Stir fry, scones, and soba (this post brought to you by the letter S)

This week was all about spinach. My housemates bought a ton of it for a house dinner, and because I hate wasting food, I took it upon myself to try and use it up. Challenge accepted! Sunday, I put some in my sesame soba noodles, along with mushrooms, tofu, scallions, and of course sesame seeds. Sesame seeds elevate delicious things to the next level, plus they are a good source of calcium.

The other key to the success of those noodles was the addition of sesame oil and soy sauce. Total staples.

The next thing I threw spinach into was a chickpea curry. It wasn’t terribly exciting, but I guess food doesn’t have to be exciting all the time.

In the category of things that did not include spinach, last weekend I made pancakes for the first time in a while. Lately I have been eating oatmeal and oatmeal alone when it comes to breakfast, so I thought I would change it up. Anything with maple syrup on it is delicious.

I also made lots of salads this week. Let me tell you how to make a salad. First, the lettuce can’t be too large. That’s a pet peeve of mine. I’ve been buying the Earthbound Farm spring mix, which is delightful because it has a delicious mix of bite-sized leaves. Second, top the salad with a handful each of walnuts, raisins, and pumpkin seeds. These things are a) good for you b) delicious. Other vegetables are not necessary in a salad. We need some protein up in here! Third, don’t get too fancy with your dressing. I literally shake some salt and pepper on it, pour in a bit of balsamic vinegar, and call it a day. Before I went vegan I was all about the ranch dressing, but I don’t actually miss it at all. Finally, shake it up, and enjoy. I found out the hard way that a fork, and not a spoon, is ideal for eating salads, so make sure that you pack one.

Speaking of vegetables, I made this casserole the other day, based off of this. It was really amazing, but didn’t actually have much protein to speak of, aside from the soymilk and the almonds.

I think next time I do something like that I’ll remix it with the chickpea-broccoli thing I made from Vegan With a Vengeance.

I was planning on making soup a couple times this week, but I never actually did. I have this idea in my head that I don’t like soup, even though I know that I do. I think it’s because I don’t like broth. What was originally supposed to be black bean soup turned into black bean sweet potato burritos, made heartier with the addition of tomato paste.

It turns out I put onion in everything. I’m cool with that. These were really good. The only weird thing was that instead of shredded lettuce, which would have been more appropriate, I threw in some of my spring mix, which made it decidedly less crispy. That was OK though. Not everything in life needs to be crispy.

Next I was planning to make a curried lentil soup, because I love that, but instead I made stir fry, which actually has nothing to do with lentils or curry. I haven’t made stir fry in a long time, which I realized was super sad, because it’s amazing. I didn’t have any peanuts, so I ate it with cashews, which are probably more delicious anyway. I also used up some of the pickled ginger we got ages ago for a housemate dinner because a) cutting actual ginger root is a pain and b) I like to be resourceful.

Finally, I made some raspberry-chocolate scones. I want to make one thing clear — this was not for Valentines day.

I just really wanted some scones. My housemates kept making non-vegan baked goods and I wanted to play, too.

I just used the scone recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, but with honey not sugar, 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and one cup of quinoa flour (because that’s the flour that I have), and without really reading the instructions. They turned out delicious, but then again they were made with chocolate chips, so I expected nothing else.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Spring is on its way — it’s 35 degrees here! That’s warm!

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