BB-ATE

• 6 cups homemade chicken stock (or water)
• 1/2 cup rice (short grain or jasmine)
• piece of fresh ginger, sliced into 4 coins
• salt to taste
• optional toppings: chopped fresh scallion, fried garlic, fried egg, leftover cooked chicken (shredded), chili crisp/oil

Instructions

• Rinse the rice.
• Put all ingredients in a large pot and stir well. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a gentle simmer.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until it’s nice and creamy. Add some extra water/stock if necessary.
• Serve hot, with optional toppings.

Ingredients

• A jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large carrot, diced or shredded
• 1 small (or 1/2 large) zucchini, shredded
• couple handfuls spinach, kale, or Swiss chard, chopped
• optional: sliced mushrooms
• dried oregano, marjoram, and/or thyme, plus black pepper
• 1 lb. pasta – any kind, we like rotini
• 2-4 TBS nutritional yeast (optional)
• couple handfuls shredded cheese – we like pecorino and a little jack or mozzarella for creaminess

Instructions

• Cook pasta per package instructions.
• Saute onion, carrot, and garlic in a couple TBS of olive oil.
• Add the mushrooms if you’re using them, then the zucchini and greens.
• Saute until veggies are soft. Pour in the jar of pasta sauce and add dried herbs and pepper to taste, plus the nutritional yeast if using.
• Bring to a simmer then reduce heat and cook for 10-15 minutes until everything is nicely melded.
• Add cooked pasta to the sauce. Add cheese and stir gently to combine.
• Serve with extra cheese/yeast on top, if desired.
• Note: You can skip the onion and garlic if your jarred sauce is flavorful enough. And use whatever vegetables are lying around, it doesn’t have to be these exact ones.

Ingredients

• Soy sauce or Bragg’s amino acids – low-sodium or GF is fine
• Vinegar – I use coconut vinegar but that can be hard to find. Rice vinegar works too.
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 1-2 tsp. black peppercorns (fresh!)
• 4 cloves garlic per lb. of chicken
• pinch of brown sugar
• 2 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs (remove skin)

Instructions

• Get out a large pot or Dutch oven. For each 2 lbs. of chicken, add 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 8 cloves garlic (whole, peeled and smashed slightly), 3-4 bay leaves, and 1-2 tsp. of black peppercorns. Add a pinch of brown sugar.
• Bring everything to a boil then reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook, turning chicken pieces over occasionally, until done.
• You can also do this in a slow cooker – depending on how much chicken you have, about 4-6 hours on high.
• You can add some potato/sweet potato chunks, or large cauliflower florets too.
• This is even better the next day after it’s had time to sit and absorb flavors in the fridge. Lift chicken/vegs out of the liquid and store in a nonreactive container. Pour the liquid into a jar and store separately. You can skim the fat off the top and pour some sauce over the chicken when you reheat it.
• Serve with rice.
• Note: If you prefer it less saucy, use 1/4 cup of each liquid ingredient per 2 lbs. chicken. You can do this with skin-on chicken and run it under the broiler after cooking to crisp up.

Ingredients

• 2 TBS butter
• 2 TBS flour
• a couple TBS finely minced fresh onion (or a few pinches onion powder)
• 2 cups milk, warmed
• 8 oz. macaroni (or other small pasta)
• 8-10 oz. cheese of choice, shredded – cheddar is always good
• salt & pepper to taste
• breadcrumbs (mixed with a little butter if you want)
• optional: handful shredded Parmesan or pecorino, for topping

Instructions

• Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Saute the minced onion until it’s just soft, but not brown.
• Add flour and whisk to make a paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes to remove the floury taste, but again, don’t let it brown. Add a few tablespoons of milk if it’s more solid than paste-y.
• Whisk in warm milk. Whisk well and bring to a slow simmer, until thickened.
• Remove from heat and whisk in shredded cheese. Note, for extra creaminess, you can add a few cubes or spoonfuls of cream cheese too.
• Whisk thoroughly until all the cheese is melted and it’s smooth – must do this off the heat, or the sauce will break.
• Combine cooked pasta and sauce. Pour into a baking dish and top with breadcrumbs and optional Parmesan.
• Bake about 20 minutes until it’s nice and bubbly and crumbs are crisp.

Ingredients

• Extra-firm tofu (water packed)
• Cornstarch or potato/sweet potato starch
• Salt & pepper (white or black)

Instructions

• Drain the tofu and slice in half lengthwise, so you have two thinner slabs.
• Wrap the tofu in paper towels and then clean dish towels.
• Place wrapped tofu on a cutting board. Put another cutting board on top. Put something wide and heavy on top of that. A couple 1 lb. bags of beans is good, or a large bag of rice. Cans are NOT good, the weight will not be distributed equally across the tofu. You want something that has an area at least as big as the tofu itself.
• Let the tofu rest for at least 30 minutes. An hour is even better.
• Unwrap the tofu and place it on the TOP (ie, dry) cutting board. Not the wet one it was sitting on earlier.
• Slice into pieces, about 1 1/2″ or so.
• Sprinkle tofu pieces with a little salt and pepper, then dust with the starch. You only need a couple tablespoons of starch, but if you need a little more, use a little more.
• Heat a good amount of grapeseed or sunflower oil in a large pan or wok. Oil is key here! If you want a lower-fat dish, be sure to use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked tofu. You can also try baking it on an oiled sheet, but I never do.
• Brown the tofu in the hot pan. Let it get nice and golden/crispy on the bottom before flipping.
• Gently turn so all sides make contact with the hot oil and get crispy. This will go faster toward the end because the pan will retain heat.
• Remove to a paper-towel lined plate and then do whatever you want with it.

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• olive oil
• smoked paprika
• tahini, well-stirred (or the kind in the squeeze bottle)
• a couple lemons
• salt & pepper
• big handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
• optional: cooked or canned/drained chickpeas

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425. Line a large baking tray with silicone mat or parchment.
• Chop cauliflower into small pieces. In a large bowl, toss chopped cauliflower with a good amount of olive oil, some smoked paprika, and salt.
• Spread cauliflower on prepared tray and roast until done- you want it to be tender with some charred bits here and there.
• Return cauliflower to the large bowl you used before. Drizzle over a good amount of tahini and the juice of at least one lemon, more if you want. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir and toss to combine thoroughly.
• Finely chop the parsley and stir it in.
• Test one more time for seasoning/balance.
• To make a more substantial dish, stir in some cooked or canned/drained chickpeas.
• This is good warm, room temp, or cold. Even better the next day.
• Bibo recommends serving with flatbread or pita and a plate of fresh sliced tomato and cucumber!