Farmer's Market Love

It's spring break baby!!!  The perks of being a teacher... you have spring break forever!  My husband and I started our first day of freedom with  a yummy breakfast at First Watch then headed out to my favorite Farmer's Market here in Phoenix, Roadrunner Park Market.  I have finally made some room in the refridgerator for some new and beautiful produce and it was a great way to start the day!

Unless I'm following a recipe, I tend to throw things together and make a 1 bowl meal.  I prefer to mix things together anyways so I always love whatever I end up making.  

Today I used some fresh vegetables from my market trip and made a roasted vegetable salad with BBQ'd tofu.  It was delightful!

Roasted Veg Salad with Crispy BBQ'd Tofu

Ingredients

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch matchsticks

4 brussels sprouts, quartered

1 medium beet, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces

6 skinny asparagus, trimmed and cut into2 inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 handful washed and torn green lettuce leaves

1/4 package extra firm tofu, pressed, and sliced into pieces

BBQ sauce of your choice

1/2 lemon, juiced

EVOO

S&P

Directions

-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.

-Wash, cut, and prepare the vegetables from carrots down to garlic.  Toss in a bowl and drizzle with some EVOO to lightly coat.  Sprinkle with S&P.

-Spread evenly on the baking sheet.  Roast for 10-15 minutes.

-Meanwhile, prepare the tofu. ***I have learned that freezing packaged tofu immediately after buying it then thawing it in the fridge lends itself better to a hearty texture, along with allowing it to better absorb marinades and sauces***

-Heat a skillet over medium heat and lightly line with EVOO.  When the pan is warmed, add the tofu and fry until crisp, flipping when necessary.

-When the tofu is crisp, drizzle with the BBQ sauce (enough to lightly coat the pieces).  Cook for 2 more minutes, then remove from heat.

-Place washed and torn lettuce leave in a bowl.

-Top with roasted vegetables then the tofu.

-Use the juice of 1/2 of a lemon to drizzle on top.

-Sprinkle with S&P.

Veggies after roasting

Tofu with BBQ sauce

Frying tofu

The Final Product!

Roasting is my favorite way to prepare vegetables.  They sweeten up, especially beets and carrots.  If you've never tried it, I highly suggest you do because you're missing out fool!!!

Earlier this week, I put my Pinterest board to good use!  You can follow my Good Veggie Eating board here!  I found an amazing looking recipe for black bean burgers with an avocado cream sauce and corn relish that I just had to try!It's from a website called Pennies on a Platter.  You can view the website and recipe here

I will definitely be making this recipe again but I will most likely change the burgers themselves.  It called for using a food processor and I found that it made the burgers kind of mushy in the middle.  I also had to add far more panko bread crumbs than the recipe called for.  The avocado cream sauce was INCREDIBLE but I am looking into "veganizing" it.  I also refused to add the jalapeno to the corn relish because I continued to burn myself for 3 consecutive days after cutting a jalapeno once!!!

Here are my photos:

Frying the bean burgers

I forgot to mention that I
made some homemade
Spanish Rice to go with!

Corn Relish

Yum!

On another note, I learned earlier this week that I, somehow, have high cholesterol.  I laughed in my doctor's face when she told me the news.  I have heart disease and high cholesterol in my family so I know it has got to be a genetic thing.  I rarely eat animal products and have cut waaaaay back on cheese, and I never drink milk and use soy or almond milk as a replacement. I also don't eat much in the terms of eggs, so I am pretty much baffled.  I have decided that I will be definitely cutting back my dairy and egg intake as a result.  My friends laugh that I will be Vegan before they know it, and maybe they're right!

Has anyone dealt with high cholesterol?.  What did you do other than take pills?  I'd love to know :)

Have a great weekend my friends.  Enjoy yourselves and your food!

Peace, Love, & Veggies