Take Out Made In

Hi guys! I'm back!

Life-in-a-box!

Phew. These past two weeks have really taken the life out of me. First a week of finals, a weekend of packing, then a week of working 10 hour waitressing shifts during my school's commencement. Summer break has never been such a relief. 

Because of my long and exhausting work shifts plus the road trip home, I have been eating out a lot lately. Take out food tends to make me feel gross when I eat it for too many days straight, but it does taste pretty great (thank you, sugar and sodium). When I finally made it home, I decided to try to create a slightly healthier version of one of my all-time favorite chinese carry-out dishes: General Tso's Tofu. I'd say it turned out just as delicious as the real deal!

General Tso's Tofu (adapted from The Vegan Kitchen)

makes 2 servings

12 oz extra firm tofu
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 tbsp mirin (rice wine)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp siracha (or to taste)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water

1. Preheat your oven to 400º and grease a baking sheet. Press the tofu between paper towels to get rid of excess water and cut into small cubes. Toss the cubes with a tablespoon of cornstarch and place them on the sheet to bake for about 20-25 minutes.
2. Prepare the sauce by heating the garlic over low heat in a small saucepan. After a minute, add in the other ingredients (except for the cornstarch mixture) and stir for about 3 minutes. Mix in the cornstarch and whisk until thickened. Remove from heat. 
3. Once the tofu is cooked, place the cubes in a bowl and carefully mix in the sauce. Serve with brown rice and broccoli. All you're missing is the fortune cookie!

This meal is super quick to whip up and perfect for a lazy summer movie night. Do you have a go-to take-out meal?

Simple Orange Tofu

Every semester I tell myself "Okay, this semester I'm not going to overbook myself- I'm going to try to stay sane." So far, I have failed. There is just always so much to do and so little time! Luckily, everything I'm doing is something that I genuinely want to do. My classes are all pretty awesome (dance and the camera, dance history, a Shakespeare English class, and chemistry and the environment), plus I'm choreographing a dance, performing in another dance, and I still have my great waitressing job. So much for not overbooking myself.

I have been living up to one of my goals for the year: really setting aside time to cook myself quality meals! All you need is to get some good, versatile ingredients that will last you a couple weeks and then set aside half an hour to whip up something delicious. 

This is the first time I've tried cooking tofu by myself and I must say, it went really well! I think this dish is going to become a week-night staple. It's delicious and uses very basic ingredients that I almost always have on hand. 

Orange Tofu with Rice

makes about 4 servings

1 block extra firm tofu
1 orange
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 cup prepared brown rice (I used Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley)
optional: cooked spinach or peas to throw in with the rice

Note: If you are making this tofu for dinner, I would recommend marinating it around lunchtime. If it is for lunch, let it marinate overnight.

1. Drain the tofu and wrap in a paper towel. Squeeze the excess water out of the block of tofu and cut it into triangles or cubes.
2. Peel your orange and smash it in a medium-small lidded bowl, getting it nice and pulp-y. Stir in the soy sauce, garlic and 1 tbsp of the oil. 
3. Place your tofu into the marinade, cover with the lid and shake gently so that every piece is covered with the sauce. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours.
4. Once the tofu is done marinating, heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan over high heat. Add the tofu (but save the marinade!). Cook for a couple minutes on each side and flip. Repeat until the edges begin to brown and get slightly crispy. 
5. Serve warm over rice with a little extra sauce poured over the top. 

If you have leftovers, these little wedges would be excellent tossed into a salad, served in a wrap with some hummus and veggies, or just eaten plain as a snack! 

Escaping Cafeteria Food

It's not that bad, really. Sometimes you walk out with a plate of great food- an awesome salad from the salad bar, a yummy vegetable soup- but honestly, most of the time being vegan, what I get in the Stevenson dining hall is mush. Mush that gives me a stomach ache. So after less than a week of eating there already, my friend and I decided it was time to take action and make our own dinner with fresh ingredients.

We basically mixed together we had on hand and maybe what we came up with also looked a little mushy... but I promise you, it was delicious and super easy.



Chickpea, Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Sauté

1 cup cooked grain of your choice (we used Trader Joe's Three Grains Blend)

1 can chickpeas, drained

1/2 large zucchini, sliced and cut into half-slivers

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat up the olive oil in a large pan, then add chickpeas and tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes start to shrivel and the chickpeas start to brown a little.

2. Add the zucchini and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Then add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve over grains and add salt and pepper to taste.



This dish is so simple for any college student to whip up, and it's so much better than what you get in dining halls. Sorry for the not-so-great lighting in these... unfortunately our kitchen is plagued with florescent lights only. College life.



Cooking buddies are the best. We actually made a little something for dessert too... but that recipe will come later. Time for me to rush off to class!