Roasted veggies with seasoned tofu

We are straddling two seasons as the root veggies start softening up, storage onions start sprouting greens and the fresh asparagus begins arriving from just a little south of us. For me, a meal is especially pleasing that has qualities of warmth and coolness, color and texture. This meal met all those aspects plus it came together simply. I steamed fresh asparagus in the last 10 minutes that the food in the oven was uncovered, and the kale salad softened the whole time the veggies roasted. I have to admit that my husband and I ate nearly all of this in one dinner, but adding an additional beet, sweet potato and a couple onions (or parsnips) this could feed 4 people! You can also double the tofu.

Roasted Veggies (bakes 1 hour)

Set oven to 350F

3 beets

2 carrots

1 sweet potato 

4 cippolini onions

teaspoon Herbes de Provence

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

tsp olive oil optional

Scrub, peel and cut into medium, similar sized pieces. Place on tin foil in a baking pan - I prefer cast iron enamel to distribute the heat, but use what you have. Sprinkle the herbs, salt, pepper and oil (if you are using any), cover with another sheet of foil and place in oven. Set the timer for 40 minutes.

Kale salad

Use one good sized bunch of any kale you like - choosing moderate sized tender leaves.  We like curly and lacinato especially for this. Tear the leaf off the stem and tear into reasonabe edible pieces - not longer than your fingers or wider than your hand. Wash and spin dry. Place leaves in a fairly large bowl ( they do compact but start out needing space). In a separate bowl, mix together the dressing:

 1/2 c tarragon vinegar,

 1-2 Tblspn of a second vinegar like pomegranate or balsamic, 

add 2 cloves finely chopped garlic 

about 1/2 tsp salt. 

Smooth this dressing into the kale leaves, gently bruising the leaves and rubbing around to spread the dressing into all the pieces. Refrigerate while everything else cooks - smooshing  the leaves once more 10 minutes before serving (just about when you take the foil off the veggies).

Seasoned tofu

Cut a block of firm tofu into 6 short thick slices. Set out a bowl to soak them in. In a second bowl mix the mustard marinade:

1.5 Tblspn spicy mustard (your favorite)

1tsp Braggs Liquid Amino

1tsp tamari 

1/2 tsp ume plum vinegar

2tsp maple syrup

1Tblspn chili sauce (you could use ketchup with a little horseradish and vinegar added)

A shake of sriracha sauce

Pour this over the tofu and stir gently to cover all the surfaces.

After a few minutes, tip the bowl and recoat the surfaces with the sauce. Then add:

5 chopped shiitake mushrooms

2 chopped scallions

Let this sit, stir once or twice.

When the timer goes off, take the foil off the veggies, stir them gently and push them towards the edges if the pan. Put the seasoned tofu mixture into the center of the pan, spreading it so the tofu doesn't overlap too much. Cover with the foil and set the timer for 10 minutes.

When the timer goes off, take the covering off the baking pan and set the timer for the last 10 minutes. Steam the asparagus in that 19 minutes.

Enjoy!

Two Dish Curry Dinner

Garlic scapes have their own timing and when it is the moment to cut them in order to promote the growth of the garlic bulb, well, something has to be done with them. They are sweet and subtle, but definitely with a garlic tendency. So I thought I'd make something sweet and subtle. It ended up with tofu, scallions (that come at the same time as the scapes it turns out) and spinach as one curry, and potatoes with scapes and red and poblano peppers as the base of the other. Since we had no chutney, I cut up an amazingly ripe plum, which served exactly the same purpose! I'm going to let the pictures tell this story -- you can use whatever curry spices you like. I soaked the little cubes of tofu in  paprika, cumin, Bragg Liquid Amino and tumeric before adding it to the tender young spinach leaves with a little water. The scapes and potato chunks had to cook a little on their own, separately, and then came together in their respective dishes, scapes with tofu and spinach, and potatoes with the peppers, some dissolved miso and a little water with a dash of cumin and coriander.  It's best to use non stick pans, but the tofu dish can be in a regular pan so that if you only have one, use it for the potatoes. This is lovely with rice, or applesauce, or a crisp lettuce salad on the side.

