Chow Vegan

Today, I guinea-pigged for you my hare-brained idea of Chinese food leftovers as a topping for savory oatmeal. I will now be eating all of my leftovers like this. It’s tasty, quick and so simple and easy.

Enjoy your favorite Chinese food the day before, something with a flavorful sauce. Either dine-in, take-out or homemade. I had a lunch special (I’m lazy like that) – fried tofu sautéed with vegetables in a spicy sauce at Crouching Tiger Restaurant in Redwood City, CA. Bring home the leftovers, make sure to get every drop of sauce into the box.

Make a serving of Trader Joe’s Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats or other oatmeal, zap the Chinese food leftovers in the microwave. If there’s big pieces of vegetables or tofu, cut into smaller bite size pieces.

I’ve never understood why some restaurants won’t cut their veggies into easier to eat pieces. Especially when using chopsticks and it’s extra slippery with the sauce and all. The worst is baby bok choy but I digress.

Scoop/pour the now ideal bite-sized Chinese food onto the oatmeal, see top photo. Stir to combine if desired. Breakfast is served.

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Savory Oatmeal

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It’s that time of year for visions of sugar plums dancing in little heads. Only to be surprised to find there’s really no sugar or plums in said sugar plums. It’s actually a dried fruit and nut ball rolled in coconut. Apparently, way back when, “plum” used to mean any dried fruit.

Super easy to make since there’s no baking or cooking involved. With the dried cranberries and apricots, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg, there’s a taste of the holiday season in each bite. But you can use pretty much any combination of dried fruits, nuts and spices for a healthy sweet treat.

Sugar Plums
Makes about 14 balls

1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw pecans
1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried unsulfered apricots, chopped
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Pulse the nuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the dried fruit, orange zest and spices, pulse until well-combined. Add the orange juice 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between until the mixture sticks together.

Scoop out about a tablespoon, press together and roll into 1″ balls. Then roll the balls in the coconut. Keeps covered in the fridge for a couple of weeks or so.

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Dreamy Nut Bars

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