Mole Tofu Tacos and Carrot Cake

Sometimes I get up early on the weekends.

This is not by choice.

I went to bed at 3 AM, clutching my hot water bottle (and teddy bear) like a baby and lamenting the fact that my nail polish had smudged. But then I woke up at about 5:24, rip-roarin'-ready to go (probably the Red Bull I had at like 11 PM last night). This happens quite often, actually, and so when I can't get back to sleep, I take advantage of my lack of exhaustion (rarely happens when I actually need it) and clean. Clean, clean clean. Especially when my parents will be seeing my room around 4 hours later. Can't wait to see you, Mama and Baba!

Anyway, after I took a walk (me? walking?) out on Indian Hill with a friend of mine, I came home and decided I wanted to make something with tofu again, since I finished the ginger-sesame marinated tofu pretty damn quickly the day before. I had been eyeing this mole tofu taco recipe from Cara's Cravings for quite some time, but I always shied (that word looks SO weird) away from it because getting chipotles in adobo sauce would involve going to the store since Weshop doesn't carry them. But I figured I'd improvise, as usual, and just use green chiles (I'm so creative). Also Cara's Cravings has tons of other amazing recipes and you should all check it out.

About a third of the way through the recipe (aka the important part), I realized that I had forgotten I was halving the recipe. Meaning I had just put a tablespoon of molasses instead of half a tablespoon. I hate molasses and was reluctant to put it in the sauce, but I figured it was somewhat essential to the flavor. Anyway, we just added another onion (my friend Naomi was over. Hi Naomi!) and it turned out fine. I'd even go so far as to say...delicious.

"You should definitely add cilantro. It'll make the photo look less....yeah just add the cilantro." -Naomi

Mole Tofu Tacos
from Cara's Cravings

Ingredients

• 2 14oz. packages firm tofu
• 1 1/2 large onions
• 1 T coconut oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (I used green chiles instead, but next time I'll be less lazy and go to the store to get these)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 T molasses
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 T creamy peanut butter
• 2.5 c vegetable broth
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 3 dates (I didn't have these, so I omitted)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Spray one or two 9x13" glass baking dishes with olive oil spray. Drain and press the tofu, then dice into cubes and arrange in the trays. Spray the tofu with more cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes, turning 3-4 times, until lightly browned on all sides. Remove from oven.
2. While the tofu is baking, heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Sauté the onions for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, chipotle pepper, cumin, and coriander. Cook for about 1-2 minutes more, stirring.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree the sauce, using an immersion blender or a regular blender/food processor.
4. Return to pot and add the cooked tofu. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, uncovered, until sauce thickens.
5. Heat some corn tortillas, get out lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, whatever you want.

So delicious. So thick. Who knew that chocolate, peanut butter, adobo sauce, and tomatoes went together?

Anyway, after I took a nap instead of doing work, I had an hour to kill before my friends Ellen and Codi arrived. Since house brunch was the next morning (aka in 3h20m), I figured I'd make the carrot cake then instead of waking up earlier to make it in the morning. It was easier to make than expected. I (smartly) thought that I had to grate the baby carrots by hand, until I realized (aka looked up on the internet) that I could just throw them in the food processor for a few seconds. Those things are magical, I tell you.

After eating a good portion of the batter (fingers crossed no salmonella), I poured it into the springform pan (I don't have a cake pan)....and the bottom almost fell out. Luckily I have awesome reflexes, so I caught it just in time. But man, if it had fallen....I don't even want to think about what cleaning that would be like. K here's the recipe, sent to me by my awesome friend Ellie.

Also I don't like cream cheese frosting, so you can just look up the typical recipe for it if you want.

"I'm too tired to think of a quote right now but I'm so overtired I can't even go to sleep so that's why I'm writing this blog post" -an exhausted me

Carrot Cake with Vanilla Icing
recipe courtesy of The Food Network

Ingredients

• 2.5 c all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces grated carrots (if using baby carrots, just throw them in the food processor for a few seconds)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 c sugar
• 1/4 firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 6 oz. plain yogurt
• 6 oz. vegetable oil (I used half Smart Balance, half vegetable oil)
• frosting/icing/whatever

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a springform/cake pan with some Pam. If using a cake pan, use a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep one, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Put the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.
5. In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.
6. With the processor still running, drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined.
7. Pour into the springform/cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow it to cool completely. Frost or ice with frosting or icing (...).

Yeah I made the mistake of just pouring the icing on with a mere plate underneath. It ended up getting everywhere--on the floor, on the table, on me. It was not fun to clean up this morning. The floor was really sticky.

Oh also I was in the Argus (our school newspaper)! Naomi wrote an article on food and blogging. There are some other really cool blogs there too, so check it out!

Song of the Day-- Salento by René Aubry. A beautiful song to listen to as the sun is rising, or at any time of day.

Recovery Quote of the Day.

Okay, I think it's time I go back to sleep until Mom and Pops get here (slash play DS). Happy Easter (weekend) and a shout-out to my whole family, wherever in the world they may be--love you and wish I could be with you all!!

-Carina

Caligiuri Girls' Weekend in Chicago

Words (besides food and wine) are unable to describe the sheer wonder of this weekend. So I'll let pictures do the talking.

Piranha Plant design in espresso at video game-based café

Table set for 6

....clearly unhappy on the train ride to the airport.

What an amazing weekend. I am so lucky to have such awesome cousins!!!! Love you all so much!! #CGW

Song of the Day-- Daydream in Blue. Great song to jam to in the car.

