"Fried" Avocado Tacos

This recipe was adapted from a few different recipes I had found online which called for deep frying the avocados. Of course, you can always do that, but I am providing the healthier option here! You can easily add or subtract any ingredients you would like, of course, but this is the way I made them and they turned out amazing. I'm looking forward to making them again this week!

(Serves 2–can easily be doubled or tripled for more servings!)

You Will Need:

• 1 medium-ripe avocado, pit and skin removed, sliced into quarters

• 8 corn tortillas

• queso fresco or shredded Monterey Jack cheese

• grated cotija cheese

• fresh pico de gallo* or your favorite prepared salsa

• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs or crushed tortilla chips

• lime halves for garnish

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 2 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350º. Dip avocado pieces in egg, then coat evenly with bread crumbs or crushed chips. Put on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350º or until outer coating is crispy and golden. (You can also fry them on the stovetop with more oil. Drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.)

Warm tortillas in dry frying pan or directly over a gas burner. Use two tortillas per taco. Fill with two pieces of fried avocado, top with pico de gallo, cheese, cilantro, etc. and squeeze fresh lime juice over the top. Serve with a side of black beans or refried beans. Enjoy!

*Fresh Pico de Gallo:

• 4 roma tomatoes, diced

• 1/2 lg. red onion, finely chopped

• juice from one fresh lime

• 4 or 5 chopped scallions

• 1 clove garlic, crushed or grated

• 1 jalapeño, chopped (seeds and ribs removed if you want it less spicy)

• salt and pepper to taste

• fresh chopped cilantro to taste (optional)

• fresh corn kernels (optional)

• 1 can black beans, drained (optional)

Combine, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour for flavors to develop.

Happy Meatless Monday!

Do you celebrate Meatless Monday by having one meatless dinner a week? We do but every day has been Meatless Monday for me for the last 17 years, long before there was a name for it!

I will be making eggplant parmesan later so I might post on that as well. But I thought today would be the perfect time to share my meatless wonton recipes with you. I love fried things but it's difficult finding meatless wontons and egg rolls and such, so I started making my own. However, learning to fry things is dangerous and addictive, so I suggest these as an occasional snack rather than daily lunch! (Still trying to remind myself of that!)

Today I made cream cheese wontons and amazing smoked tofu wontons. You can do any variety of veggies and tofu though, of course. This just happened to be what I had on hand today. I have also made a yummy version with firm tofu and mushrooms marinated in soy sauce.

I also have to share another new discovery I found at our local Winco recently. It is super firm, smoked tofu. It has an amazingly delicious meaty texture and flavor, so the meat-eaters in your life won't even have to miss meat! This has been wonderful to cook with and would also be great eaten in cold slices on a veggie sandwich!

My cream cheese wontons were inspired by a local Asian fast food restaurant that serves them. They are filled with soft cream cheese and sliced scallions (green onions). Of course, there is any number of delicious things you could add to these. They would also be good as egg rolls.

I just put a small dab of cream cheese, then topped it with some sliced onions.

With your finger, run a bit of water around the inside edge of the wonton wrapper, then pinch them closed as shown. The water will help the wrapper stick together.

What type of cooking oil you use is personal preference. I like using peanut oil because it tends to not smell up the house as much as vegetable oil. I only use a little in the bottom of the pan and then turn the wontons around in it. You can of course use enough oil to completely submerge them. I just don't like using very much oil.

I like serving these with a simple soy sauce dipping sauce. You can use any dipping sauce  you have on hand.

To make the tofu wontons, chop the tofu in small pieces and follow the same steps as above. Experiment with different vegetables to see what you like best.

Enjoy, and Happy Meatless Monday! Please feel free to share other ideas for vegan and vegetarian-friendly wonton ideas!

French Toast!

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you all got to sleep in a little and take advantage of the weekend.

I love making brunch on Sunday mornings because that's the only day my fiance is home all day during the week. I'm currently on a French toast kick which is great because I learned how to make it myself. I used to love going out to eat at places like Denny's and IHOP because I could get delicious French toast. Now I don't have to which saves money and means I don't have to get up so early to go out!

I made an amazing discovery recently and it is this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sara-Lee-Texas-Toast-Restaurant-Style-Bread-24-oz/16777984

Sara Lee Texas Toast is the key to really good French toast. If you can find brioche, that would be equally good.

