Food

For some reason, wintry weather makes me feel like cooking. Last year I became pretty dedicated to regularly making my own veggie broth and seitan, and to cooking big potfuls of tasty food for the whole house (eggplant and peanut soup, some dal-like thing, delicious miso soup, chickpea noodle soup, chili, some other stuff). Maybe it's because cooking is a comforting, warm activity in the Minnesota winter, getting  to stand over the stove and and thaw. Maybe it's because I get really excited to cook for Thanksgiving and it carries on from there. Maybe it's because I get bored more easily. Maybe it's because our yellow kitchen looks nice in that snowy, white-gray winter light. Whatever it is, I'm getting that feeling again.

I've started out the season with a few mini-inspiration dishes over the past week. Just now I finished off the last of a pasta dish I made; I used up the last of my acorn squash and tomatoes from my garden by roasting them up all tender (roasted some garlic for good measure), and threw that all in the pot with lots of salt, olive oil, black pepper. Super simple and tasty. Then today Joe made a delicious rendition of his ever-delightful beans and rice. We ate it with a perfectly ripened avocado and celebrated the snow by cracking open a jar of the salsa my mom and I made out of garden tomatoes and peppers (we canned it ourselves!).


My family never leaves town for Thanksgiving anymore, and this year it looks like I'll have a few good friends around to share the holiday with too--unfortunately Anya might be included here since she broke her foot and probably can't go to New York, but I will try my best to heal her with scones, chickpea gravy, and squash soup.

For good measure, here's some stuff I from my kitchen that I like.

For instance, my totally awesome vintage blender. I had a cheap blender for a while that was light and flimsy, and the screw-on part on the bottom kept cracking. Stupid! But I found this lovely baby at the antique store up the street from my house, and it's really sturdy. Even better, it's a great kind of pukey-green retro color that this photo does not do justice. I love my blender.

Then there's my beloved pink electric mixer. This little guy came from the vintage store next to Eclipse, and not only is it adorable but it works like a charm!
And while I'm at it, here's a picture of the cats being cute.

Recipe time!

Yum. After a couple nights of uninspired cooking, this meal was a great treat. This is a recipe adapted from a chili-lime shrimp recipe my roommate Nora found on the internet--she didn't have all the right ingredients, so she did her own thing with it. She makes it with shrimp all the time and I am always jealous because the marinade smells so damn good, so we set a goal to make the recipe using tempeh sometime before she moves across the country. Today was the day, and it was awesome.

Nora's Chili Lime Marinade with Tempeh
2-3 avocados
1 package tempeh

Marinade:
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or grated
2 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp lime juice (lemon works too)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp olive oil

Avocado Dressing:
4 tsp lime juice (or lemon)
4 tsp olive oil (less would be fine)
salt and pepper to taste


Cut the tempeh into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Bring a small pot of water to boil, and simmer the tempeh pieces for about 10 minutes to make them tender and ready to soak up marinade. While the tempeh simmers, mix all the marinade ingredients together in a shallow dish. Use tongs to transfer tempeh to the dish when it's done simmering, and let marinate for 15-30 minutes--you will have to turn it two or three times.
While the tempeh marinates, prepare the avocados. Cut the avocados into bite-sized chunks, and place in another shallow bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the avocados. Allow to sit while the tempeh cooks.
Heat about 2 tsp of olive oil in a pan at medium high heat. Place a few pieces of tempeh in at a time, pouring spoonfuls of marinade over the pieces. Cook until the tempeh is tender and glazed with marinade, about 5-8 minutes.
Once all the tempeh is cooked, load up a plate with tempeh and avocado, sprinkling a little lemon or lime juice on top, then eat!