Yumm Sauce & Bowl!

I just love cooking simple & colorful dishes! Bowls are one of my favorite things to eat (sounds weird, but hopefully you know what I mean! lol). The combinations are endless, but I'm going to share with you the bowl (and sauce) I made tonight.

In Oregon there is a very small chain of resturanuts called Cafe Yumm. I have to say right now, I've actually never been to one! lol! A location recently opened in Portland though, so SOON I'm going to check it out!

I found out about Yumm when I was browsing sauces at Whole Food's looking for something yummy to add to a rice bowl dish. I saw the Yumm sauce, the name sounded cute, it looked tasty, and so I tried it! Mmm, it was love at first bite! It's creamy, spiced but not hot and very refreshing tasting. The jarred sauce was a bit spendy though, and since I like to cook I thought I'd scour the internets for a recipe.

I found this, and with only a couple of minor tweaks it became perfection!

Ingredients
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup almonds (I chopped them roughly before adding)*
1/3 cup nutritional yeast (must be nutritional, not bread or brewers yeast)
1/2 cup garbanzo beans
1/2 cup silken tofu (the original recipe called for soybeans)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
dash of dried basil, or several fresh basil leaves

*if you can find it, you can use almond flour for a smoother sauce. Or pre-grind the almonds until they are almost powder.

Dump everything into the food processor and whirl away until relatively smooth! 

Mmm, lookin tasty! You should end up with your sauce looking something like this...

This sauce works great on rice bowls, over eggs, as a salad dressing, veggie dip, sandwich spread... it's very versatile! Be sure to make this ahead of time, because it needs at least an hour in the fridge to let the flavors mingle. You can also add water if you feel it's too thick, but I like it like that.

I used my freshly made sauce to create a classic Yumm Bowl (with added eggs as per my daughters request).

My Yumm Bowl Recipe 

Cooked rice (any kind you like, this time we used Basmati, reg. white or brown rice works great too)

Black beans

Scrambled eggs

Grated cheddar cheese

Sliced olives

Diced avocado

Pico de Gallo salsa

Yumm Sauce

Sour cream

First cook your rice. While that's going I get the rest of the ingredients ready. Slice the olives, dice the avocado, scramble the eggs and grate the cheese. Once the rice is ready, assemble in any order you like, and chow down! 

If you try this recipe, let me know how you liked it! I think it works equally well on cold & hot days, it takes minimal prep (which I love) and travels well to work too! Enjoy!

Cooking 101

Hi everyone!

So this post will be a bit of a departure from the norm around here. I usually talk about my soaping adventures (or disasters! lol), my Etsy shop and product ideas and so on. Today I'm going to post about... food!

I don't necessarily consider myself a foodie (well... maybe just a little bit, lol) and I've never had any formal training, I just love to cook! I like experimenting, and I'll often just make things up as I go along. I understand that can be hard for people who feel they can't cook, but it's honestly very easy.

Unless this begins to take over, I'm planning on writing foodie posts every so often. I like sharing my food pictures on my Facebook, and I thought hey... why not share recipes too!

A couple of my fav ways to create dinners are "bowls" or "fancy salads" ... this is also a great way to get kids to eat loads of veggies I've found!

With a bowl, it usually starts with rice (sometimes noodles) then I add a variety of things, depending on what's in the fridge. Chopped tomatoes, chopped avocado, grated cheddar, varies salsas, black beans, grilled chicken, fresh cilantro, broccoli florets, red onion... as you can see, the combinations are virtually endless! It's yummy, satisfying and can be eaten hot or cold. Mmm!

Fancy salad is my fav lunch, or hot summer day dinner... starts with various lettuce and spinach leaves. Next add any combination of the following .... chopped tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced hard boiled egg, grated cheddar, blue cheese crumbles, crumbled bacon, grilled chicken strips, mini corn (Is that what it's really called? I'm not sure.. lol), sliced olives, various salsas, black beans, crutons, and any dressing you like. This also makes a super satisfying meal, and is very filling! Sorry, no pics of the fancy salad at this time... we always devour them, and then I think... oops, forgot to snap a pic! Oh well, next time!

If there's interest in learning my recipes and cooking style, I might make a separate blog for that. For now, enjoy and if you try a yummy bowl, or fancy salad, let me know!