one meal's leftovers is another meal's entrée.

this was all just from things i had in my pantry, and leftovers in the fridge. i would say that all these ingredients are foods i try to keep in my house. they are common, easy to store, and can be used in lots of different recipes.

Tacos from Leftovers

• tortillas
• brown rice
• black beans
• corn
• avocado
• onion
• tomato
• lime
• scallions

1. drain your corn, and toss it in a skillet with a little bit of oil. add some salt and pepper. cook up until they start to brown. set aside on plate.
2. in that same skillet with a tad more oil heat up some black beans. i like to add lime juice to my black beans.
3. my rice was some i already had made in my fridge. brown rice will take longer to cook than white rice. so, if you are looking for quick go with white. if you make white rice don't forget to rinse your rice first. keep rinsing until the water runs almost clear. i like to cook my rice in broth at 1 1/2 cup broth for 1 cup rice. the broth gives the rice a great flavor. sometimes i'll chop some cilantro in my rice as well.
4. chop tomatoes, onion, avocado, and scallions.
5. heat up your tortillas on the stove. you can do this in a skillet or if have a gas stove just put the flame on and cook it directly on that.
6. create and enjoy!

these were all ingredients i had around. you could do this with whatever veggies are leftover, or a staple in your kitchen. of course i coated mine in hot sauce, and lime juice. i squeeze the lime over everything. that is a lot of food in my pictures so i even had leftovers from this! it's a viscous, but delicious cycle.

apple burritos.

i had some of my most favorite people over for dinner last night, and it was awesome. dreams were dreamed of photographing all the food, and blasting out an epic post...but that did not happen. i was too busy having the time of my life laughing, and chatting with friends. one thing i did manage to snap a few photos of was the dessert! now, i did have to do a reenactment with leftovers & the last few drops of soy whip for the finished photo, but it worked. i made about 10 of these bad boys last night for the party so i tried to bring it to a more manageable amount (the pictures are from the big batch so, remember that!). alright, let's get down to business.

Apple Burrito

• 2 granny smith apples
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3/4 cups chopped pecans (pecans are super easy to chop with your knife)
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• tortillas

1. after peeling and coring the apples cut them in to thin slices.
2. in a skillet mix lime juice, orange juice, and apples.
3. when the apples start to get soft add cinnamon and brown sugar to taste.
4. mix water and cornstarch then add to pan while constantly stirring. do NOT add the cornstarch straight to the mix. it will just clump up. we need the cornstarch to thicken up the filling. it should be about the consistency of apple pie. if you need to add more cornstarch to get it to your desired consistancey just remember to mix with water first!
5. transfer to a bowl, and stir in pecans. i'm nuts for nuts so i might add a little more next time. the crunch they give is a nice additional texture as well.
6. let the mix kick it on the counter for a bit to cool down.
7. spoon the filling onto tortilla, & roll it up.
8. you can bake them at 350 for about 15-20 minutes on a cookie sheet lined with very lightly greased aluminum foil, or a lightly greased glass dish.
9. let cool on rack or plate for a few minutes then cut diagonally.
10. plate and eat up!

serve this with soy whip or vanilla soy/coconut milk ice cream. as well as adding more nuts next time i think i will brush some melted butter on them and sprinkle with some brown sugar. also, i read that ground cloves usually go in this dish, but i only had whole cloves so, that didn't happen, but i'd like it to next time. the filling could be made the day before to save time. when i was prepping one for the finished product shot, & it was chilled the burrito was way easier to cut as well. i guess what i am saying is i'm pretty sure these could be made the day before a dinner party, and warmed up before serving. now i am off to munch on leftover enchiladas, and remember the awesome time i had last night with some pretty amazing people. enjoy your day!

almond cilantro soup with cucumber lime slices!

since yesterday was cinco de mayo, and i'm making this for a dinner party tomorrow i thought this would be a good start!

i saw a recipe like this on PBS (PBS has some great cooking shows. they are fun to watch, get the recipes, & then modify with cruelty free ingredients). the host was at a culinary school in a small mexican town that i am completely drawing a blank on the name! ugh, anyway it looked & sounded delicious so, i had to have my hand at the soup. the hardest part of this recipe is getting all the cilantro off the stems, and cleaning the blender. let's do this!

Cilantro Almond Soup

• 4 cups of soy or almond milk
• 3 tablespoons of soy butter
• 4 leeks
• 1 large onion
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• 2 bushels of cilantro
• handful and half of almonds
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

1. cut the green tops of the leek. cut remaining leek into 2-3 inch pieces. halve this pieces lengthwise. cut onion into large chunks, these babies can be BIG. peel garlic, but leave whole
2. combine leek, onion, garlic, butter,salt, pepper, and 3 cups of soy/almond milk in large skillet. let simmer until leeks and onions are limp. limp is good here. what we're making here is a sort of bechamel. i usually let this simmer until the very end.
3. while that is simmering, in a blender combine almonds, cilantro (removed from stems), splash of olive oil and rest of soy/almond milk. blend this for a good amount of time. all the cilantro should be completely blended, no leaves left. when this is blended it should be about the consitancy of natural peanut butter.
4. take the cilantro almond blend and transfer to cooking pot. place a strainer over the pot, and strain the bechamel mixing the liquid with the blend (this is why the veggies can be left in such big chunks). the leeks, onions, and garlic that were strained from the bechamel is garbage. if throwing all those veggies bums you out, compost dat shit! sometimes i like to take a few of the onions, & toss them in the soup.
5. simmer until they are blended together.
6. eat!

i made this soup with my good friends, cristin & roberta, & we put it over rice. almost the way a curry would be served. it was super yummy.

Cumber Lime Slices

• cucumber
• lime
• kosher salt
• crushed red peppers

so easy.

1. peel and slice cumcumber.
2. squeeze lime over slices.
3. sprinkle salt over.
4. rub crushed red peppers in hands, and sprinkle over slices.
5. toss dat shit.
6. eat dat shit.

i dated a guy from Guadalajara for a bit, and he showed me this snack. i love it. i eat them all summer. it's the perfect summer snack, and the flavor is so fresh!