Tag Archives: radish

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It has been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe on the blog. I guess I needed a break from Vegan MOFO, where I posted a whopping 14 recipes, that is almost a new recipe every other day! And there is the holidays where I get a little scared of breaking out the new recipes and try to stick with the classics. And I really haven’t been feeling like cooking as of late. I think my new house set up seems like such a bigger commitment to either be in the kitchen or be on the computer. In the old apartment the computer was so close to the kitchen I could hear if something would overflow and hear timers, etc. Now the computer is on the second floor, and I just get anxious that something bad would happen.

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But before I talk about this hot pot, can I stop and talk about mourning someone who died awhile ago? Last night I noticed that my husband has been really preoccupied, and more stressed than normal. Sure work might of been really crazy, but something seemed different. Turned out he found out one of the girls he dated in high school died, but it happened several months ago and he was just finding out.

I know this can suck, and can happen often in smaller town. It has happened to me, with my friend Pete. We were friends senior year of high school and he wanted to hang out during our breaks during college, but I was sadly in another state and couldn’t hang out. I made some comment about his brother with Alexa, then proceeded to ask about Pete. She was dumbfounded and told me he past away, like 2 years ago. Nobody mentioned it to me because everyone thought someone else told me.

It was weird, because I couldn’t really talk to many people about it, because everyone already knew for such a long time. They had already passed the different grieving phases, so I was kind-of left alone with my feelings. I felt terrible for not being able to go to the funeral, not being able to hang out when we could of, and I felt bad for his brother, who under the circumstances of the death, felt responsible. Where do you turn? Luckily I could talk to Alexa about it, and I had a friend in my area who actually went to college with Pete, and also thought I knew about the death. So it we talked about awesome he was.

For my husband this girl got his by a car while running, so maybe it hit him on a closer level since we both go running. So now I am a little nervous what my next run will do to his nerves. But it is bound to happen. I don’t know, it is such a weird feeling about finding out someone passed away so long after it happened, it can feel embarrassing and isolating on top of all the feeling you get from mourning.

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But this post is about soup, so we will change the topic. This curry hot pot is one of my favorite weeknight dinners. It is super simple to make, and probably only need 10 minutes of prep time. Just chop, add broth, and boil. No sautéing, or prepping the protein. And even better, it is super easy to customize! That can be great when your partner doesn’t totally jive with your palette. In this case it is my husband not wanting his soup as spicy as mine. And if they don’t want tofu, it is easy to sauté some meat or faux meat for them. One wants a gluten-free diet? Use some other noodle (I’ve tried bean noodles, it is bitchin)

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It is worth noting the star of this recipe are individual hot pots. It was something I never bought because I thought it was silly and maybe a waste of money. It went on a wishlist for our wedding, and my sister and brother in law bought them for us. I mean it is an expensive item- $36 a pot, and you need to buy TWO for a couple. But I can safely say this is the greatest thing for two people living with each other. It is nice to have our own bowls for own meals. I’ve already posted recipes for dolsot bibimbap and mushroom hot pots with these pots. Again, this made it so I could have my super spicy bibimbap, while my husband could have his whimpy version. If you in a serious relationship and living with your significant other, I totally recommend buying them. You get the satisfaction of making what you want but sharing a similar experience.

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Keeping with the idea of customizing, this recipe is super flexible. I posted what I made in these photos, but I’ve switched around the ingredients. I’ve made this with seitan sausage instead of tofu, grilling the seitan and adding it in with the ramen. I switched noodles, switched the veggies (using sautéd onions, raw celery, potatoes, etc), this is a forgiving recipe. If you are thinking of different veggies to use, I usually use winter vegetables that last long in the fridge. Celery, radish, root veggies, cabbage, nappa, green onions, carrots, heck try out some beets. Go crazy. That is what I love about hot pots. Super simple stuff here. 

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If you are wondering where to get vegan ramen there are a few places. Some of the style of mainstream American ramen (oriental and chili) are vegan, and you can just toss the flavor packets. But that seems a little wasteful, but easy to find at your local supermarket. There is an organic all vegan ramen line called Koyo Natural Foods. They sell organic ramen noodles that are plain and have no flavoring. They also sell packets with powders, but I think my hot pot packs more flavor. Your next bet is to check out an Asian Market and look down their aisles. Look under the noodles aisle, ramen package aisle, and refrigerated sections. Read ingredients as egg can be a common ingredient in some of the fresh noodles. I found a package of noodles that came in round dried blocks, and came in one bag. So it saved money and packaging. Once you find a ramen source, you will likely go nuts for it. Continue reading


Say what you will, but I find that there is almost something artistic about a messy work space in the kitchen.

Say what you will, but I find that there is almost something artistic about a messy work space in the kitchen.

I have been so bored with food recently…and that’s saying a lot! I have wanted to try out new recipes but my budget has been tight and I have had so much going on that I haven’t had the time to do anything, or at least it’s felt that way. Yesterday I buckled down and decided that no matter what – I was going to make at least ONE new thing to eat! I have gotten my body in the habit of trying to eat (or at least ingest) something green once a day and when I don’t get to do that it makes me grumpy. While there wasn’t too much green in the foods I ate yesterday I at least know that what I made was vegan/vegetarian recipes AND they were on the healthier side!

I found this recipe on Pinterest (originally from The Simple Veganista) and tweaked it a bit. I had been eyeing the recipe for a while and decided that yesterday was finally the day to try it out! I always tend to think of even the simplest recipes as time consuming, mostly because of all the chopping they would involve (I tend to add more vegetables or more of a vegetable even if it isn’t called for), and let me tell you…this is SO SIMPLE. There are only 3 ingredients that need chopping – if that even, and the curry sauce is really easy to make as well. 

I am so excited because I have even more for the rest of the week! Can you say LUNCH?

I am so excited because I have even more for the rest of the week! Can you say LUNCH?

The only ingredients that were listed in Julie’s recipe were chickpeas, carrots, scallions, raisins and cashews. I obviously included the chickpeas and carrots, but replaced the scallions for the sweet onion that I already had in the kitchen and replaced the raisins with dried cranberries (or “craisins” if you will). I am not a huge fan of raisins and knew that these would give the right sweetness that Julie used the raisins for in her recipe. I also stuck with cashews because they are delicious. I also added some chopped up radish for an extra crunch and added flavor. Radishes are vegetables that I love but I never seem to use them in recipes that I end up making at home. 

When I threw all of the ingredients for the curry sauce (curry powder, garlic powder, a pinch of salt, lemon juice and hummus) together it all seemed a bit too curry-ish, which I find is hard to accomplish most times. It may have been the hummus I used, I usually like Sabra as my go-to hummus, but this time I had just used the leftover Trader Joe’s (surprise surprise) hummus I had in the refrigerator. The texture was a bit off and it seemed quite salty, so I read Julia’s notes and she mentioned adding maple syrup or any liquid sweetener to take that edge off. After I added a smidge of my Trader Joe’s Maple Agave Syrup is was PERFECT. I put the salad on bread, made it into a sandwich and brought it to work. It’s a wee-bit messy because chickpeas are big and round**, but if that’s the only thing I had to complain about then I would say it all worked out pretty well. 

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I will definitely be making this dish again and I am so excited to be keeping up with The Simple Veganista! I always love discovering new blogs and it’s equally as lovely to find out that the recipes they post are delicious. I recommend this for easy lunches, and the recipe makes a decent amount so you’ll have it for a few people or a few days!

** QUICK NOTE FROM JEN: I’ve made some chickpea salads in my day. I recommend mashing them quickly before stirring in all the veggies and such. Just get a few crushes to help them stay together in a sandwich.