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This year has been a whirlwind of new & exciting adventures, so when I have some downtime, I either spend it eating, cooking, binge watching Netflix, reading, or bonding over a new show with Josh. Thankfully Josh & I now live in the same time zone, which makes watching a show simultaneously easier with our busy schedules. With the invention of Rabb.it, what we see on screen is synchronous. I’ve successfully convinced him to watch Game of Thrones, which we both thoroughly enjoy, but we made a pact: no secretly watching the show without one another. Since my ISP gives me access to HBO Go & Josh doesn’t have it, he can’t watch it without me. If you haven’t started watching GoT–because you’re a Slowpoke like us–& you love fantasy shows with amazing storylines, you need to start, because folks, winter is coming.
For those of you who are freezing your booties off, my new Cauliflower & Tofu Vindaloo recipe will surely warm you up. Add extra heat to it by using red chilies, jalapeños, or cayenne. Before heading off to Florida for the holidays, I gave a huge tupperware of this to my best friend Lacey. She ate it all, within 3 days, for breakfast, lunch, & dinner. She has 6 roommates & she shared it with herself because, “it was so good & if I shared it, then I’d have less of it.”
Cauliflower & Tofu Vindaloo
Be sure to check out my recipe here & get your curry on! If you don’t like cauliflower for some reason, just use another vegetable or root like sweet potato. Unless I post a macaron recipe, which is pure science & needs to be followed exactly, all my recipes are very flexible & easily adaptable to your tastes.
Not feeling the weather because it’s hot where you live? No problem! I’ve added a side dish recipe perfect for picnics.
Dijon Potato Salad
I’m not the biggest fan of potato salad even though I love mayonnaise, but this potato salad is free of mayo & vegan friendly. The addition of dill (not pictured) really gives the potatoes a new dimension of flavor, but it’s not necessary; it’s really just a nice touch. Perfect alongside some delicious sandwiches or at a holiday party, this is a very simple recipe.
My deepest apologies for not returning comments in a timely manner – I’ve been quite busy with school. I’ll be returning to a snow-less Southern California for my Winter Break, but that only means more recipes, a much anticipated updated layout (I AM NOT LEAVING MY HOUSE UNTIL THIS HAPPENS), & more photos in the gallery. Can’t really edit photos on my laptop anymore because I haven’t much room left. All I want for Christmas is a new hard drive for my Macbook Pro. Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season!
I’ve not even started watching GoT as of yet – a part of me wants to get all the books read first. I’m definitely going to have to try the potato salad – I’ve been looking for a recipe that doesn’t require the use of mayo. 🙁 I’m also looking forward to the updated layout, all the new recipes, and majorly jealous that you get to go home to a snow-less California. 🙂
I felt the same way, wanted to read the books first. I figured I’ll read them eventually. In fact, I’ll start reading them after I finish my current book. You should just watch the show & the read the book later. I hate when I watch a movie of a book I fondly adore only to see it as a terrible production. I loved seeing the HP movies before I read the books. The movies were great to me & then I read the books, re-watched the movies, & thought, “well they’re not that great, but they’re still good, just..well, obviously the books are better.”
I love snow, so I’m not happy returning to a place that doesn’t snow! I also walk to school & use public transportation so I don’t have to shovel much of anything haha.
Alrighty, Chef B, you should start your own Youtube channel that showcases your culinary skills. I’m sure you’ll easily gain followers and maybe gain some sponsors while you’re at it! I know things will get busy at med school in the coming years, but it’s always good to keep your hobby alive especially during during times of stress. 😉 You’ll minimize stress that way. Believe me, I lift [a bit]. 😛
And enjoy your warm winter in Cali! Happy Holidays from Texas. 🙂
I reached 1k on Instagram!! I think about 100 of them are actually spam though so I’m kind of sad. I’m seeing my friends soon (the ones that filmed me making food) so we’ll see if we can finish editing that video so I can put up a YT channel! 😀
haha, yes, I stress cook so I’m definitely going to be cooking a lot in med school…tons of it I’m sure. Happy holidays!! 🙂
Oo oo, game of thrones is everywhere I go on the internet. Maybe I’ll start watching after my finals :p And that curry looks delish!! Love curries, I prefer Thai though, but Indian curry with a lot of rice will make my day too :3
Don’t watch it if you’re not a fan of boobs, sex, & blood though, for real. It’s an HBO show after all, which means, boobs, sex, blood, gore, etc. The whole 9 shaaabang! Not for the faint of heart.
