Spicy Soba Salad and a Favorite Taco Salad

Love soba noodles so I knew I wanted to try this recipe from One-Dish Vegan. 

 Edamame, cucumbers, and green onions.

 This has a spicy, sweet dressing made with tamari (Bragg's), rice vinegar, sweet Asian chili sauce, sriracha, and agave. I left out the sesame oil and sesame seeds because of my allergies. I replaced the sesame oil with a little flax oil (it's only used to toss the soba noodles in after cooking.) 

I wanted to serve this for supper so I cooked up some Gardein Chik'n Scallopini and sliced it over the top of the salad. Yum! This tastes even better the next day after it has chilled. 

~ Spicy Soba Salad with Edamame and Cucumber ~

I was craving this old stand-by taco salad we always used to eat which had hamburger and cheese in it so I just made a vegan version. 

I sauteed a bag of veggie crumbles with a little oil and some taco seasoning. That gets tossed with a head of chopped iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, sliced black olives, a can of kidney beans, and some Daiya cheddar shreds. 

Then, you crumble about a half a big bag of original Doritos corn tortilla chips and mix it in and top that with some good old Catalina dressing. Toss everything together and dig in. I even like it the next day after everything gets a little bit soggy. 

~ Catalina Taco Salad ~ 

Chili & Cornbread

What??!! It's the last two weeks in May?! I blinked and where did the month go? I've been enjoying the cool mornings we've been having; not looking forward to the scorching summer I know is quickly approaching. 

I found these chili and cornbread recipes in Vegan Diner. Lots of yummy looking recipes I need to try out of here. 

2 cans of beans; I used a can of tri-bean (kidney, pinto, and black) and a can of pinto. 

The chili recipe calls for dark cocoa powder. I had some black cocoa (it smells like oreo cookies.) The "meat" is some TVP granules. The chili only simmers for 15 minutes. I didn't think that it had enough time to develop the flavors. It was not the best chili I have made but it will do. 

~ Quick and Hearty Chili ~

The cornbread recipe has whole corn and sliced green onions in it. I've made cornbread with green chilis but never green onions. I also bought some chipotle powder; I'm not too fond of chipotle peppers which I've tried before but I think I can handle the powder. The cornbread was a little "wet" for me and I didn't really care for the green onions in it either. 

 ~ Chipotle Scallion Double Cornbread ~

Chili & Cornbread 

I garnished the chili with some chopped cilantro and topped my cornbread with Earth Balance margarine and some BeeFree Honee.