A benchmark. And a Kale Tahini Salad.

Happy 100th post! This is a pretty big deal and I feel like it is perfectly timed with something fantastic: a new job! I might be inclined to change the name of this blog now... though I've grown pretty attached the long and painfully bland name that I started with: What I Do When I Don't Have a Job. I'm open to suggestions.

Even thought this seems like an occasion for a fancy post, I have nothing fancy to share. But, recently, I did learn about the benefits of including more raw foods in my diet after watching the documentary Food Matters. To sum it up, let's eat more salads and make our bodies feel better. I'll start today with this salad.

Why aren't you making Kale chips?!

I recently got together with a good friend and made a great meal. But, I think there was one obvious star: Kale chips! Seen below cuddling closely with the onion, mushroom, pasta dish they went with.

Oven cook time is about 5-8 minutes at 400 degrees F until the Kale is crispy to the touch, or crunchy to the bite. Note: I tear the whole Kale leaves into bite-sized pieces before baking.

It recently came to my attention that some people are adding olive oil to the Kale before baking it (or worse, they hate Kale chips altogether! Shame.) and that is fairly unnecessary. All we need to do is evaporate the water present in the vegetable and it will dry out and become crunchy. I usually add a little salt, pepper and nutritional yeast to the kale when I put it in the oven. But you should also try all of your favorite seasonings too!

Kale is great.

Kale Hazelnut Lentil Soup

This soup blew my mind. And it was easy. A friend made a soup using some of these ingredients and I added some more that sounded good:

omg, Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

So simple. Sweet and salty with a kick from raw ginger.

~3 tbsp Soy Sauce*
~1 tbps White wine vinegar*
1 tsp sugar
a splash of red wine
freshly grated ginger and garlic to taste
*very approximate; as with most of my cooking, I didn't pay attention to how much of anything I added. If it doesn't taste awesome, just play around with it!

Poured over thinly sliced tempeh and marinated for a couple minutes. Then cooked up in a pan until crispy.

Kale. Onion. Cucumber (briefly marinated in white wine vinegar). Teriyaki tempeh. (The focaccia was a regrettable addition and I didn't finish it.)

Potato Tacos are all the rage

 Lately I've been noticing a fun addition to the alternative-to-meat options at my favorite food places: Potatoes!At taco stands I have been sticking to soyrizo because a) I like it and b) it is something that I don't think I can make yet. But I wanted to give potatoes a fighting chance and they are easy for me to make.