tofu stackers!

how have i never thought of this...
tofu... as lasagna noodles!

i mean, not exactly lasagna noodles, but they will be a midway between veggies and sauce.
yum! i'm brilliant!
i decided i needed to do a greek flavored tofu. mmm, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic, basil, amazing!
i pressed my tofu, as per usual, and then sliced each quarter block into three pieces. i suppose i turned each block into twelve pieces. look! i can do math too! ... she's multi-talented, folks!
-to start, i layered each of my le cruset dishes with some plain crushed tomatoes and then a slice of deliciously cooked tofu.
-on top of that i added my spinach mix. for my spinach mix, i combined chopped frozen spinach (defrosted, of course) mixed with chopped mushrooms, and tomato paste. i mixed that all up and dropped small little mounds onto each slice of tofu.
-next, came s'more tofu. yum!
-second veggie layer was a pile of cooked-down red onions. i let them spend about an hour or so on low in the pan. (i've really come to love red onions. cooked or marinated. we've become very close.)
-next, more tofu... i'm sorry, is this getting repetitive?
-last, i mixed a bit of crushed tomatoes with chopped kalamata olives.
i popped my crazy tofu stacks in the oven. 350* for about 30 minutes. they heated through, and the tomato sauce & olives on top started to cook just a bit. perfect!

my veggie tofu stacks were tasty! lots of yummy veggies mixed with the taste of fresh herbs and the tangy-sweet taste of the red wine vinegar.
of course i'm super proud of these and would love to share them with my fellow cooks at work...

...but... i only have four...

summer pasta salad.

yum! i love orzo.
i think it's the best base for a pasta salad.
those tiny little noodles don't over-power any other guest stars in the salad. not like the way those big curly-q noodles do.
so for this version of light & fresh pasta salad, we have:
-orzo
-diced tomatoes (drained)
-chopped cucumbers
-slivered red onions
-chopped mushrooms (from a can)
-kalamata olives
-red wine vinegar <3
-oregano
-basil
-parsley
(variations: add juice of a lemon, goat cheese, feta. don't worry, you're free to make your own decisions. i won't yell at you. i promise.)

directions are pretty simple. cook the pasta, toss everything together in a bowl.
it's so easy, i bet even cheryl could do it.

yellow corn meal!

it's polenta!
i've sliced the polenta roll and baked it, but i've never made creamy polenta.
no better time than the present!

i found a recipe for creamy polenta. it was pretty basic, 4x as much water as yellow corn meal. added a little faux-butter spread, and some weight watchers cream cheese. i know the key to creamy polenta is to keep on whisking. so whisk, i did!
i was pretty impressed with myself on the polenta front.
now... what to top it with.
mushrooms! and spinach! and onions!
i mixed that up in a pan, and topped my polenta.
now, some type of sauce to finish it off. i mixed some french onion soup mix with chicken broth, cooked it down, and added a tablespoon of weight watchers cream cheese. it made a great creamy onion sauce that worked well with the polenta and the veggies.
i didn't add anything to the polenta, no salt. no pepper. i figured starting out with it as a uber-plain base would be good for my trial.
it worked out perfect.

of course it did, i'm awesome!

mushrooms! cucumbers! red onions! oh my!

i realize that i haven't been getting nearly enough raw vegetables in. so i made two salads this week to help me better work them into my diet.

i've been making this cucumber, red onion, red wine vinegar, dill salad since the first week. it's quite tasty. i'll eat it plain, on a small pita with avocado, or on top of lettuce. it's tangy, crunchy, and has an excellent kick of fresh flavor.

oh, i'll be the first one to admit it.
i have never-ever been one to eat raw mushrooms. my sister has always eaten them, and i'd watch her, and i'd want to barf.
then! on a late february day, came my mushroom revelation!
on a trip to Whole Foods, the capital of all things fantastic, they had some type of cold, whole mushroom salad with red onions, balsamic, and parmesan . clearly, cheese was not an option for this dinosaur.
let me just tell you, that big, fat, marinated mushroom cap was all it took to turn me onto mushrooms.
so i eased myself into the fantastic field of fungus, by opting for sliced mushrooms. i diced up some shallots, and let it stew in the fridge all weekend. i'll add some balsamic just a few hours before eating.
so here i am. advocating for mushrooms.

just don't tell my sister.
she'll say something like, "i told you so."