Recovery-- A nice blog to check out: Stop Hating Your Body.

-Carina

Eggplant Quinoa Lasagna and Chicago Travels

I'd like to think I'm a smart person.

I get good grades (most of the time), I have common sense (some of the time), and I make good decisions (.....).

But yesterday morning, my common sense was a bit off due to the fact that I got approximately 4 hours of sleep (my flight was at 7:35 AM so we had to leave at 6:15). Still, I woke up so excited, because I was gonna fly to Chicago for a girls' weekend with my cousins (#cgw [Caligiuri Girls' Weekend])!!

Anyway, we left at around 6:35 because that's Arab time for 6:15, and arrived about 15 minutes later. I had already checked in online, so I went through security and looked for the gate on the TV screen. I couldn't find it. I checked my boarding pass and realized....I was in the wrong terminal. For some reason, I thought I was flying Continental, mainly because the stupid United logo is the exact same as the Continental logo, (why I looked at the logo and not the name of the airline, I do not know). They merged, but for some reason they decided to keep being separate, and for another strange reason, Logan decided to have them be in different terminals -____-

I asked a security employee what I should do, and he gave me directions for Terminal C (I was in A). I ran like the wind (jk my bags were too heavy. I walked.) and arrived to a new, longer security line. I was freaking out that I was gonna miss my flight. I exchanged conversation with probably the most pleasant airport employee I've ever met, which was nice, and then actually ran like the wind to my gate. I barely made it, thank God. But we ended up waiting on the runway for like half an hour, lol. I felt like such a flying noob when I arrived and was hitting everyone with my bag. The flight attendants kept saying "Is this your first time flying, sweetie?" and I was forced to smile sweetly back and then say "no."

Okay that's enough about my lack of common sense. Time for food.

Every week I make lunch or dinner with my friend Codi, so this week we decided to make Eggplant Quinoa lasagna, inspired by Peas and Thank You. The original recipe calls for Zucchini, but Codi and I are both eggplant fiends, so we decided to replace it. (btw I'm watching TV right now and I find it really funny that the Magnum ice cream company's slogan is "Magnum. For pleasure seekers."). I attempted to slice the eggplant and cut my finger in the process, so my housemate, an expert chef, had to take over for me. We smoked some delicious hookah while waiting (coconut flavor--Leavitt and Peirce in Harvard Square was having a huge sale so I stocked up) until it was ready. And man, was it good. So, here's the recipe. My Auntie Rada made it for me when I was in Dubai over Winter break and it was the most amazing thing. Ever. Love you! Kick Nadia and Amino for me.

"I guess it's more like lasagna casserole. It doesn't really actually looks like lasagna...most of the time." -yours truly

Eggplant Quinoa Lasagna

inspired by Auntie Rada and Peas and Thank You

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant, cut into thin slices
• salt
• 1 c red quinoa
• 2 c vegetable broth
• 1/2 c tomato sauce
• 1/4 c minced onion
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 c fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• cheese (optional)

Note: Weshop was out of fresh herbs so we just subbed with dried. I tend to use a 1:2 ratio (dried:fresh).

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. To prepare eggplant, cut of a strip off of one side to make a flat base. Then, thinly slice eggplant into 'noodles.' DO NOT CUT YOURSELF. This is important. Really.
3. Place noodles in a colander and sprinkle with salt, layering between paper towels.
4. Let this sit and absorb moisture while preparing the quinoa.
5. Combine quinoa, broth, tomato sauce, onion, and oregano in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
6. Cover and lower heat, simmering for 20 minutes.
7. When quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, fold in herbs.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Pour enough of the marinara sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish to cover the bottom.
10. Using a dry towel, blot remaining moisture from eggplant and layer enough noodles to cover the next layer over the marinara.
11. Repeat with another layer of quinoa, sauce, and eggplant.
12. Top the final layer of eggplant with remaining sauce and cheese, if using.
13. Bake 35-40 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes.

Seriously, this thing is delicious (all of the time). Make it. Now. It's gluten-free, vegan (if not using cheese, which we didn't), and..delicious. I said that already. The eggplant replaces the lasagna noodles, and the quinoa replaces the meat, but feel free to mix the eggplant with regular noodles.

Anyway, back to the Windy City. Chicago has been awesome. Seeing my cousins has been wonderful, and I was able to see a dear friend of mine who I hadn't seen since May. She took me Intelligentsia yesterday, which was delicious.

"How do they do that?????" -most people, I would think

She took me to Wicker Park today and I got an awesome '50s style dress at Buffalo Exchange. White, classic. Gram would've loved it. We went to a great coffee shop, too, but more on that in the next post.

Anyway, I should get to bed. I'm exhausted and my nails just dried so I can actually go to bed without ruining them (hopefully). Sleeping on the couch is awesome cause then you can watch TV and fall asleep (which I would be able to do if I hadn't forgotten my glasses at school -_____- ).

Song of the Day-- The Phantom (1930 Version) by Parov Stelar. A very catchy song, fun to blast with the sunroof open and windows down.

Recovery Quote of the Day-- I've been looking for a quote like this for a while. I always see "When Did This Become Hotter than This??" with pictures of people like Keira Knightley on top and Marilyn Monroe on the bottom and get really aggravated. Reasoning below.

"Just because you call a woman beautiful who isn't stick thin doesn't mean you're promoting body acceptance. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: We won't resolve our body image issues by creating a battle between size 12 and size zero, or judging someone's health by rudimentary and outdated measures."

K now I should really go--my contacts are so dry. It's really uncomfortable.

-Carina