I love all curries, but Japanese is definitely my favorite. I like the sweetness of it! Hah, but Thai curries are also good. 🙂 Hope you try out my recipe one day if you ever feel like making it more Thai than Indian!
I love Game of Thrones! We’ve been keeping up with each season and can’t wait for the next one 😀
Ooh, I’ll have to give both recipes a try some time. I love cauliflower, but I don’t think I’ve had it in curry yet. The vindaloo looks delicious 😀 I also love potato salads, all kinds of them really, haha. I like the typical mayo kinds, and I’ve also tried a couple without mayo at all, and they were good too.
Looking forward to the new layout and content!
We’re only on season 2!! I want to watch more, but he’s so busy grading these days. SO TEMPTED, but gotta control myself.
I’m delighted to hear that you might try one of my recipes. I was so flattered you tried my last one. Hopefully this one will be more to your husband’s liking. 🙂
I’m picky about my potato salads, I know they can be really delicious, it’s just so few & far in-between that it’s mostly disappointing. 🙁
I can’t even stress how jealous I am toward people who live in a country with 4 seasons. I wanna experience autumn and winter too. 🙁 I wanna witness the beauty of fallen leaves and snow. The only time I got to experience winter was when I traveled to like Hong Kong or China and even then, it wasn’t snowing there. One of my life goals is definitely to travel to places like Canada or Finland haha xD
Speaking of Game of Thrones, I haven’t caught up. I haven’t even finished watching season 3 LOL for some reason I kind of don’t really care about it already. Current tv shows that I care about so much would be Arrow and The Flash – yup superheroes and yes dc comics <3 and a little of marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
(I do miss house Stark though, and their direwolves 🙁 I just want the Stark siblings to be happy, man.)
Chef Tiff, you should probably have your own cooking show or something. Geez, stop with the gorgeous photographs. I wish I could take pictures as often as you do but I don't cook and I don't know what I wanna take picture of. Ii'm just too boring anyway LOL.
And that is one interesting cauliflower recipe. I usually blend cauliflower (with broccoli sometimes) to have a puree when I'm too lazy to chew (I'm like a toothless grandma, wth). I've never seen a vindaloo curry paste here… for a moment there, I mistook curry paste as curry block, like the Japanese ones. (My friend and I love trying out different curry blocks – we get super excited when talking about curry block brands HAHA)
Like you, I'm not a fan of potato salad either. Once I put potato in my salad and it felt…weird. It's like um, the potato gets all squashed and squishy and…blergh. Or maybe it's my fault. Either way, yeah my salad became mushy and adding potato in it isn't my favorite. Plus, whenever I order potato salad in a restaurant, they always put a crazy amount of mayo dressing. I used to like mayonnaise…not sure why I don't really like it now. Probably because I have become so weight conscious so I worry about all food being fatty and "dangerous".
How can anyone stand living with just a laptop and no desktop!? I don't get it 🙂 even if I'm not a gamer (sadly, I am), I don't think I can handle it with just a laptop because everything is just so limited. Speaking of the Macbook Pro, I need mine to be upgraded too – RAM and hard disk-wise for the sake of 3d software.
Well, keep in mind that America is a huge country & filled with 50 states + Puerto Rico so not all of us get 4 seasons. Southern California’s seasons are hot & not that hot. Boston however, gets all 4 seasons & I’m really happy about it! Some people are just SoCal no interesting weather patterns people & that’s fine, that’s what works for them. I find it way too boring. The world turns: it gets cold, it gets hot, it gets humid. I like variety & change! Surely you’ll one day save up enough money to travel the world to see places with snow or beautiful foliage during autumn. New York during autumn is absolutely gorgeous. Central Park…I mean..even during the winter too. I need to plan a trip out there soon!
