The Shared Buddha Bowls / October 7, 2016 by Amy Cantu

Buddha Bowl with Quinoa, Roasted Vegetables, Tofu, and Peanut Sauce

Everyone has this moment. I open up the fridge, and all I have are leftovers that I don't particularly want to eat. And so I pull them all out and look at them: roasted butternut squash, spinach, and mushrooms, (the accompanying roasted chicken finished off during the last meal). I poke a piece of butternut squash with a fork. I wonder if my family will notice eating it for a third time in a row. I imagine myself trying to eat them yet again. I really don't want to. I make this low growly-groan sound that everyone in my family recognizes as "CrAmy" (Cranky Amy), and I decide to make the best of it. Fifteen minute quinoa, tofu cubed and roasted in the oven in under 30 minutes, a peanut sauce whizzed up in the blender, and suddenly we have a Buddha Bowl that even my five-year-old THANKED me for cooking. In these moments, I feel as if I've stumbled upon a miracle, however small, because a delicious, quick, healthy meal made from leftovers is something to celebrate in my house.

Autumn Harvest Buddha Bowls

In The Kitchen Now: Korean Stewed Tofu with Green Onion Salad and Crisp Bacon / June 11, 2016 by Cynthia Raub

Subtle is rarely a word used to Korean food and this dish is no exception. I'm in a tofu phase right now and I want to eat it in every way possible: in soups, fried in squares with soy sauce, and baked and tossed in salads. Although I love tofu in all of the various preparations, this one is my favorite. I went back and forth between calling this a Korean style mapo tofu, but I decided against it. It's similar in that the tofu is stewed in a fermented chili sauce, but this version does not include the distinct Sichuan peppercorn. While the chili sauce makes the tofu piquant, pungent and dare I say, peppery- the green onions makes the dish... pervasive. In case it wasn't robust enough, the addition of bacon lardons for a crisp chew rounds out the texture and adds a deliciously fatty depth in every bite.

Korean Stewed Tofu with Green Onion Salad and Crisp Bacon