Inhale tacos, exhale the negativity. That my friends, is how you Taco Tuesday. Especially before the holidays. These Thai Tofu Tacos are loaded with crispy tofu, crunchy kale, rainbow carrot medallions, strips of red cabbage and bathed in a creamy Thai peanut sauce. That sauce may look familiar, for a reason. I’m embracing the Swedish concept of “Lagom”, which is the idea of “just enough” or finding balancing. For me, balance is cooking once…and finding a way to reinvent those same ingredients. So yesterday’s Thai Rainbow Quinoa Bowl becomes…tacos! Get all the dEATs on this recipe and the concept of lagom below to find your taco zen.

It’s that time of year where we try to jam pack every type of social event into a span of 3 short weeks – cookie exchanges, holiday parties, ugly sweater gatherings, shopping sprees, you name it. And it can all be a little….overwhelming. I’ll admit that I’ve checked off approximately 5% of my holiday shopping and the clock is ticking with 7 days until Christmas. So in my procrastination, I’ve been reading all about 2019 trends and the Swedish concept of “lagom” or “just enough”. According to Greatist, lagom is expected to be a major health & wellness trend. In fact, it’s touted as the next “hygge” (read my post all about 2017’s cozy Danish trend here).

To get a vibe for this concept, let’s turn to our familiar friend, Goldilocks. She wants not too much porridge (that would be wasteful) and not too little (how would she have the focus for her day?) and it also need not be too hot (again, energy waste). It’s all about balance, moderation, simplification and slowing down. Sign me up!

Here are a few tips to embrace la vida lagom:

1.) Cook Once, Eat Twice: find that coveted work/life balance with recipes that allow you to cook once and eat like a king the rest of the week. This includes crock pot recipes that make large batches so you’ll have leftovers for lunch all week long, or freezer meals for later. You can also find recipes that use common ingredients, like this Thai peanut sauce, which is the highlight for my Thai Rainbow Quinoa Bowl recipe and these tacos.

2.) Adopt a Signature Look: deciding what to wear should not be a chore, but sometimes its so stressful and hard to keep up with the trends (yes, first world problems). Think about adopting a wardrobe of solid staples (like a white blouse or black turtleneck) that you can reinvent with accessories like a jeweled necklace, handkerchief, bold belt or cozy wrap.

3.) Initiate Walking Meetings: if you can’t fit in that workout and all those meetings, mash it up with walking/talking meetings. It allows you and your compadre to get some fresh air and reinvigorate that mind and body.

4.) Take a Break: self love was all the rage in 2018, and for good reason! We all need a mental refresh and shouldn’t feel selfish for getting our nails done, or just booking a conference room to check out for a few minutes. According to Psychology Today, these breaks can help you more effectively go about your day by resetting your mental track. Ever gone for a run and suddenly found the answer to a problem? Yup, that’s the magic of a mental break.

5.) Balanced Plates Over Fads: lagom is basically the opposite of extreme diets. According to Well and Good, everything in balance is exemplified by Swedish pizzerias, which often serve “pizzasallad”, a punchy cabbage salad, alongside the pizzas. It’s a fresh complement to the pizza and fills up the plate (and your belly) with something other than dough, that will also help with digestion.

Now that we’re all experts on la vida lagom, let’s put it into practice with this recipe!

Thai Tofu Tacos
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Thai Peanut Sauce
– One 13.5 oz can of full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk like Thai Kitchen
– 1/4 C of red curry paste like Thai Kitchen
– 3/4 C natural, creamy and unsweetened peanut butter like 365 Everyday
– 3/4 C coconut sugar (or white refined sugar)
– 2 T apple cider vinegar
– 1/2 T salt
– 1/2 C water
Taco Fixings
– One 14 oz block of extra firm tofu
– One package of tortillas (like Maria and Ricardo’s Organic Blue Corn Tortillas)
– 1 bag of Mann’s Kale Beet Blend (or chop kale, red cabbage & golden beets)
– 1 bunch of rainbow carrots, cut into thin medallions
– 1/3 C of roasted, salted peanuts, chopped

Directions:
Step 1: Make the crispy tofu by pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Then, place the block of tofu on a bed of paper towels to soak up the liquid. Press another layer of paper towels on top to soak up more of the liquid. If you have the time, ideally you’d let it sit with a pan on top to continue to drain. If not, go ahead and slice into 1-inch cubes. Grease a sheet pan with some olive or coconut oil and place the cubes of tofu in a single layer on the sheet pan; season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes, or at least once midway through to get an even crisp on all sides.
Step 2: Make the sauce by adding all of the ingredients to another small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until it comes to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for another 3-5 minutes whisking sporadically to ensure the bottom does not burn. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Step 3: Assemble the tacos by layering the tofu and all the fixings in warmed tortillas (I like to place in the oven for a few minutes as long as you have it on). Dredge it in the Thai Peanut Sauce and set some aside for dipping too!

