At last I do the Chopped Challenge!

I can actually say that I had a great Monday! I received confirmation of my registration for the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival, and tonight we are going to book our trip to San Francisco plus a few extra days to spend some more time in wine country 🙂 Work went well, its a beautiful day, and I went on a pretty nice autumnal shopping spree, which was a bit strange as I was trying on sweater dresses while its 80 degrees. Oh well, I will be able to wear them soon enough!

Oh yes, and an incredibly accomplished, amazing celebrity chef commented on MY blog!

Thanks to many of you, I also had a delicious and nutritious lunch, the result of the Chopped Challenge I put out there a few weeks ago.

The ingredients that were mandatory:
almond butter
quinoa
asparagus
sweet potatoes
regular potatoes
tofu

I played around with a bunch of ideas including a layered pie, which I could see being good except with the quinoa. So I went for a peanut sauce stir fry made with almond butter instead of peanut butter.

Step 1
Preheat oven to 415, cut potatoes and tofu. Coat potatoes in olive oil and place on baking pan. Sprinkle tofu strips librerally with spices. I used chili pepper, cayenne, and black pepper. Bland tofu kills me,

Roast until potatoes are soft, maybe 30 minutes. Definitely flip the tofu to get a nice crisp edge all around. Otherwise the bottom is still wet and soggy, as tofu tends to be. 🙂

To make the sauce, I used about a cup of Trader Joe’s raw, crunchy almond butter which is one of my favorite things on the planet. I added about a teaspoon of sesame oil, a pinch of spicy mustard, and two teaspoons of Thai chili paste. I don’t think I have cooked anything without this paste in the last two weeks.

I also streamed in about a cup of no chicken chicken broth to thin it all out.

In the meantime, the asparagus and half of a white onion were sautéing in olive oil for a short while. I wanted them to keep their crunch, so I waited until much later in the process to turn the heat on.  At the same time, the quinoa was cooking in a separate pot.

Then everything got tossed together.

The verdict: this is a great combination, and I would make it again! Next time I would definitely add more veggies, probably some broccoli and baby bok choy as well as a few drops of hot sauce or maybe a chopped habanero.

I made a fairly huge portion of this meal, so it will last me the entire week for lunch plus some. It is definitely a great way to have an inexpensive, healthy meal in bulk. I wonder if it would freeze well? Its always nice to have some individually packaged lunches in the freezer. One of my work colleagues had a good time teasing me about the quinoa, talking about my trendy grains. . . haha.

Do people ever make fun of/comment on your healthy food? Growing up a vegetarian and being interested in trying new things, I have always been teased for what I eat, but it doesn’t really bother me.

Off to watch Gossip Girl. Have a great night, and don’t forget to enter the Get Well Stay Well Giveaway if you haven’t already!