Tag Archives: tofu

Super Easy Tofu Scramble (GF)

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For some reason, I have been back in the kitchen with a vengeance, despite the broken extremity. Maybe I just needed a challenge? Maybe it’s that none of my coats fit over my splinted arm, and we just had a cold snap? Regardless, this is an updated, no knifework, no fuss version of my Tofu Scramble. Enjoy!

Super Easy Tofu Scramble (GF)

olive oil for spraying skillet
1/2 package frozen onion & bell pepper mix
1 heaping tsp. crushed garlic

1 package of tofu, any style, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp. tamari for gluten-free   (or Bragg’s or shoyu or red sodium soy sauce)
1 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. paprika
salt & pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper, optional

2-4 c. chopped kale or greens (I used some leftover, lightly dressed mac n kale salad)

1/4 – 1/2 c. nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Spray a skillet with olive oil and raise to medium-high heat. Add onions & peppers and cook until thawed, about 5 mintues. Add garlic and cook for an additional  minute.

2. Crumble in tofu, and add all other ingredients except nutritional yeast and kale. Drop heat to medium, and stir until well combined, about 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

4. Mix in greens and cook an additional 3 minutes, or until wilted, but still bright green.

4. Remove from heat and stir in nutritional yeast.

My secret weapon!

My secret weapon!

I had Thomas crumble the tofu in for me since he has two working arms!

I had Thomas crumble the tofu in for me since he has two working arms!

Before greens.

Before greens.

And after.

And after.

Plated! Too bad we didn't have any ketchup! Thomas doused his in sriracha.

Plated! Too bad we didn’t have any ketchup! Thomas doused his in sriracha.

Vegan Iron Chef Ty: a self imposed challenge

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This challenge came about because the basil that I had intended to use for Thursday’s meal was dead in the fridge by Wednesday. Of course, if I had read the instructions on the hydroponic packaging first, I wouldn’t have put it in the fridge, but rather in a glass of water on the counter as suggested, but hindsight is 20/20. RECIPE AT THE END! : )

So… enter Thursday, the weekend approaching and produce that still needed using up. I decided a pasta dish was in order and this is what I had to work with…

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I decided to bake the tofu in the 1/2 jar of marinara sauce I had left over. Since I found sprouted, pre-pressed tofu, I’ve been using it almost exclusively as a time saver. I simply cut it into squares, tossed them in the sauce and baked for 20 minutes.

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I was out of garlic, so I used some shallots and red onions as my base for a from scratch sauce. I used a little red wine to deglaze the pot.

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Here the fresh tomatoes go in with a bunch of spices…

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I added some frozen, chopped spinach at the very end of the sauce. Just a few minutes to heat through, but so that it stays nice and bright.

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And here is everyone in, and tossed around to thoroughly combine.

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Angel Hair w/ Tofu, Spinach & Greenbeans

8 oz package of thin pasta of choice, cooked al dente according to instructions
1/2 lb of green beans, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces, added to cooking pasta for last 6-7 minutes!

1/2 jar of marinara sauce
1 block of pressed tofu, firm or extra firm

Olive oil for misting pot
1 shallot, chopped finely
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
2 large tomatoes, chopped
Splash of red wine, optional (I used some cabernet)

1/2 tsp. of garlic powder (I was out of fresh!)
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. of thyme
pinch of rosemary
pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper
crushed red pepper for heat

~1 c. of crushed tomatoes
1-2 c. of chopped frozen spinach

Directions:

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400*F. Pour half of jar sauce into a baking dish. (An 8×8 or glass pie dish works great!) Add tofu squares and cover with remaining sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. (I baked for 20 minutes and turned off the toaster oven, and just let it sit until I was ready.)

2. (Set your pasta water to boil!) Mist a medium pot with olive oil and raise to medium heat. Add shallots and onions, and cook for about 5 minutes, until golden and softened. (If you have some garlic, add a clove or two, minced here! I was out!) Pour in a splash of red wine if using, and let it cook off for a minute or two.