Josh & I are only on Season 2 right now in GoT so I have no idea what happens in Season 3 or 4. Do you watch the show in English or is it translated? I think it’s incredibly fascinating. Lots of social commentary & interesting characters so I don’t think I would be bored of it any time soon. I can’t stand The CW. I recently tried to watch Beauty & the Beast because Netflix thought I’d like it. That show is terrible & I love Kristen Kreuk, so I’m disappointed. I watched Hart of Dixie because I’m obsessed with Rachel Bilson & Jaime King, but that show is also, absolutely terrible. So yes, I’ve also learned to just associate terrible shows with that network so I don’t have a desire to see The Flash or Arrow. I also never cared much for those superheroes, but shoot, give me a show on Thor & I’d watch it in a heart beat. Or Iron Man….or pretty much any of the Avengers with the exception of Black Widow, Black Hawk, Arrow, & Captain America…or the Hulk. Yeah okay so pretty much Thor & Loki – yes. Iron Man – yes. Anything X-Men – yes.
Thanks for the kind words! I think you should take up cooking. It’s an important skill to have & it’s obviously the best way for you to learn a thing or two about food, eat healthier, & not worry so much about “unhealthy” things. Eating out is unhealthy.
Cauliflower is pretty versatile. You could also use it as a replacement for rice. I love rice though, but cauliflower is still really good if you want to do a low-carb diet. The curry paste is very similar to the Japanese curry blocks, but it’s got way less preservatives & chemicals. I love the curry blocks though, but I try not to use them too often.
Potato salad is a very American thing so mayo is the second main ingredient next to potatoes. It’s normal, but that’s why I’m not a huge fan of it because even though I love mayo, I rarely find potato salad I enjoy. Mayo is unhealthy, but I use the vegan version of it & feel no shame.
I knew very few people who had a desktop & a laptop when I was in college. My roommate & I don’t have a desktop in our apartment & neither does Josh. I thought I couldn’t live without one either, but I’m managing just fine. My MBP has everything I need on it. I don’t game as much as I used to because school is important to me, so I only play games when I’m at home. I’m not really limited at all on my MBP so I guess you do need an upgrade if you feel that way! The only thing that is limiting for me is hard drive space, but other than that, I edit my photos just fine. The average person doesn’t need a desktop to be honest. Not everyone is a video editor, photoshopper/lightroomer, or video game person. Most people use their laptops to just surf the internet & write papers or what not. Nothing every too intensive. I had a former roommate who didn’t even have a laptop. She had an iPad mini & did all of her schoolwork & internet surfing on that. They’re expensive luxury goods. Of course she needed to enlist my help to print papers & what not, but the point is all the same: it’s not necessary for everyone to have both a desktop & laptop. I have both, but when I’m in Boston, I only have my laptop. That’s why I made sure my laptop wasn’t a crap one like the Dell I had previously so I would be okay with using it as my main squeeze.
I will definitely need a warming and hearty dish such as this cauliflower and tofu vindaloo soon since I’m going back to cold Europe in a few days. I’m not a fan of cauliflower so I would also add some sweet potatoes, as you suggested. Beautiful pictures!
Thanks, Dani! Yes I thought of you when I made this dish because you said you were warming up to cauliflower & were looking for some recipes with it. This is a great dish for masking any sort of vegetable you’re not a fan of!
Is it snowing where you live yet? (Assuming you’re out of CA still). I’ve been wanting to watch Game of Thrones for the longest but got sucked into watch Gotham, Flash, and Arrow *o*.
The vindaloo sounds delicious! Is it similar to curry? I’m just looking at the thickness of the sauce. I like the use of veggies in the recipes you make to life. It screams healthiness. The potato salad looks on point too!
Hope you’re doing well with school!! I would’ve thought you would be on an external drive by now with all of those high-res photos! But I would totally stick with a new hard drive- much easier than having to lug around a thin piece of brick. Enjoy the holidays and hope to see you around~
It’s snowed a bit in Boston, but not too much. I’m in California right now so I don’t really know & the weather apps I have are pretty inaccurate. They’ll tell you it’s going to snow in two days & then it doesn’t. It’ll snow when I return in January. It’s certainly cold enough for the snow to stick.
I don’t watch any of those shows you mentioned. I can’t get into anything on the CW, formerly the WB!
As for your question on whether vindaloo curry is similar to curry:
I have an external hard drive, but the photos I edit are copied into Lightroom & saved onto my hard drive. Since I shoot RAW, each photo takes up a ton of room so yeah, best option: new hard drive. I can’t seem to part with my music & I’ve deleted…nearly all my games on my laptop to make room. No dice. Looking forward to a new laptop in 2 years. It’ll be 6 years old by then!
Happy holidays!