by : Reiko Pizza/Flatbread, Potatoes/Squash, Vegan Cheese

Autumn Harvest Pizza
秋ハーベストピザ

I don’t know what to name this.

But I put all the favorite things that happened to be home today.

It turned out great!

To tell the truth, so much better than I expected.

This is the roast we’ve been buying a lot lately.

It’s great to have.

I usually like whole-food, so I tend to go for beans and lentils, and tofu (okay, it’s processed but minimally).

But variety is also important.

And this one is so convenient, and I like to have a couple, one in the freezer and one in the fridge.

It’s pre-cooked and sold frozen.

You just need to thaw it in the fridge, and it’s delicious.

And the ingredients are not bad either.

Tomato sauce, Kabocha cream, vegan roast, mushrooms, kale, fried onions, black walnuts, vegan cheese.

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Potatoes/Squash

Creamy Kobocha Pasta with V-Cheese and Truffle Oil
かぼちゃクリームパスタ、Vチーズとトリュフオイル仕上げ

My husband and I were both home today at the lunch time.

So this was what I made for lunch.

The creamy Kabocha sauce was perfect for this time of the year.

I accented the sauce with fresh rosemary to give some fall flavor.

This is a rosemary pot I found at Trader Joe’s last night.

Smells so good!

The pasta was served with mushroom kale mustard salad.

I like mushrooms both cooked and raw, but my husband will not eat it when it’s not cooked.

I think the fresh mushrooms are delicious.

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by : Reiko Potatoes/Squash, Soup/Stew

Curried Kabocha Potage
カレー風味かぼちゃポタージュ

I’ve tried different types of squash, but Kabocha continues to be one of my favorites!

I usually leave the skin when I cook Kabocha, but this time I peeled it off only because I wanted my soup to have a bright orange color.

The orange color from the soup and the red from the pot look so good together.

Creamy, slightly sweet, and spiced.

And the color!

Perfect for this time of the year.

We don’t have any Halloween-specific plan today, but we are going to have dinner and watch the Vikings game with our neighbor friend tonight.

So that was the reason I made this soup.

I am bringing it over to her place tonight.

I also got this flower pot for her because she always lends me her books, and this is a little way to say thank you.

(She has a great selection of books, and I haven’t had any of her books I didn’t like!)

Hope she likes the flower pot.

I personally really like the colors.

Very autumn-like.

Apparently this is NOT the book I borrowed from my friend.

Her book I just finished reading is called “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd, and it was excellent.

(Oh, and I do not recommend reading a book when your soup is ready. You don’t want to let it cold!)

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta, Potatoes/Squash

Tempura Cha-Soba
天ぷら茶そば

When deep-fried, anything tastes better, right?

Well, I don’t always agree with this (candy bars do not need to be deep-fried, if you ask me).

But I have to say anything “tempuraed” does taste better.

I just used what I had, but these are some of my favorites to make tempura, Kabocha and onion-carrot.

These turned out great.

Super light and crispy, exactly the way it they should.

Tempura batter: a-p flour, corn starch, salt, ice cold water, white vinegar

If you think the soba looks green, it is green, because it’s Cha-soba, made with green tea.

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Potatoes/Squash

Autumn Oatmeal Bowl
秋のオートミール

Going back to the basic whole-food plant-based eating.

Grilled Kabocha slices.

This apple was from the local farmers market.

I believe it was Sweet Tango.

Not everything from the farmers market is great, unfortunately, but this apple was absolutely delicious!

This particular vendor sells many various kinds of apples, and they are lied up from right (the sweetest) to the left (the tartest), and they are very helpful.

I am planning to go back to this exact vendor to get more apples, thinking the one, whatever it is, to the right of Sweet Tango.

Oatmeal, Kabocha, Sweet Tango, black beans, dry cranberries, sunflower seeds, and a little drizzle of ginger maple soy glaze.

This was exactly what I needed this morning.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Potatoes/Squash, Sandwiches, Tempeh, Vegan Egg, Vegan Meat

Spiced Pumpkin Rye Sourdough Waffle Breakfast Sandwich
シナモンかぼちゃライ麦ワッフルで朝食サンド

When I make vegan eggs, I start with egg yolks.

The smallest batch that is easy to make yields 8 to 10 yolks.

I don’t make them too often (although they are quite easy to make), so when I make them, I like to utilize them the best I can.

That means my next several meals have to be something that showcase those eggs.

So I already made a plan last night to make this breakfast sandwich for today’s breakfast.

These waffles are made of sourdough batter mixed with rye flakes, Sunshine Kabocha, and cinnamon, etc.

The color screams autumn, doesn’t it?

I got a few things ready for the sandwich, including this homemade vegan bacon.

I decided to go with “double protein” toady: bacon and tempeh steak.

Also cheesy kale and sweet creamy buffalo sauce.

The waffles were buttered and lightly coated with maple syrup.

It’s a bit hard to see because of the lighting, but on the waffle are cheesy kale, tempeh steak, V-bacon, sweet Buffalo sauce, and V-egg.

Loved how it turned out.

Just having an egg on top makes anything “breakfast”.

The power of egg (-look)!!

This sandwich got two thumbs up from my husband!

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by : Reiko Potatoes/Squash, Salad

Autumn Sheet Pan Salad with Spiced Yogurt Dressing
秋の天板サラダ、スパイスヨーグルトドレッシングがけ

I was in a mood for a healthy but hearty meal for lunch today.

And I remembered the Pionner Woman’s show I had watched the other day.

It was a sheet pan episode, and I thought it was brilliant when I saw her making a salad on a sheet pan with roasted and fresh veggies.

I definitely got some ideas from her show, but you know me, I quickly digressed from the recipe.

It turned out amazing though!

I found this beautiful squash called “Sunshine Kabocha” at the local farmers market this morning, and this was so sweet and delicious when roasted.

On this pan you’ll find cauliflower, yellow pepper, and chick peas.

I bought this at an Indian grocery store the other day, because the name “Mango Pickle” fascinated me.

It’s a nice mixture of spices and super flavorful, but at the same time, I found it challenging to eat it as is.

But I knew its potential!

For my sheet pan salad, I made this dressing, a mixture of the Mango Pickle, unsweetened cashew milk yogurt, maple syrup, and salt.

This, I loved!

Doesn’t it look great?!

Served with homemade rye bread.

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Potatoes/Squash, Vegan Meat

Buffalo Potatoes
バッファローポテト

Today I didn’t have to go to the office.

So I decided to make lunch for myself and my husband, who is working from home as usual.

I happened to have some potatoes I wanted to use, so I decided to make a “breakfast” plate for lunch.

This is one of my recent vegan find.

This was sold at Costco, and the word “No Dairy” caught my eye.

I got so excited.

It’s creamy but not too thick.

It really tastes just like the Buffalo sauce.

This time I was going to use it as is (without blue cheese dip), so I wanted a little sweetness in it.

So, I added a little agave syrup, and oh my, it was so good!

(My husband suggested that I should just pour agave syrup into the bottle!)

This was before the sauce.

Doesn’t this look good?!

The potatoes were peeled, cut up, and then roasted in the convection oven at 400F.

I don’t use any oil, and it turned out great every time.

Crispy outside and perfectly cooked inside.

I contemplated an air fryer purchase for a long time, but finally I came to the decision that the convection function in my oven works well for what I would want to do with an air fryer.

I think these potatoes are a good example.

The Buffalo potatoes were served with homemade vegan bacon (love this!), scrambled turmeric tofu, spinach-arugula, orange, and grapes.

Who else like breakfast food for non-breakfast?

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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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