3. Add tomatoes and spices of your liking, and cover to simmer for 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer until pasta is almost ready. Mix in the frozen chopped spinach a few minutes before the pasta is done.

4. Add green beans to cooking pasta for last 6-7 minutes. Drain, return to pot, add sauce, and tofu and sauce and combine well. Top with nutritional yeast and/or vegan parm. Enjoy!

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Result:

This was pretty good! Still got a nice, fresh tasting dish, even with some of the jar sauce mixed in. The baked tofu gave it a nice mozzarella type feel, and the green beans cooked up perfectly. Yum!

Appetite for Reduction’s Chili-Lime-Rubbed Tofu, Mashed Yuca & Kale Salad

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Well, by the end of this past weekend I finally had unpacked and organized all of my remaining kitchen items. (A few things had to be returned to their owners or donated.) I made out a meal plan for the week, for what seemed like the first time in ages, and headed to the store. I’ve been favoring AFR lately in an attempt to make my cooking life a little simpler and leaner. And I even managed to make a couple of dishes from it in the midst of being half unpacked the last few weeks.

This ended up being 3 courses of mixed latin fusion inspired goodness.

The Kale salad was of my own invention to use up some ripe mango and avocado I got from my mother. I used kale because I’m addicted to it and crave it all the time, but I snuck in a little chiffonade of basil since I had just bought it and it smelled so good. It made for a very nice, fresh contrast. I added black beans and some super fresh corn to give it a sort of mexi vibe, and dressed it very lightly with lime juice, a tiny mist of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some fresh ground smoked black pepper.

Mango, Avocado, Kale salad

1 bunch of kale, stems removed, ripped or chopped into tiny pieces
10 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade or chopped finely, optional
1 mango, small dice
1 avocado, small dice
1 can of black beans, well rinsed
1 tbsp. of red onion, chopped finely
fresh corn cut from one ear
lime juice, to taste
olive oil, optional
salt & pepper

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I was going to try Isa’s suggested Mashed Yuca with Cilantro & Lime, but both stores I went to were curiously out of cilantro. I was already planning on buying the Goya frozen yuca instead of buying fresh, since that’s all I’ve ever seen my family use, and it was easier. That’s what’s in that pot there below on the right, 2 small bags worth. I had a little red onion left from the salad, so that’s the pink you’ll surely notice in my final result. I used this and 2 big cloves of garlic to make a quickie mojo, because I just can’t imagine eating yuca without it. So I’ll put my little version here as well. It sure tasted good. But honestly, just the yuca straight out of the salted water tasted amazing. I love yuca. I had never made it before. I did use Isa’s suggestion for reserving a cup of the cooking water to mash with.

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So I made a double batch of the tofu, because Thomas is a tofu eating machine, and I wanted some leftovers to eat with the leftover salad for lunch the next day. (PS- I did, and they were extremely delicious together!) So that’s me putting fork holes in two bricks of sprouted, prepressed tofu. The only thing I didn’t double in the marinade was the oil. I stuck with just the 1 tsp. and I used less salt in the rub, and not quite double the chili powder.

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In the marinade…

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With their rub on…

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Baked, flipped, baked some more & outta the oven…

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Ty’s Mojo Infused Mashed Yuca

2 lbs of frozen yuca chunks (I used the Goya Brand), cooked according to package directions/taste. I like mine a bit “al dente” for lack of a better term. Yuca will get mushy, but for me the perfect texture is still firm on the inside.
1 c. of reserved cooking water
1 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 large cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced
mist of olive oil
2 tbsp. lime juice, split

Directions:

1. In the last 5-10 minutes of yuca cooking, spray a small skillet with a little olive oil and lightly fry up onion and garlic. As it gets dryer, splash in 1 tbsp. of lime juice, and cook down.

2. Drain yuca and return to pot or to a large bowl you can mash it in. Remove the fibrous little strings in the centers of the chunks, preferably with a fork so you don’t burn your fingers. Add “mojo” mixture, additional lime juice and enough cooking water to get to your desired consistency. Mmm! This made a wonderful bed for the tofu.