  

cut scapes into 1" pieces

adding curried tofu to scapes

add spinach to tofu/scape pan

combine parboiled potato, both peppers, onion

ENJOY!

keep scraping and turning potatoes

Poblano and Tofu filled TACOS

Inspiration comes from various places, and lately it has been in the form of very small local shops in my Prospect Heights neighborhood that are being inventive with tacos as a medium for yummy vegan options. There are some work days when it is just hard to figure out how to find energy to cook and I am truly grateful to these little enterprises that have given me a way out. Then I crave that tasty morsel at home, and just have to give it a try! Here is a way to start on this path that I hope will inspire you to wander to your own delight. I took simple ingredients: 2 poblano peppers, 2 little onions, a small handful of mushrooms, a block of tofu, a dab of miso and a few teaspoons of spices, plus 5 corn tortillas and we had a taco dinner that was out of the ordinary, really fun, and left us conjuring up a "next time" with all sorts of additional options.  Here's what I did.

You will need over an hour of prep time as the tofu has to soak in the paprika sauce, and then most of the ingredients need to roast half an hour or so in the oven.  The good news is you can roast the peppers and at some point put the tofu in the oven too, easily getting everything ready to eat at the same time. Honestly, this first effort I complicated matters by forgetting to get the corn tortillas ... so I tried to invent them too... which was really fun and gave a nice grainy bottom layer, but no way could we wrap. I am definitely going to get the necessary fine-grind corn meal (harina) and try the tortilla project again. When I get it to work, I'll blog it because I really liked having a thick grainy corn plate under these, and eating with a fork was fine. For now, though, just buy the tortillas!

Paprika Tofu Tacos (3 big helpings)

1 block firm or extra firm tofu
3 teaspoons (or more) paprika
1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano (crush it into a fine powder)
.5 teaspoon or less salt
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce (or sweet/sour sauce or salad dressing)
1.5 cups water

for topping:
1-2 chopped up dill pickles
4 scallions, chopped


1. Compress slabs of tofu, about 6 using the whole block, by placing a dish towel on a baking sheet, spread the slabs on the dish towel then fold the dish towel over the slabs, and place another baking sheet on top with a solid weight on it -- like a pile of books, or cutting board with a kettle on top, or something weighing a couple pounds.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. After compressing for at least an hour, cut the tofu slabs into 1.5" long rectangles (slice the shorter way and then in half again). Put these carefully in a shallow bowl and cover in the sauce. Soak a while, an hour or so, carefully rearranging so that the sauce covers all the facets of the little rectangles. Spread on a tin foil covered baking sheet, drizzling the sauce over the surfaces, reserving a little to add after turning.
3. Heat oven to 400 F, and bake about 15 minutes, turn, drizzle, and bake another 10 minutes. These will be dry and coated red.
4. Chop the pickles and scallions -- about a tablespoon per serving -- to add to the taco. You could add fresh cilantro to this if you have some!
5. Heat corn tortillas one at a time over a hot burner, lay on plate and cover with tofu with chopped pickle mixture on top.


Poblano Peppers & Onion Tacos (3 big helpings)

2 good sized poblano peppers
2 small onions (I used Cippolinis)
1-2 teaspoons red miso
1 teaspoon crushed basil
3/4 cup water
.5 cup mushrooms (I used bunashemeji but enoki or button would be fine)

1. Cut peppers lengthwise into about 5 pieces each, and onions into 8 wedges each (quarter and slice again).
2. Mix red miso and herbs with water in a bowl. spread tin foil on a baking sheet and spread out the vegetables, lightly drizzling the miso mixture on each piece. bake (roast) in oven at 400F for a total of about half an hour, adding a little more miso moisture and separating the onion layers, de-sticking the peppers from the foil a couple times.
3. Remove from oven and slice into 1/4 inch strips (I cut across the whole pile of stuff, not separating onions from peppers), so that this will be easily bite-sized.  put mushrooms in a microwave save bowl and heat for less than a minute. this will soften and bring out the juices of the mushrooms.
4.  Heat the tortillas, spread the pepper-onion mix, top with mushrooms, and drizzle a little miso sauce on top.

