Okay, so the other day, I gave a pretty so-so review to the recipe book “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. ” I’m not going to retract my review because I will always stand by everything I say, no matter who it may annoy. However, I got my copy of “Skinny Bitch” (the book they wrote before the recipe book) today and I must say, I am impressed. They cited their sources for everything, one of their sources being a book I actually own, Diet For a New America by John Robbins.
The book is put into plain language that I can understand and relate to. They use four letter words all over the place, which I personally appreciate, and they tell it like it is, no holds barred. Hey, it is dead, decomposing, rotting flesh in your colon. Just because you call it steak, doesn’t mean it wasn’t at some point in time part of a cow’s ass. Now deal with it.
I think I called the recipe book irrelevant, or something like that. Not true. See now, if my dumb ass would have waited until I got the first book and read it before getting the accompanying recipe book, I would have had different things to say. First of all, these ladies just want you to be healthy as you can possibly be and stop eating animal products at all costs. If you aren’t a home cook and can’t even boil water, have no fear, their recipe book is easy enough for you to figure out. I got all snobby about it because I know how to cook, that’s all. They’re just letting idiots know that they can do something as simple as buying vegan meat and cheese to make sandwiches and every little bit helps. So, my apologies ladies.
I did indeed find a recipe in “Kitch” that is actually my current lunch favorite. Right next to that is my new favorite side dish. I jacked with them a little to make them what I like, so if you read the original recipe it will be slightly different. Enjoy!
Hummus, Tempeh, Cucmber Wrap (pg142)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 8 oz package tempeh, cut into strips
whole wheat tortillas
1 cup hummus * i used chipotle spiced from Tribe brand- it’s my fave and it adds a kick
1 cucumber, peeled and diced, or sliced into thin discs
1 bag triple washed baby spinach
Heat the canola oil then sautee the tempeh until it is brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip it over, then sprinkle the garlic powder and tamari on top of it and get ready for a stinky kitchen. Let it cook for a few more minutes, making sure not to burn the tempeh. Remove from heat. Then you just assemble the wraps. It goes a little something like this, in case you’re a moron and can’t figure it out- tortilla, hummus spread on that, tempeh next, then spinach and cukes. See how easy? and freaking delicious, too. I’m sure you could switch it up to suit your tastes. For instance, the original recipe called for vinaigrette dressing to pour over the top once everything was assembled but I forgot to buy it the first time I made these, then found that these little buggers didn’t need any more flavor. They were delicious without it. The original recipe also called for romaine leaves, but I find them to be of very little nutritive value so I went with spinach. They also used refined coconut oil as their oil of choice for frying and I did use it the first two times I made these, but I SWEAR i could taste the coconut, even though Robert said he couldn’t. So this last time, I passed on the coconut and went with canola. ( I put a link to Robert’s myspace page so you can all know who I’m talking about, since I tend to talk about him a lot. I talk about my husband a lot too, but he thinks myspace is gay, so he doesn’t have one.)
Peanut Noodles (adapted from a recipe in Wonder Time, July/Aug issue, 2008 )
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or you could use chunky here, and omit the need for half of the chopped peanuts later)
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 clove garlic, pressed or chopped
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp grated ginger (use fresh! there’s nothing like it! when you have leftover ginger root, put it in the freezer for later use)
1/4 cup hot water *i used some of the hot pasta water because it contains starch from the pasta that will help this yummy sauce cling to the noodles)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 lb whole wheat, or some other healthy type of thin spaghetti noodles (brown rice spaghetti from Trader Joe’s works here)
1 English cucumber, peeled and diced (or you can use two regular cukes if you can’t find these or don’t care about the seeds)
Whisk together the first nine ingredients and toss with hot pasta. Toss in cucumbers. You won’t believe how the cold cucumber marries well with the warm pasta. The original recipe calls for chopped scallions and cilantro as garnish but I hate both of those, so there. Use if you want to, but I sure as hell won’t be kissing YOU later. Oh, the original recipe also wants you to serve this as a cold dish, but we all decided we liked it better warmed up. It wasn’t as sticky and thick in our mouths.
Together, these two dished were awesome. Lots of veggies, whole grain, and protein. Spectacular!
I’m working on expanding my soup repertoire, so next time, you may see some corn chowder or butternut squash soup. Until next time….
Just Desserts 