To follow up my copycat of Yumm sauce, here is the basic idea behind Yumm bowls. I love the original Yumm bowl, which is described below. The main difference between the one I make and the original at Cafe Yumm is the rice. Cafe Yumm uses brown rice, but I use white rice. This is mostly just because we keep white rice in the pantry but not brown rice. I don't think it makes that much of a difference in the overall taste. These bowls are delicious and cost a fraction of what they would cost from the restaurant!
As I've said, I like to eat vegetarian when I can. However, I have many friends who cannot conceive of a meal that does not include meat. To make Yumm bowls more appealing to those people, we add some type of cooked chicken to the top. Highly recommend trying Cajun chicken!
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown or white rice
1 can black beans, warm
1-2 tomatoes, diced
1-2 avocados, sliced
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/2-1 cup Shredded cheddar cheese
Yumm Sauce (make your own!)
Salsa
Sour cream
Fresh cilantro
Cooked chicken (optional)
Directions:
1. In a soup bowl, add 1-2 scoops of cooked rice.
2. On top of rice, add a layer of black beans, and pour desired amount of Yumm Sauce over the top.
3. Add desired amount of tomato and black olives and sprinkle cheese over the top.
4. Top the bowl with sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, and fresh cilantro.
If you have ever been to Oregon, you might have been to a local restaurant chain called Cafe Yumm. Most of their food is just rice bowls, but what makes this restaurant really unique is the signature sauce. I wanted to find a good recipe so that I could make the sauce at home, but most of the recipes I found online were not very close to the real thing. I have been tinkering with the recipe for about a year, and now I finally have something that is ridiculously close to the original! This sauce is awesome!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
3/4 cup cooked garbanzo beans (~1/2 15 oz. can)
3/4 cup cooked soybeans (not edamame beans)
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning (or add a little black pepper and lemon zest)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
Directions:
1. In a food processor, blend toasted almonds, garbanzo beans, soybeans, and oil.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until creamy and smooth.
This recipe was adapted from the recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/yummy-sauce-297251. I modified this recipe heavily, as the original recipe was not very close to real Yumm sauce.
This salad is a great side that can be made with no use of the oven or stove. It is awesome to make on summer nights, when I don't want to heat up the house. Totally delicious too!
Ingredients:
1 avocado, cut into small pieces
1 roma tomato, diced
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, cubed (or use halved balls of marinated mozzarella)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. Mix avocado, mozzarella, and tomato together and season with olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper.
This recipe was adapted from "Avocado Tomato Mozzarella Salad" from Bearwithmeee (http://www.chefjenny.com/2012/02/avocado-tomato-mozzarella-salad.html).
When I was in college, I loved getting pesto pasta from one of the coffee shops on campus. It was so delicious and simple that I just had to make it at home, especially when we started getting ridiculously large amounts of basil from our garden. This is great with a homemade pesto sauce, but you could also use store-bought too. Great summer side!
Ingredients:
2 roma tomatoes, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
8 ounces macaroni pasta (or whatever you have on hand)
3 Tbsp pesto
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
Parmesan Cheese
Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain.
2. When pasta has cooled slightly, add the pasta to a bowl with tomatoes, olive oil, and pesto.
3. Toss and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to serve, top with parmesan cheese, to taste.
This recipe was inspired by the recipe at the Whole Grains Council (http://wholegrainscouncil.org/recipes/main-dishes/penne-with-pesto-and-cherry-tomatoes).
I used to always buy canned salsa in the store just to have around for when we made Mexican food. However, a few months ago, I found this recipe for salsa made from canned tomatoes, and it is so awesome, I will never buy canned salsa again! It's amazing how much of a better this is than canned salsa, despite starting from canned tomatoes. The use of fresh garlic, onions, jalapeños, and lime juice are really make the flavor of this salsa. I did not expect this to be so great, but now I make it all the time!
Ingredients:
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 tsp lime juice (fresh is always better)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (or 2 Tbsp dried)
Directions:
1. Drain tomatoes and reserve juice.
2. Add onion, jalapeno, and garlic to a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse to chop.
3. Add juice from tomatoes, lime juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne. Pulse to combine.
4. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and process on for a few seconds. Add remaining tomatoes and cilantro and pulse until the salsa is the proper consistency.
This recipe is adapted from "Best Canned Tomato Salsa Recipe" from Simply Fresh Cooking (http://simplyfreshcooking.com/2012/04/best-canned-tomato-salsa-recipe/).
I really enjoy a nice breakfast on the weekends because I love breakfast food, and I really don't have time for a nice breakfast during the week. We used to go out a lot on the weekends for breakfast, but now we pretty much always make it at home because it saves us a lot of money. These dutch babies are delicious and so easy to make! I can't imagine ever paying for something like this in a restaurant now that I know how easy they are to make at home.
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 Tablespoons butter
1 lemon
powdered sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a 9” circular glass cake pan in the oven as it preheats.
2. Using a hand whisk, mix eggs, milk, flour, salt, and nutmeg.
3. When the oven is preheated and the cake pan hot, remove the cake pan from the oven and throw in 3 Tbsp of butter, swirling the pan to prevent the butter from browning or burning. When most of the butter is melted, pour batter into the pan.
4. Bake 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer pancake to a large plate.
5. Finish with lemon juice and a dusting of confectioner's sugar, to taste.
This recipe was based on Cleo Coyle's Cake Pan Dutch Baby (http://coffeehousemystery.com/userfiles/file/CleoCoyle_CakePanDutchBaby.pdf).
When I was starting out with cooking and trying to build up a set of recipes I liked and felt comfortable making, this was one of the first things I made. It's an awesome dip to take to parties! The feta, tomato, and avocado in this salad really complement each other. Highly recommend this recipe because it's very easy to make and sure to impress a crowd!
Ingredients:
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cups red onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 avocados, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Dash of lime juice
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except avocado.
2. Add avocado and stir a few times (you don’t want to make the avocado too mushy).
3. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve with tortilla chips.
This recipe was adapted from the recipe at tastebook.com (http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/354791-Kathy-s-Avocado-Feta-Salsa?full_recipe=true).