Paprika Tofu Tacos (makes 3) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 taco (383g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 329 16% Total Fat 16g 25% Saturated Fat 3g 15% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 410mg 17% Total Carbohydrate 21g 7% Dietary Fiber 5g 18% Sugars 2g 0% Protein 27g 55% Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 10% Calcium 26% • Iron 37% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Roasted Poblano Onion Taco (makes 3) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 taco (218g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 99 5% Total Fat 1g 1% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 68mg 3% Total Carbohydrate 21g 7% Dietary Fiber 4g 16% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 3g 6% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 76% Calcium 5% • Iron 7% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Planning Meals: Beautiful & Bountiful Dinners with Grains & Veggies

I haven't been blogging our food lately, but there have been many delicious meals made with whatever looked good at the co-op and what I had time to fix between teaching and other commitments. The beauty of the plate is one thing that I continue to enjoy immensely about our meals.  The colors and textures definitely influence my meal planning. I think of the plate, the textures, the flavors. Any of these elements can run the show when it comes to planning a meal based on what I have in the house, or what I am buying in order to have in the house.  Weather can influence me too -- is it a "comfort food" day or a cool temperature meal we need to heal the day's energies and seal in the benefits of nurturing ourselves?

So I thought I'd put up a few photos of how things come together, even though I haven't blogged the recipes for these meals. Most of them are very simple sequences of cutting, cooking and putting together... and I'll try to give enough information so that you could give it a go... or let me know that you really want directions and I'll blog 'em out.

As an experimental, temperamental, spontaneous and intuitive cook, I find it amusing that I am now trying to routinize anything about my kitchen activities and write things down, document what works, and imagine that anyone is following along.  The idea of the eat2thrive blog is truly to inspire you to go ahead and explore this marvelous feast of possibilities. If these meal ideas spark something -- light it and go with it! I'd love to know if your results thrilled you and would be happy to put them up on the blog for others if they are replicable.

A blend of vegetables, joined with a flavorful sauce or spice, and served on a plain grain can be a marvelous anchor for a meal. These medleys of flavors can be combinations. Here I combined in a water saute with bits of ginger and garlic:  carrots, onions, olives, Cremini mushrooms, and fennel on plain millet. The  sides are fresh spinach cooked with small bites of tofu and garlic, and a salad of enoki, Asian watermelon radishes, arugula and grape tomatoes treated with a splash of Mirin.









This blend is slivered lacinato (dinosaur) kale sauteed with bits of onion, and then mixed together with the white quinoa that I cooked separately in the gingery water I used to steam the carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnips that make up the side dish finalized with roasted sunflower seeds and a tablespoon of dried currants. The salad is a simple chopped endive, radicchio, cucumber and quartered red grapes with a splash of pomegranate balsamic vinegar.  The sriracha hot sauce turned the quinoa into a wonderful complement to the sweet of the root veggies and slightly bittersweet crunch of salad.

Here is a stir-fry model (in water of course, not oil), with sugar snap peas, shiitakes and pea shoots thrown in at the end. The binder is tamari with a splash of ume plum vinegar plus water. Plain long-grain brown basmati rice was the base under it, and then the fun started with the sliced steamed zucchini cooked with fresh cilantro, a little salt and lemon! This added a flavor bite to the salty familiarity of the stir fry.

 Here the rice is the border keeper to separate the veggie medley of sauteed snow peas, carrots, broccoli, and garlic with a light peanut sauce, and the pressed, soaked, and then broiled tofu slabs ... soaked in ginger/tamari/tomatillo/sesame seed. I'm still working on how to get that crispness without oil... and this was a pretty good outcome, broiled on tin foil, and reserving a little of the sauce to continue putting a little moisture on as the tofu began crisping.

Here the rice is transformed into Asian rice noodles, soaked in boiling hot water, and then rinsed. The black eyed peas were cooked with garlic, salt, pepper and lemon, and snuggled up to steamed fresh spinach with a dash of seaweed gomasio. I wanted a distinctly different texture/shape and went for the fresh green beans, steamed plain and served with a squeeze of lemon.  Using the noodles changes the nature of the meal and makes today's dinner vastly different from the rice-based meal of yesterday or tomorrow.

