What do you make when nothing is making you feel good?  I spent the majority of today laid up in bed and had to cancel my conference calls in hopes of feeling better.  Now I’ll be spending the rest of tonight catching up on work and hoping the waves of nausea pass.  Sounds like prime time to talk about food!  I bought a couple of mangoes the other day and figured I’d better put them to good use before they got overripe.  This is a similar flavor to my mango salsa recipe, but is more fitting as a summer salad.  Less juicy, more filling.

Mango & Chickpea Salad1 can of chickpeas, drained1 mango, chopped1 cup grape tomatoes, cut into halves1/2 red pepper, chopped1/2 cup green onion, chopped1 clove garlic, choppedCilantro (handful) chopped1 lime (just the juicesalt & pepper to tasteCombine all ingredients in a bowl, mix and season to taste.
Tofu is hard to get right.  I still can’t, no matter the firmness, marinade or cooking method.  I keep getting back on that bicycle, and hope to conquer this beast one of these days. 


Sweet Soy-Sesame marinated Tofu
Firm tofu, sliced thickSoy sauceBrown sugarSesame oilGarlic powderSriracha hot sauceBlack sesame seeds (garnish)As I mentioned, I haven’t made a great tofu recipe, but this one worked.  I mixed the various ingredients and marinated the tofu before cooking it in a hot pan. Topped with black sesame seeds. The combination of soy and sesame work well, but a grill would be nice. Have I mentioned my birthday is coming up?
In other news, I got my passport in the mail today, so Montreal is on! Also, my new Rebel Xsi SLR will be arriving tomorrow to fufill all of my food photography dreams. I signed up for a photography workshop class at NYU this fall, so an SLR was a needed investment. Needless to say, I’m insanely excited to get it into my hands and see what sort of magic it can work. Hopefully no more having to take food photos on the dirty backsteps! Oh luxury.