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Final Thoughts…

So if you’re really cool, you could knock this out in 30 minutes flat. If you make the salad while the other 2 cook. I’m not that cool, so it took me somewhere between 45-60 minutes so that I could include dancing and beer drinking too. If you haven’t checked out Appetite for Reduction, it’s worth checking out. The recipes are a lot simpler than let’s say the Veganomicon, but still packed with plenty of flavor and guiltier items too like corn bread and onion rings, etc. I like it so much I even bought the kindle edition with the intent of selling back or giving away my hard copy, but don’t think I will after all. :)

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Terry Hope Testing: White Bean Farro Soup & Tofu

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So I’m very pleased to report that I made good on my promise, and finally got to testing some recipes from Terry Hope Romero’s upcoming book. I chose the white bean farro soup, because the ingredients seemed like they’d be tasty together and easy to find (many others that have caught my eye had hard to find ingredients), and then I decided to try out her basic tofu recipe [which was already closed due to enough feedback] to serve on the side.

When it came to finding the farro at WF, I was totally blind. Because the first isle I went to to look for it (the rice & grains isle) was actually the last place I found it. I don’t know why, but I kept missing it. I also read pretty much every bin they had, three times to make sure it wasn’t there. But low and behold, it was there the whole time, staring me in the face. I’m so glad I did  find it though, because this soup came out AWESOME.

Oh, hi!

rinsed and resting to dry while i prep the veggies

After mincing the garlic by hand I got lazy and threw the rest of the veggies into the fp to make it easy.

Making chickpea parm for topping the soup.

chickpea parm dough ball

chickpea parm, spread to cool.

Tofu came out almost burned and a bit overcooked. Still tasted good, just needs the baking time cut down a bit. Pan is still soaking!

Chickpea parm, not as finely textured as I was supposed to, but really tasty.

All together now.

Results:

I LOVED the soup! The farro had a lovely chewy texture, and the flavors were really lively and fresh, especially with the addition of the bright chickpea parm. I added in the optional spinach, but it also called for parsley, so it was nice to have lots of green in my cooked soup. The tofu tasted great, it was just a little tough, but baking for my customary 30 minutes would take care of that, and it was well seasoned and had a surprising amount of heat [for a basic recipe] which I appreciated.

So off to a good start! I have two other recipes of hers that I want to make, one is a raw dip (yay, raw!) and the other is pending my finding an ingredient. I thought I’d take a chance since other people seemed to be able to find gyoza wrappers, but I didn’t yet.

Stay tuned!

Apricot Quinoa Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash w/ Marinated Tofu

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So this meal was inspired by the lovely little acorn squashes I picked up on my shopping trip this week… and a couple of other recipes as well. When I made the Veganomicon Chickpea Pilaf the other day, another recipe caught my eye, the Israeli Couscous with pistachios and apricots. The quinoa here incorporates that pairing of apricot and grain, and also makes use of the yummy acorn squash seeds. The marinated tofu is just a slight adaptation of the one from the Angelica Home Kitchen cookbook.

The tofu and squash cook together for the same time to keep it simple. I put them both on the middle rack of the oven and switched them halfway. The quinoa comes together quickly and easily on the stove top. If you’re making the quinoa without the squash, you can substitute slivered almonds for the seeds, or some other seed or nut of your liking. Some steamed or sauteed greens would make a really nice addition.

Apricot Quinoa Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash w/ Marinated Tofu
Serves 4

2 acorn squash (preferably organic), scrubbed, halved, and seeds removed & reserved

Marinated Tofu

1 block of firm or extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into desired shapes (I used the pre-pressed kind and cut into 9 blocks)

Juice of one lemon
2 tbsp. Bragg’s (or shoyu or tamari or reduced-sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. olive oil
few grinds of pepper
pinch of poultry seasoning, optional
pinch of rosemary, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Prepare a cookie sheet for roasting acorn squash and place all 4 halves cut side down onto sheet.

2. Whisk all tofu marinade ingredients. Place tofu pieces into a 9×13″ baking pan in a single layer, and drizzle marinade evenly over all the pieces.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until squash is easily pierced with a fork.

