(a) Caesar salads and (b) taco salads.
Both easy so it makes sense that they’re go to options. The first isn’t as filling without a protein option, and the kids don’t like tempeh as much as the adults do, so I’ve been using nuts and quinoa and other things to bulk it up. The second is such an easy sell (and I am so not above tortilla chip bribery btw) because they love everything that touches avocado and/or daiya cheese. And chips. It’s also the easiest to modify in small ways that affords variations to last a lifetime. Different kinds of beans! Different kinds of meat! Green salsa, red salsa, you get the point…
I need to get better about marinating my tempeh before I bake it because it can get dried out pretty easily that way. I like crispy, but not too crispy. Plus it’s such a sponge. Mental note – check!
Kyle’s got the parmesan treatment, but obviously P and my portion’s did not.
Nooch my heart.
Here’s a taco bowl with beef that is just about to be salsa-ified. I’m not super loyal to any particular salsa brands. Are you? Kyle’s Aunt Lucy gifts us home-made salsa every year for Christmas and once that’s gone it’s just a long wait until we get the next jar. Nothing is as good as home-made salsa. If I’m on top of it this summer I should jar a bunch myself.
I love a good tofu scramble so I made this one with Mexican spices from the fodmap friendly company Casa de Sante. This mix has lasted a long time and the family has never even noticed it’s lacking garlic or onion flavor. It honestly tastes just like a Mexican spice blend!
If there’s no rice, then there are definitely chips.
I made toast and roasted chickpeas to round out this rather minimalist Caesar salad.
I had some leftover tempeh, but it wasn’t enough for more than one person, so I claimed it for myself and filled everyone else up with bread.
I marinated it with “bacon” seasonings, like when I make coconut bacon.
Made it a million times better than romaine and dressing, that’s for sure.
What do you call cheese that’s not yours???
NACHO CHEESE.
We had nachos last week for a fun dinner. I used both daiya cheddar and TJs mozz on the chips and then backed them in the oven.
The TJs cheese melts better than any other vegan cheese I’ve tried. From what I can tell though, it only melts once though, so once it cools and hardens, that’s it.
There were black beans and salsa and avo too.
Mine looks avo heavy, but I went back for more chips. I just had to be sure the kids got enough first.
Kyle’s plate looks better.
I just saw these kale chips nachos today…uhhhh, yes.
Hey great blog, someone sent us a link to your old article on your attempt of making sushi using brown rice from few years ago. I thought it was a great read, even though your sushi didn’t turn out the way you want. Following your blog now!
And good tip on the tempeh on marinating first before the bake.
I’m pretty picky with salsa, but I’ve found I really love Trader Joe’s double roasted salsa. I actually don’t like any other salsas now!!
Noted. Thanks!
I’m so glad you mentioned that the TJ’s vegan cheese is good! I tried it maybe a year and a half ago, and it did NOT melt at all, it got all crispy and weird. They must have reformulated it because it looked nothing like your pictures before, haha. I’ll be trying it again!
Oh wow, that does not sound good at all. It gets SUPER melty now. So whatever they changed worked!