beefless peppers

Soy curls used in an old favorite of hubby’s “Beef and Peppers” - would have used twice as many peppers but I ran out.

I added two cups hot beefish broth to the marinade and used it to soak the soy curls, saved the drained liquid and added it to the glaze and all the extra was absorbed.

Based on a recipe from the little cookbook from the chinese cooking class I took in Okinawa, you can tell the page is well-used.

Marinade

3 TB soy sauce (tamari, Braggs, etc)

2 tsp cornstarch

1 TB red wine vinegar

1 TB tahini

Dash black pepper

1 tsp finely chopped ginger 

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 TB water

Dash baking soda

(Add two cups hot beefish broth, a bit of “Kitchen Bouquet” for color, stir in soy curls and soak ten minutes, stirring occasionally, put in strainer and squeeze out extra liquid over container, bake on silpat for at least 25 minutes at 375 til toasty)

Vegetables

3-4 green bell peppers sliced or mix colors

1 onion sliced

About 4 cups shredded cabbage

Bean sprouts are great if you have them, water chestnuts, etc.

Glaze

1-2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp soy sauce

1/3 cup “chicken” broth

Stir fry veg and season with sprinkles of ginger and garlic powder, bit of black pepper, soy sauce, crushed red peppers if you like spicier.

When al dente or done to taste, add soy curls and pour on glaze including marinade, make sure all is heated through, if too watery cook down a few minutes. 

Serve over brown rice.

 Leftovers had an even more “beefy” texture! Tasty marinade, baking them until dry then adding liquid to the dish works wonders for the texture, I kept half expecting to run into some fat or gristle chewing that "meat."

no lunchmeat sandwiches needed...

 from somebody somewhere.....

(chickpea salad is a great option)

► 32 Vegan Lunches You Can Take to Work - https://www.popsugar.com/.../Vegan-Lunches-You-Can-Take...

► 10 Healthy Vegan Lunches for Work (or School!) - http://www.emilieeats.com/10-healthy-vegan-lunches-for-work/

► Quick & Healthy Vegan Lunch Ideas for Work (this one has a free vegan recipe cookbook you can download) http://www.eatingwell.com/.../quick-healthy-vegan-lunch.../

► Oh She Glows 15 Vegan Lunch Ideas! - http://ohsheglows.com/2014/02/21/15-vegan-lunch-ideas/

► Vegan Lunch Recipes: 20 Easy And Healthy Ideas For Work - the instant noodles in a jar look really good! http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/.../vegan-lunch-recipes_n...

► 18 Vegetarian Lunch Ideas That Will Make Your Colleagues Jealous https://hurrythefoodup.com/vegetarian-lunch-ideas/ Smoked tempeh and apple sandwiches sound unique! https://hurrythefoodup.com/vegetarian-lunch-ideas/

► 21 Packable Vegan Lunch Ideas for Work or School - allot of these are repeats I have seen in other lists but the Onigiri is really good and I like the looks of the jar salad http://eluxemagazine.com/maga.../packable-vegan-lunch-ideas/

► 10 Vegan Lunch Bag Ideas http://www.peta.org/.../10-vegan-lunch-bag-ideas-kids.../ Banana roll ups!!

► School Lunch in a Bento Box http://www.vegkitchen.com/.../school-lunch-in-a-bento.../

► 60 ideas for healthy bento lunches http://ohmyveggies.com/60-ideas-for-healthy-bento-lunches/

► https://www.pinterest.com/loveandl.../vegan-bento-box-ideas/

► Healthy Vegan School Lunches for Kids! https://youtu.be/1lix5tz3Yys

There is lots more inspiration to be found here too https://goo.gl/ZiNdwQ

10/12 Soup (ten-spice twelve-veg instant pot soup)

Toss and go colorful deliciousness

Ingredients

3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked

4 to 5 cups vegetable broth

1 to 2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 cups diced onion (about 1 medium)

At least half cup up to one cup each, chopped to similar sizes, whatever veg you have such as:

carrots (about 3 medium)

bell pepper any color (or roasted red pepper from jar)

peeled and chopped sweet potato, regular potato, and/or butternut squash

2 stalks celery

Broccoli and cauliflower stems, not hard bitter parts, peel broccoli stems before chopping

Zucchini and/or yellow summer squash

Green beans chopped into short pieces

Cabbage

Frozen sweet corn

1 can petite diced tomatoes, with their juice

1 can small white beans or any favorite beans, undrained (or rinsed and add 1/2 cup more broth)

1 to 2 tablespoons Homemade 10-Spice Mix, to taste (I like 1 1/2)

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Optional: 2 tsp white miso, one cup (packed) chopped baby spinach or other greens

Homemade 10-Spice Mix (makes 1/2 cup): (from Oh She Glows)

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

1 teaspoon white pepper (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ancho pepper powder, (optional)

Instructions

Blend cashews in one cup broth, set aside

Dry-sauté onion, add garlic when half done

Add all veg (except greens or peas, if using), canned tomatoes and beans, broth and seasoning, stir.

Set IP for five minutes pressure, let npr ten minutes

If desired stir in packed cup of chopped baby spinach (or other greens) or 1/2 cup frozen peas

Stir in cashew cream, serve with crusty bread

Can also stir in 2 tsp white miso before serving if desired

Notes:

Based on Oh She Glows 10-Spice Soup, freezes well!

Spice mix makes enough for several batches or other uses. Or use favorite creole or Cajun mix

If you like soups quite thick or are using lots of watery veg like summer squash, use the smaller amount of broth. 

For less fat or lower cost, you can blend white beans instead of cashews for the creaminess, though it won’t be as rich.

When raw cashews are unavailable, simmer roasted ones for a little while in the broth (microwave will do) though if you don’t have a high-speed blender you won’t get them as creamy. You can also just blend some of the soup.

Tomango Rice (tomangacado?)

For those of us still in summer, one of my favorite simple meals good cold or at room temperature:
Amounts are estimated because its variable to taste, plus your tomatoes, avocadoes, and mangoes might be large or small,you might need to feed more people and stretch it out, etc. It's all good!

Ingredients:
around 2 1/2-3+ cups cooked brown rice (I like brown basmati)
about 2/3 cup cooked black ("forbidden") rice
one large ripe mango, chopped
one or two ripe real garden tomatoes chopped (or grape tomatoes cut up)
one or two avocados chopped
(the goal is to have roughly equal amounts of avocado, mango, and tomato)
juice of one lime
optional handful of finely chopped cilantro (including stems)

Instructions:
Squeeze the lime over the avocado first to help it keep its color, stir everything together.

Notes:
This is good by itself or served with a baked sweet potato, maybe some fresh green beans. I batch cook and freeze the rice so I can just pull it out as needed. Keeps fine in the fridge for lunch the next day and travels well. Good picnic with some chewy or crusty bread.