other kind of air tight container.
2. In a small saucepan, combing vinegar, water, sugar, dill, garlic. Bring to a boil.
3. Pour vinegar mixture over pickles and seal container.
4. Shake/agitate the container very well.
5. Chill for at least two hours (might be good to give the pickles a shake every 30 minutes - 1 hour for first two hours, and then once a day after that).

Jicama Slaw

The first time I tried to make this it was a pretty big fail because I accidentally bought yuca instead of jicama. I had never before bought jicama and had no idea what it looked like, so the yuca that had snuck its way into the jicama bin seemed like it would work. It did not.

So this time I looked up what jicama looks like (see picture below) and made sure to get the right thing.
I have to say, this slaw turned out really awesome, was very easy to make, and will now be in direct competition with my other favorite slaw. The dressing is limey and tangy and I think this would be great as a side dish. We served it on top of veggie hot dogs to make Slaw Dogs 2.0.

Ingredients (makes a large batch, so you may want to half)
-2 jicamas
-1/2 head of red cabbage
-1 whole bunch of cilantro
-1/2 red onion
-3 carrots
Dressing
-3-4 limes, juiced (you want about 1/2 C of lime juice)
-2 T honey
-1/4 C rice wine vinegar
-1-2 T EVOO
-pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

Steps
1. Peel your jicama with a sharp peeler (be careful not to slice off the top of your finger and nail like I did).

2. Use a grater to grate your jicama and carrots.
3. Cut onion and cabbage into thin strips.
4. Use a scissors to chop up all your cilantro.
5. Whisk your dressing ingredients together and toss with salad ingredients.

Brussels Sprouts

I always thought these were tasteless, stinky, nasties that only my grandparents and patrons of Luby's Cafeteria ate until I recently had them at my friend Lauren's house. The way she prepared them they were slightly crisp and very flavorful, and I fully agree with her that these are like tasty little cabbages. I even got my fiance to eat several after he had sworn he wouldn't be trying them. I will definitely be making more of these as they were super easy and still good heated up in the microwave the next day.

Ingredients:
-1 package Brussels sprouts (probably about 30 Brussels), with the brown bottoms trimmed off
-2.5 T EVOO
-salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
(preheat oven to 400)
1. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Place in a baking pan, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until sprouts are browned on the outside, tender on the inside, but still slightly crisp. Remove pan from oven 2-3 times while cooking and shake sprouts so that all sides get browned.
2. Add more salt at the end if you'd like...I made mine nice and salty like French fries.