Indian Food (Explorations in Tofu: Part 2 of 5)

I love Indian food- it’s delicious and super easy to get vegan. Although Palak Paneer (or Saag Paneer? I think Palak is a type of Saag...) is one of my favorite dishes. After going vegan I missed those chunks of cheese. Yummmm. 

Anyone so last night I decided to make a vegetable curry because I had leftover veggies from a party platter I made last weekend. While I was cooking the curry, I forgot I had some long lost frozen spinach and a block of tofu, and decided to try a vegan palak paneer, for my explorations of tofu series.

Vegan Vegetable Curry

1 can of light coconut cream

1-2 tbsp of curry powder (I love a ton of curry, but start with a little and work your way up to taste)

2 tsp of garlic salt (Use more if needed)

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika

A vast array of vegetables (I used broccoli, snap peas, and carrots)

1.              Heat up the coconut milk over medium.

2.              Add all the spices and stir till combined.

3.              Add all the vegetables; stir till vegetables are all covered.

4.              Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. I like my vegetables still a bit firm so do this to taste. 

Palak Tofu

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 cups frozen spinach (next time I’ll try fresh)

1 medium tomato

¼ package medium-firm tofu (optional)

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

2 tsp turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp vegannaise (or coconut milk + sprinkle of salt)

1.              Heat up half the olive oil with the onions over medium

2.              Right as the onions get glassy add the spinach and stir. Let simmer.

3.              Chop the tomato up and throw it in the blender or food processor till pureed. Add to the spinach.

4.              Add all the spices and vegannaise and stir till combined. Taste it- add any additional amount of spices to get to the right flavor for you.

5.              Chop the tofu into bite size pieces. Add to the spinach, stir till covered and reduce heat to low medium. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Serve both dishes over rice and enjoy!

Explorations of Tofu: Part 1 of 5

I love edamame. In my opinion it is the best soy form. That said- Tofu is definitely not my all-time favorite food, I used to eat and drink a lot of soymilk and tofu. But as I discovered almond milk I also realized that tofu wasn’t my only option in vegetarian cooking. That aside, I’ve been getting some twitter requests for some tofu recipes, so I’d love to share a few of my favorites. Maybe while I show you how versatile it is, I’ll remember why I loved this forgotten food in the first place. Expect 5 recipes over the next week and a half, in between, I'll be mixing in a few vegan/gluten free/sugar free/soy free recipes too!

Breakfast

I used to be a firm believer in when I give something up; I needed to give it up. I didn’t like meat, so why would I want meat substitutes? Dairy replacers didn’t bother me because if you have an allergy- why would you give up French toast? But as I’ve started to give up gluten, dairy, and eggs I do find myself missing certain things.

I used to eat scrambled eggs and Greek yogurt every breakfast, I always felt great with the burst of protein right in the morning. Now that I’m not listing that as an option I usually go for smoothies and granola. I’ve been interested in the idea of scrambled tofu, but I never found a recipe that quite made it taste enough like eggs.

Then it hit me: I’m not TRYING to make scrambled eggs. I’m making scrambled TOFU so it WILL taste different and I need to get a handle on that.

So ladies and gentlemen, please step forward and this scrambled tofu recipe:

Spiced Scrambled Tofu

1 package of soft or medium tofu

2 large leafs of kale torn into small pieces

1 small zucchini diced

2 tsp of turmeric

2 tsp of mustard seeds

1 tsp of paprika

2 tsp of onion powder

2 tsp of garlic salt

2 tbsp of coconut or olive oil

1.              Puree tofu with spices.

2.              Heat up oil on skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini.

3.              Saute for 2 minutes then add tofu.  Stir and let cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.              Once the tofu starts to brown, add kale and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
5.              Serve immediately with fresh ground pepper.

Gluten Free "Lasagna" recipe

I recently tried a new spaghetti squash recipe, and although it was nice- I always return to this recipe. I was trying to figure something new for dinner and my coworker, Lisa, just rattled off this recipe off the top of her head. It sounded great so I added a few things and Brian and I loved it.

If you’ve never cooked spaghetti squash before, you are in for a treat! It’s very easy, very fun, and very interesting. The texture is amazing for being a squash! I found this great page with easy directions on all the different ways to cook the squash. This website gives very easy step-by-step directions on how to cook a spaghetti squash. I prefer the boiling method.

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti squash cooked and scooped out

2 cups of tomato sauce

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cloves crushed garlic

Olive oil

1 large zucchini, sliced very thin (I use a vegetable peeler)

1 cup of Daiya mozzarella “cheese”

Directions

1.              Preheat oven to 350. Sauté onions in olive oil over medium low heat. Add garlic. Sauté till translucent.

2.              Add sauce and tomatoes and continue cook on medium low.

3.              In a 12”X9” baking dish evenly lay about half the cooked spaghetti squash out. Spread a cup of the tomato sauce mixture over. Then sprinkle half the cheese over the sauce.

4.              Next lay out the thinly sliced zucchini out over the cheese like lasagna strips. Spread the rest of the squash over the zucchini, the rest of the sauce over the squash and the rest of the cheese over the sauce.

5.              Bake for about 30 minutes.

Smoothies!

We all love those smoothie places, right? Why is it that at home we can’t match the flavors? I found 3 reasons.

1.              I don’t use ice cream in fruit smoothies

2.              I was using ice.

3.              My blender was crap and I have bit of floating ice and fruit.

The last problem I fixed a few summers ago when I was at the county fair and I learned about the Vitamix. I went home did a ton of research. That week I received the best commission paycheck I’d ever had, so I decided to splurge. My smoothies instantly got better but were still watery. As result of the Vitamix cookbook I started using a lot of frozen fruit instead of ice. Yum!

What I started recently was actually a result of ready “The Sneaky Chef.” The book suggests blending up fruits and vegetables ahead of time and adding them to recipes for added nutrition. What I soon found was that these purees made fabulous instant smoothies! A few fruit/veggies cubes and some juice and the perfect smoothie in seconds.

It’s really easy and takes very little time. Here’s what you do:

Gather a bunch of fruits and vegetables. You can use fresh or frozen. If you want to use fresh, this is the perfect thing to do when the produce starts getting a little soft and right before they go bad. I like mixing fruits and veggies in every puree.

 

I’m starting with kale and blueberries. I added about ½ a cup of pomegranate juice to a package of blueberries and a small bunch of kale in the blender. Puree until smooth. I then fill up 2 ice cube trays with the puree and freeze. After pop them out and save in a big ziplock bag.

The next puree I did today was 1 package of strawberries, one package of raspberries, five whole carrots, the juice of half a lemon, and ½ a cup pomegranate juice.

The last thing I do on smoothie prep day was chop up all my browning bananas and put them in another ziplock bag.

Other combinations I love:

Strawberries, fresh beets, and raspberries

Carrots, sweet potatoes, and bananas

Spinach, blackberries, and lemon

This makes smoothie making so easy in the morning. You can grab a few “cubes” and just add some juice or almond milk. If it’s thin enough to drink through a straw go for it, and if it is super thick it’s great with a little granola on top.

YUM!