Sad Sandwich

I made this sandwich today while sad. It tasted good, so I guess I wasn't too too too too sad.

Ingredients:

Sourdough bread
Tapatio or other hot sauce
Mendocino Mustard or other sweet hot mustard
Tofu
Soy sauce
Black Pepper
Red Chili Flakes
Cream Cheese
Monterey Jack Cheese
Sliced Onion


Mix together the soy sauce with a little water, chili flakes, and black pepper.
Cut tofu into very thin strips and soak tofu in mixture. It would probably be good to marinate for a while, but I didn't, and it turned out fine.
Fry tofu until very well cooked, adding extra pepper or chili flakes directly to the tofu in the pan.
Toast Bread
On one side of the toast, spread a very thin layer of cream cheese with some tapatio or other hot sauce sprinkled over it.
On the other side, spread a layer of Mendocino Mustard (or other sweet hot mustard).
Put tofu, cheese, and onions on sandwich. No need to use too much cheese.
Heat the sandwiches up on the pan before eating to melt cheese.

Note: if you make this sandwich vegan, the only really good fake cheese is Vegan Gourmet. "Better than cream cheese" is pretty good for the cream cheese, though I still like real cream cheese better. The sandwich I made today was with fake cheese and it was really good.

Serve with Bloody Marys and beer and a side of Kale and another little side of sliced avocado.

Red Bean, Sweet Potato, and Peanut Stew

Another one-pot dish. I used a rice cooker but any large pot will work.

Ingredients:

Canned red beans, rinsed well
Canned diced tomatoes
Sweet potatoes/yams, diced and softened in microwave
Peanut butter, about 1/4 cup
Onion, diced
Garlic, chopped
Fresh ginger, chopped
Cayenne Pepper to taste
Curry powder (about 2 tablespoons)
Salt to taste
Lime squeezed on top
Water

Heat the garlic and onion in oil in the bottom of the pot and cook till clear. Add ginger and spices and cook another minute or two. Add sweet potatoes, coat. Add beans and tomatoes, stir. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer. Add peanut butter. Add water as needed to maintain slight soupiness (shouldn't be like a paste). Simmer until sweet potatoes are well-cooked. Salt to taste and squeeze lots of fresh lime juice on individual portions. Serve over rice. It's also really good if you mix the rice in a lot.

Curried Garbanzo Beans with Swiss Chard

I made this curry in a rice cooker during my lunch break. It would also be an easy one-pot meal on the stovetop.

Ingredients:

2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed well
1 can coconut milk
1 thinly sliced onion
Chopped fresh ginger
1 large bunch of Swiss chard, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons of curry powder
1/4-3/4 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
Olive Oil


Heat the oil in the bottom of the pan.
Add the onion and cook till clear
Add the ginger and spices and mix well
Add the coconut milk and garbanzo beans
Add the chard and simmer until chard is well cooked.

Serve over rice.

Peanut Butter and Saltines

There were only three or four saltines left last night when I discovered this snack lying about among party-goers. Brian said that this is what his Dad had for a snack in his office where he worked as a doctor.

This is a good example of a snack that is easy to always have around the house and also very easy to forget about.

Guacamole

This is a simple and delicious guacamole recipe that is flavorful and very fast to make.

Ingredients:
Hass avocados
Limes
Salt
Hot sauce (tapatio or valentino or crystal are all ideal) if available--if not, use red pepper flakes
Cilantro if available

Slice all avocados lengthwise and remove pits.
Scour the flesh of the avocado in a grid pattern.
Mash up the avocado with a fork while still in the skin (this helps mix it up later).
Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and then mash together in a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients to taste and mix well.