"Some of These Vegetables Have Been in the Fridge for Two Weeks" Salad

Like any meagerly-budgeted student, I try to make my food last as long as possible. So, I rarely throw things out - to the point of scraping mold of off the top of the tomato sauce jar... But I did finally throw that out...

Salad!

- Bunch o' Spinach
- Cabbage (aged 2 weeks, chopped)
- Roma Tomato (bought at the same time as cabbage, diced)
- a few Baby Portabellas (also been sitting for 2 weeks, chopped)
- half an Avocado (might actually be older than above ingredients)
- half Green and Red Bell Peppers (sliced)
- some slivered Almonds that I've had since December

Dressing

- Dollop of Tahini
- Generous amount of Sesame Oil
- some Rice Vinegar
- Salt, Pepper, Mustard

All ingredients went into a tupperware container and were thoroughly and rhythmically shaken.

Chickpea Soup - a Comfort Food

For dry chickpeas: soak overnight and then boil for a while.

Here goes:
- Cooking oil
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 carrot (peeled, chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (pressed)
- 15ish oz crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbs cumin seed
- 1/2 tbs coriander seed
- salt
- pepper

Sautee onions and carrots with oil and salt til they soften up, throw in the whole seeds and garlic and mix it around for a while, until things get fragrant. Bust open that can of tomatoes and dump it in. Add some more salt and pepper and simmer til warm.
Now puree.

While that's in the blender, take this stuff:
- mushrooms (4 or 5 buttons)
- bell peppers (1/2 a red and 1/2 a yellow)
- celery (1 stalk)

Sautee these guys in that pot you were using earlier until nice and soft and then dump the puree back in there. Throw in your prepared chickpeas and about a cup of water and let it simmer.

At this point, add seasonings of your choice. I used:
- 2 tbs Sri Racha sauce
- 1/2 tbs oregano
- some fresh cilantro

Simmer down now and get out the bowls.

Scrambled Tofu

Adapted from Isa, culinary muse of the vegans.

All right, so:
half an onion, diced
stalk of celery, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, pressed
5 button mushrooms, sliced
some carrot, sliced
a few sundried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 package tofu (~1 lb), drained

Soy sauce
Paprika
Pepper
Hot curry powder

Heat some up oil, drop in the onion and celery and let those soften up. Add garlic, mix around for a bit and then the carrot, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes. Take a tablespoon or so of the curry powder, along with some paprika and pepper, and season the vegetables.

Now, crumble up the tofu. Add the crumbles to the mix, making kind of a layer over everything. Add some soy sauce. Lift the crumbles as they cook, but don't stir. The idea is to have everything sort of stick together.

Notes:
I added too much oil by mistake, but it made the onions and garlic crispy and that stuck to the tofu and was DELICIOUS.