This was so many things, but all of them simple. The lemongrass tofu comes from Salad Samurai, and I’ve made it before (for the pad thai salad), but I thought it might work in this context. The other two dishes come by way of the Thrive Foods book, which I’ve only cooked out of once. Well, technically, that was a raw thing (some energy balls involving all kinds of obscure “superfood” powders I ended up spending $$$ for at Whole Foods that now live in a gallon zip bag in the bottom of my baking tub, but I digress!), so this is the first time I *cooked* with the book. It’s basically a vegan nutrition book with a section containing collected recipes from a variety of sources (well-known vegan/raw food restaurants, friends of the author’s, etc.), and it’s not the most well-organized reference, so I really had to sift through it for inspiration.
What drew my eye was this “Asian” carrot salad with a ginger-lime dressing, fresh herbs, sesame seeds, and avocado. I threw a whole bunch of big, fat, locally-grown carrots in the food processor with the shred blade, and ended up with twice as much carrot as necessary. And even setting aside half of the shreds, this was a pretty massive salad. Hopefully it makes good leftovers.
I opted for a simple rice dish to bring things together, and this recipe was from Ravens Restaurant in Mendocino, Calif., which is attached to the Stanford Inn, an all-vegan rustic/fancy lodge that I’ve had the great fortune of visiting three times. I’d go back right now if it wouldn’t fill me with checking account dread. It’s beautiful and cozy and the breakfasts are wonderful. So why not try to make their seaweed rice? It’s not the same, but it’s a lot cheaper and doesn’t require a four-hour drive.