I showed you guys this AMAZING condiment I picked up at Trader Joe's. It has dried onions, garlic, and bell pepper along with crushed red chili pepper, toasted onions, salt and paprika all marinating in olive oil. Since buying it on Sunday, I've used it with all three dinners I've had since. It has this great onion-y flavor with a kick of spice. I wouldn't say it's extremely spicy, but it does have a mild kick.
It's $3.99 a jar, which is a pretty decent price. It's full of flavor so you don't have to use a whole lot. For me, being on a budget means I eat a lot of bland foods like potatoes and rice, along with lots of tofu and beans so I do like to have a nice selection of condiments around to spice and flavor things up. A nice drizzle of a flavorful sauce makes a plain budget meal flavorful and exciting.
The first time I used the chili onion crunch was in this spicy peanut sauce. I had some red rice pad Thai noodles that aren't my favorite, so I decided to hide them in some tasty peanut sauce, and served them with lots of shredded romaine and sriracha tofu.This meal hit the spot, and the chili onion crunch added a great deep flavor to the peanut sauce!
Monday night I made some tomato soup!!! This is exciting because I've tried to make tomato soup in the past, and it never turns out how I'd like. I used
this recipe and made a few changes. I didn't use light coconut milk, instead I made a cashew cream and blended it in the soup instead of drizzling, and I also added some red lentils for some extra protein and fiber. The soup was exactly what I wanted!! As you can see I drizzled some of the chili oil crunch on top for a little extra oomph! Served with gluten free grilled daiya and avocado!!
Last night I was craving big, thick oven fries so that's what I made!! I seasoned them with garlic, salt and pepper and had a green salad on the side. The star of this meal was the dipping sauce! I just mixed some veganaise with the chili crunch and it was AHMAZING!!! Like a spicy French onion sauce!!! I almost licked the bowl clean to be honest!
I look forward to finding more ways to use this delicious condiment to perk up my basic meals!!
Cuddle season is in full bloom at my place!!! I caught these two spooning and it's especially sweet because Afro/Brutus doesn't do a lot of cuddling!
Sounds like the chili onion crunch is a winner! All your meals look so great, but I'm especially drawn to the tomato soup and grilled Daiya & avocado, yum! Cuddle season is the best, such cute spooning buddies!
ReplyDeleteI love spooning kitties, both in the way that kitties spoon each other, and also in the way that I can spoon Dim Sim. Though Dim Sim always insists of being the little spoon. Hmph. ;)
ReplyDeleteLooks like you are getting some good use out of that sauce.
And yay for tomato soup and grilled sandwich!