by : Reiko Main Dish, Potatoes/Squash

2021 Valentine’s Day Meal
バレンタインデーご飯

We were initially thinking about a takeout meal to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but then we decided to make a meal on our own with a little help.

I personally like to have a big meal for lunch rather than dinner so this is what we had for lunch today.

First course.

Salad with Balsamic vinaigrette (not in picture).

Second course.

White Bean Soup.

With black garlic.

Main dish.

Vegan ribs from The Herbivorous Butcher with homemade (by hubby) BBQ sauce.

Cheesy potatoes.

Sautéed broccolini.

We made everything except for the ribs.

It was a good idea to get the ribs from the HB, which made the meal-prep much easier and quicker, and that allowed us to really enjoy cooking together.

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls.

Plain and cinnamon-cherry-walnut.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

We even sat and ate the the dinner table!

And my husband gave me the cutest (and situation-sensitive) card!

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Rice/Grains

Jamaican V-Chicken Plate, with Ginger Gravy and Coconut Bean Rice
ジャマイカ風Vチキンプレート、生姜グレイビーとココナッツ豆ライス

“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” is one of my favorite Foodnetwork shows.

I love the host, Mr. Fieri’s energy, and I also get a lot of food ideas from the show.

A few days ago I saw him visiting a Jamaican restaurant, and the chef was making a chicken dish with “ginger gravy.”

When I heard it, I knew I had to try it.

Ginger gravy!

Doesn’t it sound great?

Well, luckily the chef was showing how to make it, and I quickly wrote it down.

The main ingredients are ginger (of course) and thyme.

Who knew you use thyme a lot for Jamaican cooking.

My gravy ended up with the color a little more red than the restaurant’s, but it tasted great.

Definitely unique and has the strong ginger flavor.

At the restaurant the dish was served with some kind of coconut bean rice, so I prepared this (my own concoction).

My husband really enjoyed this meal, saying it had very unique flavors, different from what I typically make.

That’s why I like to be exposed to foods from various countries and cultures.

Trying new food is always so much fun.

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by : Reiko Bread, Main Dish, Mushrooms, Potatoes/Squash, Salad

2019 Thanksgiving Dinner
2019年感謝祭

Happy Thanksgiving!


Here is the main dish of this year.

Mushroom stuffed vegan roast.

Isn’t it beautiful?

This homemade roast was so good!! (so much better than store-bought ones.)

Glazed Satsuma sweet potatoes with black sesames.

Sauteed broccolini with crushed red pepper.

Corn bread.

Kale persimmon salad.

Salad is traditionally a part of Thanksgiving dinner, but I still like to have fresh vegetables.

Also on the table were garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom walnut gravy, and mandarin cranberries.

My husband and I are spending the day with the family at his mother’s house.

Looking forward to seeing everyone and hanging out.

We are planning to bring some of these dishes so that we will have something to eat, but I heard my mother-in-law is also modifying some of her recipes to make a few dishes vegan for us, which I very much appreciate.

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Mushrooms

Plant-Based Mushroom Stuffed Roast
ヴィーガンきのこ詰めロースト

This is my first vegan roast, and I couldn’t be happier with the result!

I used this recipe.

I followed the recipe mostly.

Since I was putting a lot of effort (it was not difficult to make, but I was mentally quite invested), I decided to double the recipe and made two roasts.

So glad I did that!

Great flavor and texture.

I made this for Thanksgiving, but this will be a great main dish for any dinner party.

 

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by : Reiko Main Dish

Gyro-Style Seitan Plate
ワンダフルVプレート

This was one of those lunch plates where I cooked whatever in the fridge and put together on a plate.

I was not planning to take pictures, but it was so delicious that I had to!

I had seitan meat, so I sliced it very thin and cooked it in a pan.

On the plate you’ll find the cooked seitan slices, brown rice, roasted cauliflower, tomato/onion slices, and spinach/arugula leaves.

I had a little homemade vegan feta cheese left in the fridge, and I made creamy yogurt-like sauce with chopped cucumber, which was so refreshing.

It was such a great lunch plate, and my husband and I absolutely loved it.

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by : Reiko Main Dish

Blackened Cauliflower Tacos
焦がしカリフラワータコス

Today I’m an avocado-prisoner.

I bought a bag of eight avocados (well it had a great price!) and waited for them to ripe for a few days, and then they became ripe ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

So making tacos for lunch seemed to be a good idea so that we can consume some of the avocados.

I didn’t have tortillas at hand, so I decided to make some myself for the first time.

It was surprisingly easy.

It took a little while to flatten and cook all 19 of them, but once I started cooking using two pans, it went pretty quick.

Like almost anything else, homemade is the best!

Taste so fresh.

First, of course, avocado.

Blackened cauliflower.

All the toppings.

Chili garlic glaze is drizzled right before serving.

So delicious!

We devoured them.

It was so worth making tortillas at home!

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by : Reiko Main Dish

Seitan Pepptercorn Steak
Vペッパーコーンステーキ

First time making seitan steak.

Like I’ve said many times in the past, I’m not a huge fan of fake meat.

But when you’ve been on the plant-based diet for a while, I would admit you will want a variety.

I hesitated, but decided to post these pictures, so that people who are not familiar with seitan can get an idea of what it is (mostly because the final result may look exactly like the meat steak).

The first picture is where I was “kneading” the “meat”.

The second picture shows the “meat” steamed and ready to be fried.

Peppercorn “steak”, served with mashed potatoes, peas, and sautéed portabello mushrooms.

This was really good.

Absolutely loved the look and the flavor (marinade).

But I think it could still improve, so you’ll see my making more seitan steak in the future for sure.

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