You’ll have plenty of leftover sauce, so try that Thai Rainbow Quinoa Bowl too!

The post Living La Vida Lagom appeared first on The Shooks Life.

Sometimes all Monday needs is a splash of color. This Thai Rainbow Quinoa Bowl was just the spritz of color I needed to put an extra pep in my step for the last working Monday of the year! Let that sink in for a second. Last Monday in the office. Now go ahead and give into that mental “raise the roof”. You know you wanna. In this week’s meal prep, a bed of quinoa gets a burst of color from rainbow carrots, red cabbage, curly kale and spring peas, plus a snap of satay-inspired flavor with a creamy peanut sauce. Get the lowdown on why eating the rainbow matters and sashay to that recipe below.

Take a gander at those technicolor veggies! Pretty trippy, right? Veggies are having a renaissance and now you can find carrots, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower in an array of colors that are pleasing to both the eyes and taste buds. And, it’s not just specialty stores or farmer’s markets that sell these pretty jewels. Just last week I discovered these purple Brussel sprouts at Whole Foods, the rainbow carrots at Trader Joe’s and Broccoflower (or green cauliflower) at Cermak, my (traditionally Hispanic) neighborhood grocery store.

So the question is, are these just pretty on the eyes, or is there something more to eating colorful veggies? Unlike those technicolor poinsettias this time of year, these veggies are not dyed these pretty hues. According to WebMD, they get their vivid array of coloring from phytonutrients that protect the plants, which then offer a multitude of benefits when you consume these vegetables. And according to America’s PhytoNutrient Report, 8 out of 10 Americans are falling short of almost every color in their daily diet. Wondering the benefits from each color group? Check out this blog post I wrote a few weeks ago.

Now that I’ve hopefully satisfied your visual curiosity, let’s get to tantalizing your taste buds. You’ll want to lick the spoon with this creamy peanut buttery sauce that has a hint of spice and just the right touch of sweet. It comes together in 10 minutes or less and only requires 5 simple ingredients – natural creamy peanut butter, coconut milk, coconut sugar, red curry paste and apple cider vinegar. A couple of tips: make sure to get natural peanut butter without any added emulsifiers (the kind where there is a layer of oil on the top) to get the right texture and also pick up full fat, unsweetened coconut milk in a can. Remember that your body needs a little bit of fat to digest the nutrients in these vegetables, so don’t skimp on the good stuff and watch out for added sugars that aren’t necessary.

The beauty of this recipe is that 1.) the most complex part is the sauce 2.) it will make tons of this delicious sauce, which can be used in a variety of other recipes (best dipping sauce for skewers, just sayin’) and 3.) the sauce can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks. While the sauce is simmering, you can get the quinoa going on the stove top. Make sure to always rinse the quinoa beforehand, which removes its natural coating, called saponin. This coating can otherwise taste bitter or soapy. While a lot of packaged quinoa is pre-rinsed, it doesn’t to double down. With the sauce simmering and the quinoa cooking on the stove top, you can multi-task and chop up the veggies for this fresh salad!

Thai Rainbow Quinoa Bowl
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
Quinoa
– 1 cup of quinoa like Bob’s Red Mill
– 2 cups of vegetable broth like Pacific Foods Organic (or water)
Thai Peanut Sauce
– One 13.5 oz can of full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk like Thai Kitchen
– 1/4 C of red curry paste like Thai Kitchen
– 3/4 C natural, creamy and unsweetened peanut butter like 365 Everyday
– 3/4 C coconut sugar (or white refined sugar)
– 2 T apple cider vinegar
– 1/2 T salt
– 1/2 C water
Salad
– 1 bag of Mann’s Kale Beet Blend (or chop your own kale, red cabbage and golden beets)
– 1 bag of fresh snow peas, cut in half
– 1 bunch of rainbow carrots, cut into thin medallions
– 1/3 C of roasted, salted peanuts, chopped
– optional cilantro garnish

Directions:
Step 1: Start the quinoa by adding the vegetable broth to a small sauce pan over medium heat on the stove top. After rinsing the quinoa under water, add it to the sauce pan of vegetable broth. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy.
Step 2: Make the sauce by adding all of the ingredients to another small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until it comes to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for another 3-5 minutes whisking sporadically to ensure the bottom does not burn. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Step 3: Assuming you chopped the vegetables while the quinoa was cooking, it’s time to assemble everything! Once the quinoa is cooked, put it in a medium bowl and add as much of the kale beet blend, snow peas and carrot medallions as you’d like. Divide into 3-4 portions, then garnish with the chopped nuts and as much of the sauce as you’d like.

Stay tuned for another recipe using this sauce because you will have leftovers!

The post Life {and Food} in Technicolor appeared first on The Shooks Life.