For two pieces of toast, my recommendations are as follows.

Ingredients:

• Sara Lee Texas Toast (or any thick cut dense bread)
• 2 eggs
• splash of milk
• butter
• syrup for serving
• cinnamon (optional)
• powdered sugar (optional)

I like to preheat my pan and melt a little butter in it to get that nice crispy outside on the toast. Mix the eggs and milk in a bowl and dip the bread in, thoroughly coating both sides. Toss the toast in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side over medium heat. Adjust your cooking time as needed for your desired level of doneness. Serve with syrup. I also like mine with a side of vegan bacon!

I miss summer

This past summer, I had the opportunity to grow a lot of my own food at home in my garden. I was so excited to finally have big, fresh, flavorful tomatoes that weren't picked when they were green (or underripe!). Here are a few of my favorite shots of the bounty of my garden.

Heirloom and yellow pear tomatoes.

These little orange cherry tomatoes were just about the tastiest thing ever!!

Fresh produce from the Kingsburg Farmers Market this summer.

Favorite Recipe Sites & Blogs

You can never, ever have too many great recipes to look through! I love checking out Food Network and other sites for new meal inspiration!

This has been one of my most favorite sites for awhile now and I've made several of her recipes:

http://101cookbooks.com/

Who could forget Vegetarian Times?

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/

A nice long list of different blogs:

The Veggie Table: Favorite Vegan and Vegetarian Blogs

chunky blue cheese dressing

There's nothing I love more than making a perfectly healthy salad fattening and delicious! I recently discovered this Food Network recipe for homemade blue cheese dressing, and it was all downhill from there. It's full of rich, delicious blue cheese, tangy buttermilk, sour cream… what's not to love? Clearly, losing weight is not one of my New Year's resolutions!

However, if it is one of yours, feel free to use low fat sour cream in this recipe, as well as reduced-fat blue cheese. I personally prefer the full-fat versions (all things in moderation, right?). This is an excellent lunch or appetizer.

Here is the link to the actual Food Network recipe if you'd like to follow it. I prefer to eyeball things, taste them as I go and then revise along the way.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/salad-with-blue-cheese-dressing-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:

• buttermilk
• sour cream (low fat if desired)
• crumbled blue cheese (reduced fat if desired)
• fresh lemon juice
• dash of hot sauce (I prefer Tapatío)
• salt and pepper to taste

I like to make a large batch, so what I've been doing is adding about a half a cup of buttermilk, a few tablespoons of sour cream, and dump about a quarter of a tub of crumbled blue cheese into my Pyrex measuring cup. I stir and taste as I go, adding more lemon juice than the original recipe calls for. I love the tart, sour tang of it, and the little kick that the hot sauce adds.

A really important part of cooking is tasting the food you're making to make sure it's properly seasoned. Everyone's tastes are different so feel free to add more or less of a particular item. Who knows, you may just create a whole new recipe!

I love serving this over fresh red-leaf or Lollo Rosso lettuce. It would also be good over romaine or green leaf salad, or even mixed baby greens.

I am playing with the idea of making this with gorgonzola as well. Vegan bacon crumbled over the top of it would also be fantastic!

"real" Mexican tacos, minus the meat!

I wanted to start out my new blog with one of my most favorite meals I make. This has won over vegetarians and meat lovers alike! Living in Central California, I have the benefit of being around real, authentic Mexican food. However, it's not too vegetarian-friendly, so I've had to come up with some adjustments to make this meal meat-free. I love using whole pinto beans since they still have texture and bite to them so you're not missing the carne asada or chicken.

Ingredients:

• fresh corn tortillas (I like Guerrero brand because they don't contain lard)
• whole canned pinto beans
• fresh deli salsa
• fresh ripe avocado
• fresh cilantro (coarsely chopped)
• cotija cheese (I prefer El Mexicano brand)
• lime for garnish
• black or refried beans as a side dish

Heat the tortillas in a pan or directly over a gas burner. I like to double the tortillas up, two per taco, to keep everything inside. Scoop pinto beans into the taco, then top with salsa, sliced avocado, cilantro and grated cheese. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the tacos. Serve immediately.