Miso Soup and Sushi

Two things I have been wanting to make for a really long time, I just have to drag myself to an Asian market to get the ingredients.

Miso Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups dashi soup stock
1 block tofu
3-4 tbsps miso paste
1/4 cup chopped green onion

Preparation:Put dashi soup stock in a pan and bring to a boil. Cut tofu into small cubes and add them to the soup. Simmer the tofu for a few minutes on low heat. Scoop out some soup stock from the pan and dissolve miso in it. Gradually return the miso mixture in the soup. Stir the soup gently. Stop the heat and add chopped green onion. Remember not to boil the soup after you put miso in.
Makes 4 servings.
From: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/misosoup/r/misosouptofu.htm

Kappa Maki (though instead of using cucumber, you can use whatever vegetable you want. Personally, I am most likely going to use avocado)

Ingredients:
4 sheets of nori (dried seaweed), cut in half
4 cups sushi rice
2 Japanese cucumber, cut into long sticks

Preparation:Put a half-size nori on top of a bamboo mat (makisu). Spread about a half cup of sushi rice on top of the nori. Place cucumber sticks lengthwise on the rice. Roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward to shape the sushi into a cylinder. Press the bamboo mat firmly wish hands. Remove the sushi roll. Cut it into bite-size pieces.
Makes 8 rolls.
From: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/sushiroll/r/cucumberroll.htm

Perfect appetizers, or light lunch.

Vegetarian Club Sandwich

Recipe was taken from the September Issue of Vegetarian Times.

1/2 cup vegan dressing/sandwich spread (I used mayo)
1/4 cup Arugula
12 Slices toasted whole wheat bread
1 cup Radish Sprouts
2 Medium Tomatoes, sliced into 8 pieces
8 Slices meatless Bacon strips
1 Avocado, peeled, halved, and sliced
12 Slices meatless chicken

1. Combine the sandwich spread and arugula in a medium bowl. Spread on 4 slices toasted bread.
2. Divide radish sprouts over sandwich spread. Top each with 1 tomato slice and 2 bacon strips. Add a second layer of toast to each sandwich, and top each with 1 more tomato slice, then avocado and chicken. Spread remaining sandwich spread over remaining 4 toast slices, and place over chicken. Secure sandwiches with decorative toothpicks and cut into 4 triangles.

My recipe was a bit modified.. I just used 2 slices of bread (I recommend buttermilk whole wheat.. mm), and skipped the arugula and radish sprouts since I didn't have any. Still delicious though :)

Fake Bacon Cheeseburger

You need:
Buns
Boca Burger patty
Fake Bacon
Cheese (I prefer cheddar)
Avocado (optional)

Heat the burger patty and bacon as it says on the box, then put everything between the buns and eat!

Easy Homemade Pizza

You need:
Dough from a Scones recipe, such as this one:
1 3/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
Half of a Butter Stick
3/4 cup Milk
(If it's too runny, add more flour; too dry, add more milk)
Mix all these ingredients together and you have your dough.

You also need:
Tomato sauce
Cheese
Toppings

If you have time and want a little bit of a more creative pizza, cook the tomato sauce as you would for a pasta sauce. You know, fry some onions and garlic in olive oil, add tomato sauce and some tomato paste, and throw in basil and oregano. If not, just using the tomato sauce is fine.

Flatten out your dough into a circle, pop into oven for 2 minutes to firm it up a bit, then take it out and pour on your tomato sauce, cheese, and any toppings you'd like. Some ideas: zucchini, onion, olives, pineapple.. and if you eat meat you could use pepperoni, sausage, etc. Pop into the preheated oven (350 degrees), and cook until cheese is melted (about ten minutes, but I'd keep watch over it). Enjoy!

Pasta Salad

You need:
Pasta (macaroni or penne works best)
Olive oil
Vinegar
Cucumber
Tomato
Any other vegetables you like
Salt & Pepper

Cook up pasta until it's al dente; drain and rinse with cold water. Throw in the veggies (cut up), pour in some olive oil and vinegar, add the salt and pepper, and done! I often makes this when I'm going to class and then somewhere else afterwards, perfect dinner/lunch to go.

FBLAT

You need:
Fake bacon
Lettuce
Avocado
Tomato
Bread

Fry the bacon for however long it says on the package, usually about three minutes. Cut up your veggies, and put your bread in the toaster until it's lightly browned. Put the veggies/bacon on the bread (spread on some butter or mayo first). Delicious!