April 26, 2020
Hello! Welcome to my second Granola Grrl Newsletter! Although I thought this would be weekly shindig, it turns out that bi-weekly may be a bit more reasonable! Either way, excited to come back with a couple of fun recipes and some local recommendations as we continue to join forces to get through these times together.
I would just like to say that I have loved seeing the ways local restaurants have been getting super creative over this last month and a half in order to both adhere to the demands of the situation and meet needs of their customers. The Memphis food community continues to inspire me daily and, even after the Stay at Home Order officially ends, I have hope that they will continue these awesome services to encourage folks to still socially distance as much as possible.
I also wanted to highlight an article I wrote for Dredge Zine (a zine created by the Curb Institute at Rhodes). One of my good friends Clarissa did all of the layouts and I loved having the chance to be featured alongside so many cool local artists! Be sure to check it out!
Cauliflower Rice and Peanut Tofu Stir-Fry
Although this recipe came about from scavenging the fridge and freezer before getting more groceries, this one is definitely a keeper. Had I not been the one making it, I don't even think I would have known that it was cauliflower rice and not regular rice! If you don't have any tofu in the fridge, this recipe can also be slightly adjusted to work for tempeh or chicken. This recipe is loosely based on Minimalist Baker's but changed around a good amount to work with the ingredients I had.
Ingredients
1 package of extra-firm tofu
1 -1.5 tbsp honey
1.5-2 tbsp of soy sauce (or sub tamari), added in slowly
1 dash of sriracha
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/2 tbsp olive oil
veggies of choice
frozen cauliflower rice (or make your own using this recipe)
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Start by draining the tofu. For this step, I usually squeeze out some water once it comes out of the package, and then wrap it in a towel and place a heavy textbook on top for around 15 minutes. Getting as much moisture out as possible is necessary for crispy tofu.
After you have gotten a good amount of moisture out of the tofu (it will still be somewhat moist) you are ready to cut the tofu into small cubes.
Cook the cubed tofu in the oven for approximately 25 minutes. I recommend lining the baking sheet with parchment paper.
While the tofu is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, add together the honey and peanut butter, slowly mixing in both a little bit of soy sauce, sriracha, and olive oil until it is a creamy texture. Feel free to adjust the measurements of each ingredient to taste.
Once the tofu comes out of the oven, leave it to cool for a few minutes and then cover in the sauce. Let it sit for another 10 minutes.
While the tofu is soaking in the sauce, start roasting your veggies on a medium to large pan. I used fresh mushrooms (and the cauliflower rice I used also already contained bell peppers).
Once the veggies are cooked, set them on a separate plate and begin cooking the cauliflower rice. I essentially just cooked them using the package instructions and added a bit of soy sauce towards the end.
While the cauliflower rice is cooking, sauté the tofu over medium heat on a separate pan with a little bit of olive or avocado oil for a few minutes. Some sauce will stick to the bottom of the pan so be sure to wash it off immediately with hot water.
Once the cauliflower rice is cooked, add both the tofu and and roasted veggies to the pan and mix them together. Mix in a little more of the sauce if you have some left and enjoy!
Vanilla Milkshake Smoothie
Like a vanilla milkshake but made of fruit! My go-to lately when craving something sweet and refreshing.
Blend Together:
1.5 frozen bananas (around 1.5 cups)
1/2 scoop of protein powder (I use Vega)
3/4-1 cup almond milk
1 dollop of almond butter
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of vanilla extract
Chickpea Masala
My first time making masala so I followed this recipe pretty closely! Wanted to include this in the newsletter just to hype this recipe up - delicious and easy. Served on top of Two Brooks Farm rice (grown at a rice farm in Mississippi).
Local Products + Services to Try
Edge Alley Online Ordering
This has been my favorite part of the week for the past two Saturdays! Basically, Edge Alley created a grab-and-go ordering system for pick-up on Saturdays from 11-2pm. They have some super amazing things for sale including their quiche, pimento cheese, overnight oats, cold brew, carrot cake, and house-made oat milk. I have also heard some rave reviews of their curry chicken salad! If you are just wanting a few pantry items to supplement your grocery haul for the week, Edge Alley is a fantastic place to support.
A Tribute and a Goodbye...
While many restaurants are able to stay afloat through the end of this as far as we know, there are other places that will not. One of those places is Avenue Coffee. As many of you probably already know, Avenue Coffee had their final day of business last Sunday. For many in the Memphis community, the closure of Avenue marks a huge loss. Honestly, in many ways, Avenue fostered my love for the Memphis coffee scene as a whole. I went there to study almost every day my senior year of high school and not only did it fuel my coffee addiction or provide a study spot that made calculus bearable, but it also brought me some amazing friendships with both the baristas and the regulars. Almost every Friday afternoon of senior year, I remember heading straight to Avenue Coffee to work on my next Granola Grrl blog post. Yes, their coffee was good, but truly the community of the place was what drew me there day after day. However, I firmly believe that the community of Avenue will continue on long after their doors are closed because for me, it was the people that made up that community, not necessarily the physical space. This being said, if you love a place, support it in whatever way you can now so that it can make it to the other side of all of this. Thank you to Avenue for all of the memories these few past years!
Ways to Help Out Your Local Food Industry Folks
Just going to keep this here my last newsletter because still relevant and important! The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit industries of this pandemic. So, here's a list of what you can do to take care of all of those service industry folks out there:
First and foremost, check in on them! If you are close with someone in the food industry, send them a text to make sure they are doing ok.
If you pick up food somewhere, be sure to tip as well as you would if you had actually eaten there.
Buy gift cards now to use later.
Send a server a virtual tip via Venmo using this list of servers or this randomized name generator.
Donate t0 the Memphis Food Industry Emergency Worker's Assistance Fund.
Support local farms and vendors through the Cooper Young Farmer's Market and local CSAs.
Ways to Get Moving this Week
Outdoor Voices has so many virtual workout and meditation events on their website right now! All you have to do is register beforehand and you'll be emailed a zoom link to the class 20 minutes beforehand.
In Closing...
As many of you know, Memphis opens up officially on May 5th. So, while this may be the official date for "business as usual" to resume, I strongly encourage everyone to still limit your trips out and about and to stay home as much as you can, especially when it comes to eating out. I hope that restaurants can continue to encourage take-out while they figure out the best ways to maintain social distancing.
Somehow quarantining has started to become somewhat normal. I don't know if you all feel the same, but I feel like I have finally settled into this new way of life. This past month and a half have been weird to say the least, but they have also reminded me to intentionally check-in on friends and family members more than I had been doing as of late. And, that is something I definitely want and need to become my "new normal," even after all of this is over. What is something that has come out of this time that you want to be "the new normal" long after all of this is over?
