Two healthy vegan and gluten free dishes

I recently realized that I need to reduce wheat in my diet.  I also strive to eat vegetarian or vegan dishes sometimes to cut back on meat.  Last night I cooked a pretty spectacular tofu dish with turmeric, paprika, thyme, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms.  Thanks to my mom, I learned a long time ago that shiitake mushrooms have antiviral properties and may even prove helpful in attempting to lower the risk of cancer.  My mom always read Dr. Andrew Weil's newsletters.  I think the man is brilliant.  He writes about different kinds of fungi, and he has a lot of good things to say about shiitake mushrooms.  I buy these mushrooms from Trader Joe's typically in a package, but I have also bought them not packaged from Caputo's.  These mushrooms were a wonderful addition to my tofu dish.  Tofu is not the most exciting food in my opinion, but if you play around with how you enjoy it cooked and seasoned then it is actually quite delicious.  I have realized that for my palate I prefer tofu seasoned with turmeric and paprika.  I do not always add garlic, but I am sure glad I did last night.  Garlic was the perfect addition.  I also cooked white rice with pinto beans, and I added the tofu on top.  Bon appétit!  It was an excellent meal.

Tonight I cooked a different brand of pasta that is made out of chick peas.  I added fresh spinach, some frozen mixed vegetables, paprika, cilantro, basil, and a little sea salt mixed with herbs (Borsari).  Of course, I finished the dish off with ample olive oil.  I am a firm believer that a nice helping of olive oil makes any pasta dish better, and I am certain many folks would agree.  I am quite pleased with how this dish turned out as well.  As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, I am going to try and come up with additional new vegan, wheat-free dishes I can add to my culinary expertise.  I enjoy being healthy.