Braised Chicken with Frozen Tofu and Shiitake Mushrooms

Have you tried the frozen tofu before?  If not, give it a try because I strongly recommended it!  It works best with extra firm or firm tofu.  Just wrap it in foil and in a Ziploc bag and freeze it for at least 2 days or up to a year.  When you want to use it in any of your dishes, just defroze it in the refrigerator overnight.  When defroze, squeeze out the water as much as you can before cooking.  I normally used it in braising meat or chicken and the sponge like texture with soak up all the braising flavor.

This dish is actually kind of spicy because of the dried chilies, but you can freely omit the dried chilies for a more child friendly dish.

Continue to read more or for recipe.

Quinoa, carrot and mozzarella fritters

It took me a while to get on the quinoa bandwagon (I don’t really know why), but after I did I started making fritters with it quite often: with a salad they become a delicious and light lunch or dinner.

Here I have combined quinoa with other tasty ingredients such as carrots, mozzarella and olives – their saltiness goes really well with the sweetness of the carrots and the mozzarella. However

Brownies with white chocolate and raspberries

I think that whenever inspiration fails me when I want to bake something I bake brownies: I can’t think of any other baked good that is a hit with pretty much everyone I know. Not to mention that I absolutely love brownie batter: when I could still eat dairy I would always leave some batter left in the bowl for my own moment of happiness while the brownies were in the oven. :)

The brownies I

Peanut butter and chocolate chip bars

Lately I have been using peanut butter as a way of increasing my protein intake: I buy the natural type made with roasted peanuts only and add a spoonful to smoothies and such.

That reminded me of these bars I made ages ago, when I bought natural peanut butter for the first time. The jar seemed to last too long and I wanted to make something delicious with it. These bars are easy to put

Beef and ricotta meatballs

Meatballs are a big hit at my house and you will find some in my freezer whenever. They constantly become a quick weeknight dinner paired with salad – I do that quite often.

My go-to meatball recipe is this, but after seeing the wonderful Nigel Slater making burgers with the addition of ricotta I thought I would give it a go with meatballs: they tasted delicious and were incredibly light in

Lentil soup with crispy salami - waiting for fall to come

Summer here is over, however someone forgot to tell Mother Nature about it: the weather continues to be hot leading to uncomfortable nights for those who like me do not own an air conditioner at home.

While I look forward to cooler days and nights, I felt like sharing with you one of my favorite soups, sort of like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams: maybe if I post soups on the blog, fall will