Apricot Quinoa

olive oil for misting pot, or use a little water
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. of rinsed quinoa
a little less than 2 c. of water or broth
1 tsp. cumin
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of garam masala
pinch of cayenne pepper
a few grinds of pepper

1/2 c. of finely chopped dried apricot
juice of one lemon, strained

1/2 c. of toasted seeds or nuts (or toasted, salted seeds of 2 acorn squash)

nutritionaly yeast, for topping, optional

Directions:

1. To toast the raw squash seeds, heat in a small non-stick skillet with a pinch of salt over low-medium heat until they are dry and golden. Set aside.

2. Mist a medium pot with olive oil and heat to low-medium. Add shallot and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add rinsed quinoa and keep stirring until it dries a bit, a couple of minutes. Add water and spices, and bring up to a boil. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in apricots, lemon juice, and toasted seeds*. Cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until all water is absorbed. Fluff with fork. (*If you want crunchier seeds, don’t stir them in until the end.)

3. To serve, spoon the quinoa into the acorn squash half and plate with tofu. Enjoy!

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Easiest Baked BBQ Tofu

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You can’t get easier than this 3 ingredient tofu recipe. Especially since the BBQ sauce comes from a bottle. Make sure you pick something quality, as there are a lot of junky, non-vegan, and non-delicious ones available on the market. I like to jazz mine up with a little hot sauce, agave and mustard, but that part’s totally optional depending on the sauce you use. DO make sure you press the tofu first, though. It doesn’t have to be a 30-60 minute press. Check out my directions at the bottom for quick pressing tofu cubes!

Easiest Baked BBQ Tofu

canola oil
1 package of extra firm tofu, cut into cubes and pressed (about 1-1.5″ cubes, no smaller)

Your favorite BBQ sauce, about 1/2 cup
agave syrup, optional
hot sauce, optional
dijon mustard, optional

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450*F. Spray or grease a cookie sheet with canola oil.

2. Arrange tofu cubes on cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Leave oven on! **

3. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk BBQ sauce with additional ingredients to taste, if using, and set aside. After tofu bakes for 15 minutes, brush with BBQ sauce and place back in oven for additional 10-15 minutes. Reserve sauce.

4. Remove the tofu from oven and let it cool slightly. Drop tofu pieces into bowl with sauce and coat evenly.

You can serve this with rice and veggies, or mashed potatoes, fries, whatever you like!

**You could make this even easier by skipping the basting in step 3, baking the tofu for 25-30 minutes, and then doing step 4. Up to you.

How to quick press tofu cubes:

1. Remove tofu from package and gently squeeze between your palms over the sink. Place tofu on cutting board.

2. Cut into desired size cubes. I usually make 4 cuts along the length, 3 cuts along the width, and then cut the height in half.

3. Grab a couple of paper towels and wrap around 3-4 cubes at a time. Gently squeeze out over the sink. Don’t squeeze so hard that you crumble your tofu, but just enough to get some of the water out. Continue with remaining cubes.


Teriyaki Tofu

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I tried buying bottled teriyaki sauce, and didn’t really have any luck finding one that I liked. Luckily once I started looking up recipes, I realized how easy it would be to just make my own. Here’s my recipe for teriyaki tofu. I served it over some brown rice and sauteed frozen veggies.

Teriyaki Tofu

Tofu
canola oil
1 package of firm or extra firm tofu, cut into cubes and pressed

Sauce
1/2 c. shoyu or soy sauce or braggs (i used half shoyu / half braggs)
1/4 c. water
2 tbsp mirin
1/4 c. sugar
1″ piece of peeled ginger, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450*F. Spray a cookie sheet with canola oil.

2. Arrange tofu cubes on cookie sheet and spray lightly with canola oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine shoyu, water, mirin, sugar, ginger and garlic.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.

4. In a ramekin, or small dish, whisk cornstarch with water. Raise heat to medium high on sauce, add cornstarch mixture, and simmer until thickened.

