Picnic-style Salads and Introductions.

I don't think I properly introduced myself or the blog yet.  My name is Claire.  I'm 23 years old and I've basically never worked a day in my life.  Since my parents go to work every day so I can continue to live in their house and spend their money on toys and games, I thought I'd give back by making a huge mess in the kitchen every day.  Really, it started when, for several days in a row, my dad came home saying he didn't want to eat dinner because he had a late lunch that made him feel sick.  My dad has his share of health issues from various causes, giving him a slew of dietary restrictions, so it makes sense that eating at the "crappy little deli downstairs" as my mom calls it, would make him sick every day.  So I started making bento-style lunches for him to take to work.  After about three days of this my mom got jealous, so, as of yesterday, I started making lunch for both of them.  I decided to make this blog to showcase my efforts and recipes, as well as serve as a log of my successes and failures (see: Irish Soda Fail ) for my own personal reference.  Of course, after this Friday, I'm going to be visiting my boyfriend and his family in Tulsa for a month with no kitchen.  So expect a long hiatus after Thursday.  Sorry, mom and dad.  I'll resume upon my return, and yes, I will apply for some jobs as well.

Bam. Introductions. Done.

Moving on to today's (tomorrow's?) menu.    My parents have their bento boxes with them at work right now, so I'll have to wash and pack them when they get home.  So no pictures of the finished product in this post yet because, well, it's yet to be assembled.

That being said, I've already cooked everything that I'm going to put into their bento for tomorrow. I like to cook early in the morning (around 10/11 am, after I get up) because otherwise I will procrastinate and have to make everything after dinner and be up until midnight making 3 things like I was last night.  Today's theme is PICNIC FOOD.  Which means various kinds of "salads".  Purely by coincidence, everything I happened to make today is vegan.  You can add animal products to these recipes if that bothers you.

FIRST SALAD:

Tofu "Egg" Salad (for sandwiches)

Ingredients:
1 block silken tofu, drained

2 chopped scallions, whites included

1/4 of a large green bell pepper, diced up small w seeds removed

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

vindaloo seasoning to taste

hot curry seasoning to taste

1 teaspoon of turmeric for color

1 tablespoon fresh lemon thyme (just the leaves)

salt and pepper to taste

Put the tofu in a large bowl and break it up a little bit with a wooden spoon.  Add the vinegar and spices and give it a good stir.  Stir gently if you want it to stay kinda chunky like real egg salad, or just go at it if you don't care.  Once everything is combined (you'll know because it should become a pretty uniform yellow), stir in the scallions and bell pepper.  Transfer to a tupperware container and refrigerate until you're ready to use it or eat it or whatever you plan to do with it.

SECOND SALAD:

Roasted Turnip and Potato Salad

ingredients:

roasting bits:

3 small radishes, washed and quartered

4 small red potatoes, washed and quartered

olive oil for pan and for drizzling

salt and pepper to taste

arrange veg on a greased up, foiled up cookie sheet, as above.  drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper as you like it. Bake at 400 degrees fahrenheit for like 40 minutes or until you can easily puncture through one of the quarters with a fork.

dressing:

1 tbs olive oil

2 tbs of balsamic vinegar

1 tbs of chimichurri spice

when the veg are all roasted up, slide them into a bowl and mix 'em up with the above ingredients.  I strongly endorse buying the chimichurri mix and putting it in everything you cook.  It is especially good in soups.

Anyway mash up the veg a little bit with a wooden spoon while you mix in the dressing ingredients, let cool, then transfer to a tupperware and eat it later.

THIRD AND FINAL SALAD:

Daikon and Apple Slaw

2 apples (any kind.  i don't know what kind i used.  the cheap kind?)

1 chunk of daikon about the size of one apple

1/4 c dried wakame

2 tbs seasoned rice vinegar

1 tsp lemon grapeseed oil

1/4 c coconut milk

relatively the same size

wet ingredients

cut the apples and daikon into matchsticks and try to do a better job than I did. While you're choppin, put the dried wakame into a cup, add just enough cold water to cover it, and then cover the cup with a saucer.  let sit until all the water is soaked up.  combine all ingredients into a large bowl and stir.  transfer to a tupperware and refrigerate until you're ready to eat.

SIDE NOTE: i used some "fancy" ingredients in the above recipes, and I realized they probably aren't common pantry ingredients in most households. But they should be because they are all fantastic, which is why I provided links to where you can buy them.  They maaay seem kind of spendy if you are a cheap ass like me, but they tend to last a while (good spices are always a practical investment, and just a liiittle bit of the grapeseed oil packs a ton of flavor so it will last you like forever).