thai noodle salad

I made a lite lunch pasta salad. I grilled a bunch of vegetables and cooked up some pasta. 

I am trying to make different dressings that do not need oil, so for the Thai influence I blended the meat of a young coconut with some fresh lime juice, and added a diced chili pepper. 

It all came together very nicely. It was fresh and still crisp tender. The only change I would make is the eggplant. While it is delicious fresh off the grill, the eggplant doesn't have quite the flavor after it sits for a bit. 

Cost Breakdown:

corn, green beans: $1

eggplant: $1

arugula:$.50

zucchini: $1

onion: $.50

peppers: $1

tomato: $1

pasta: $2

young coconut, sunflower seeds: $2

lime: $.25

Total to feed a family of 5:

$10.25

stuffed poblano

It is summer and peppers are abundant! A few weeks ago I watched a Guy Fieri show where he was roasted peppers in the oven. I usually roast them on the stove over the open flame, but tonight I chose to do it Guy's way. Bad idea. I remember he mentioning that you have to be careful not to overcook them since the flesh of the pepper will sort of 'disapear.' Well, I overcooked them! I had to toss the peppers and start again.

Roasting them on the stove makes you keep an eye on them and they are ready fast and don't overcook, just char properly because you must stay by their side and consistently turn them.

I stuffed these poblanos with sauteed pinto beans and kale with sofrito. The sofrito I made a few weeks ago from the Viva Vegan! cookbook and it was still in the fridge.

I made a sauce for the peppers using aji amarillos - dried yellow peppers- carrots, onions, herbs, and to thicken it, cashew milk. I added roasted pumpkin seeds for crunch.

Cost Breakdown:

peppers: $5

kale: $3

pinto: $2

carrot, onion, garlic, herbs: $1.50

pumpkin seeds, cashew: $1.50

rice: $1

Total to feed a family of 5:

$14.00

raw mexican cabbage boats

Raw Night

I made a Mexican-style stuffed cabbage boats. I used soaked sunflower seeds, onions and garlic to make the filling. But since I am beginning to see that a lot of raw foods that are trying to imitate other meals are utilizing nuts and seeds, I wanted to add something different. So, I also chopped up fennel, zucchini and summer squash and mixed it with my seed filling. Not so say that nuts and seeds are not good for you, on the contrary, they are immeasurably so, but I am seeing that there is some dependency on them. All things in moderation.

I topped it with a salsa of avocado, spring onion, and yellow and red tomatoes. 

As for the cabbage, I attempted to dehydrate some leaves to see if I could get a crunchy shell. Nope. It turned out brittle and the color was off. I'll try marinating it in some olive oil next time.

The boats were Mexican influenced with the addition of chili powder,  chipotle chili powder and lime zest.

Very filling and delicious! I'm actually looking forward to raw nights. Not only is it easy and quick to make, but it tasted good.

If you make this, though, do not stuff the leaves as much as I did - not enough leaf for the filling.

Cost Breakdown:

2c sunflower seeds: $3

cabbage: $2

tomato, avocado,lime, onion, garlic: $3

zucchini, squash, fennel: $3

Total to make 10-12 boats:

$11.00