5. When tofu is ready, toss into sauce to coat, and serve over rice and veggies. Enjoy! : )


Unstuffed Shells

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Last night I was looking over an italian menu while trying to figure out what to eat, and saw stuffed shells. This launched me into a huge missing cheese/wanting to eat raviolis and pink sauce and calzones. I was just looking in the cabinet to see what I could whip up for lunch and saw a bag of whole wheat shells, and some silken tofu. I put this creamy shell pasta together as a healthier homage to stuffed shells and to get my “ricotta cheese” fix.  : )

Unstuffed Shells

16 oz. whole wheat shells, or other pasta, cooked according to package directions

Vodka Sauce (or leave out the vodka for a pink sauce)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 c. vodka, if using
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
2 tsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried parsley
salt & pepper & crushed red peppers to taste
pinch of sugar
1/2 c. of stock (or 1 boulion cube + 1/2 c. water)
1/2 – 1 c. soy milk or soy creamer

Spinach Ricotta mixture

1 package extra-firm silken tofu (or extra-firm tofu, drained & pressed), crumbled
3 tbsp. mozzarella style shreds
3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
3 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
fresh ground pepper
1/3 c. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (honestly, i don’t even thaw mine, i just break it up and mix it in!)

Directions:

1. Prepare spinach ricotta mixture by combining all ingredients, and set aside.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add onion, and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. If making vodka sauce, add it now, and let it reduce by half.

3. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, seasonings, stock and spinach ricotta mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for at least 20 minutes, to let flavors combine. Add soy milk, stirring until heated through.

4. Combine cooked pasta, and sauce. For baked shells, sprinkle with additional cheese shreds and put it under the broiler for 5 minutes.

I topped mine off with about 1/2 c. nutritional yeast and 1/3 c. vegan parm. Enjoy!   : )

veganomicon: chile cornmeal-crusted tofu

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sorry for the long delay between recipes! working again has it’s problems, like sleep schedule wackiness, and a lot of times i just want to crash when i come home. in fact, i’m writing this to you after taking a nice long nap.

today at work one of my co-workers, michele, asked me for a tofu recipe. i have not really made the jump into the world of tofu, so i directed her to the fauxy tuna tempeh recipe. (i’ve pretty much limited my tofu use to making fake ricotta since making one lack luster dish back in january.) so sitting down now to cook, i pulled out my new tome, the veganomicon. one of the authors,  isa moskowitz is an unabashed lover of the bean curd. this will be the first recipe i try from it, chile cornmeal-crusted tofu, pg. 125, served with simply sautéed kale.

Draining & pressing tofu:
first things first, you need to drain & press an extra-firm block of tofu. i went back to her first book, vegan with a vengeance, to brush up on the specifics.

i put several paper towels into a colander, and covered with more paper towels, and put a heavy object (i used a cast iron pot) on top. you should leave it for 30 minutes each side.

isa says if you wanna do a quick press you can slice it into 4 slices width wise, and press gently between your hands.

the recipe:
while the tofu is pressing, get all your other ingredients ready. the technique here involves cutting tofu into 8 pieces width wise, and then diagonally,  dipping tofu triangles into soy milk and cornstarch, and then dredging in cornmeal, spices, lime zest and salt, before pan frying in a 1/4″ of oil. (i added some mesquite grill seasoning to the mixture too!) there are also baking instructions.

Sautéed kale:
2 tbsp. olive oil, or a good coating with the mister
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
bunch of kale, rinsed and ripped into smaller pieces
salt & fresh ground pepper

Heat olive oil to medium in a large skillet. Add garlic, and saute for about a minute. Stir in  wet kale until coated, and stir for a few minutes until it wilts, or until bitterness has subsided. Salt & pepper to taste.

results:

well, the crunchy outside was really yummy. the inside still tasted like [bland] plain tofu, but the texture was nice. some marinara poured on top made it good & reminiscent of mozzarella sticks. : ) personally, i would have preferred the tofu be marinated, and when i make it in the future, (which i will, because the coating is yum) i’ll have to think about with what.