Welcome to another year of food!

Wow!  What a holiday season, and first month of the year!  It’s been flying by at light speed over here.

Let’s see, I took Gabe home for our first together-Christmas with my family. For the most part, it was wonderful. We decided to rely on wealthy family members taking us out to eat instead of managing all those dietary restrictions in one place.

Oh, and then there’s me starting up evening classes again. It doesn’t leave as much time for me to contribute to cooking, so Gabe ends up taking the bulk of that duty.

And then there’s those beginning-of-year goals related to health and food. I prefer to avoid the term ‘resolutions’, which are fraught with peril in my psyche… but I have a much better track record with goals, and there’s always room for a diet and exercise tune-up.

-=-=-=-=-=-

So, here’s a couple food-related outcomes from all that. First, here’s an easy and nutritious dish. I am THRILLED to say that Gabe and I now have our first sandwich spread entry in our personal cookbook!!  It’s so exciting!!!  Having sandwich bread that doesn’t try to kill me opens up all kinds of new meals.

I’d been craving what I missed about tuna salad for a while, though actually making it and eating it was never as satisfying.  And straightforward egg salad gets so heavy so quickly. So Gabe and I pondered some of the usual similar combos – chickpeas, tofu – and finally settled on this tofu-egg combo recipe that sounded quite yummy.  Turns out, it really is!

(The photo shows our first try at it, when it turned out we were out of green onions. I really look forward to adding those in next time.)

Curried Tofu-Egg Salad
1 12.5 oz package firm silken tofu, pressed* and chopped/mashed**
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped/mashed**
3 tbsp chopped green onions
4 tbsp light mayo
4 tbsp plain fat-free yogurt
Cayenne pepper to taste
1.5 tsp curry powder
4 pinches dried cilantro
Salt and pepper

Mix ingredients and enjoy on slices of toast. :-)

*To press tofu, slice about 1/4 inch thick and place between two layers of sturdy paper towels, in between two dinner plates. Place a small weight on top (cookbook or bottle of juice) and let sit for 10-20 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
**The chopping vs. mashing issue is one of texture. Chop if you like chunky. Mash if you like squishing the eggs and tofu between your fingers while doing a Hulk impersonation.

(Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com, originally from Cooking Light magazine, March 1998)

Also, here’s a link for a yummy-looking, homemade and rather simple veggie broth.  My DIY spirit was invoked with this recipe that Paige sent along.  You might not know it from the number of canned ingredients we use, but we do occasionally consider our salt intake, and broth cubes can be insanely high in sodium. This is next on our list of things to try.