Another way to totally change the rice experience is to play with special heirloom rice grains now available in so many places. This black rice is packed with nutrition, stays a beautiful deep color and has a nutty marvelous flavor. So all I did was add bits of chopped mushroom and garlic to the rice as it cooked, served it with plain steamed broccoli, a leafy salad with scallions, pea shoots and sliced strawberries treated with tarragon vinegar, and then I experimented with the side dish.  This one was a delicious surprise of black grapes, jicama, fresh tomatillo chopped up like tomatoes, bits of scallion and a splash of mirin.





Pasta! I use brown rice pasta to avoid gluten, and because it can be served either soft or al dente.  This variation was served at room temperature on the first hot day... partly because I had no time to cook dinner at dinner time, and made this in its parts before heading out to teach an evening yoga class. Steamed Brussels sprouts were rinsed in cool water and quartered, then mixed together with quartered grape tomatoes, sliced parsnip, bits of green and black olives, and two beautiful fresh scallions chopped. The glue was a red miso sauce -- a heaping tablespoon of red miso mixed with about 1 cup of hot water, a splash of balsamic vinegar and stirred well. I poured this over the whole thing, cooked noodles and all, and let it sit out until I got home later. Simple salad - radicchio, chopped romaine, last of the endive and a little pomegranate balsamic, salt and garlic.



Another quick meal using brown rice pasta and a side salad! This one was garlic sauteed chard with bits of sun dried tomatoes, stirred into the brown rice spirals, and then a quick steam of fresh asparagus spears to cut and toss on top. Beautiful and tasty! Boston lettuce with cucumber, red pepper, bits of chopped celery and tarragon vinegar with garlic to dress it up.

None of these meals were planned ahead more than the day-of. The most important aspect of all these meals was having beautiful fresh ingredients on hand, and a stock of grains/pasta to put in place to round things out.

Desserts are usually sharing a cut up apple, perhaps a perfect pear, a naval orange ... or when the mood strikes, a little container of soy yogurt with granola and fresh strawberries!

Give it a try -- play around with these ideas ... and let me know if you find something marvelous to share or want a more detailed instruction about how to make any of these.  One thing is for sure you will be eating well!

Spinach Not-A-Fritta-Ta

I really wanted a frittata. No eggs, no oil, what was I doing to myself? Until now I really haven't had any of those "oh I wish I could have..." feelings and I surely didn't want to cave in to that, or feel bad about it. So, as with my yoga and meditation practice, I turn to the sandpaper that is grating on me and I look at the surface that is emerging. It is the practice to use the hard parts and the easy parts. So when the fresh spinach looked good at the co-op, I thought, it's going to be a Spinach Not-A Fritta-Ta...  It turned out to be a light, filling lunch with good protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin c and other lovely attributes.  There are lots of possibilities to play with this format, and to mess around with crusts under or over it, thin tomato slice topping or even a different vegetable base. If you don't tolerate soy, you can even skip the tofu and use more of the chickpea flour "sauce" to bind it together.

Spinach Not-A Fritta-Ta

half a bunch of fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
medium onion chopped medium fine
half a block of tofu (7 oz)
10 Picholine green olives in bits (optional)
small zucchini, grated
1 tsp herbes de Provence
1.5 tsp tamari
handful sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup chick pea flour
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
(nice with 1-2 Tblsp tahini)

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Chop spinach, parsley, onion, olives. Grate zucchini.
3. Mash tofu with all the chopped ingredients. Add herbes de Provence and tamari.
4. Put this in a large cast iron fry pan/skillet. Flatten it, mashing it in a little. Put the mushrooms in the top surface, pushing them in a bit. (I used whole little bunashemeji and another time, 3 cut up cremini.)
5. Mix the chick pea flour and soy milk into a medium thick sauce. Pour this onto the surface of the not-a fritta-ta.
6. Bake at the high heat about 10 minutes, then turn it down to 400F for 15-20 more minutes.

This went very well with a slightly spicy kimchee and some sweet grape tomatoes. A delightful lunch for any time. My husband and I immediately started dreaming up variations:  "This would be good with leeks." "Imagine this with a little chickpea flour crust under it, like a quiche." "Could work with broccoli too." etc.  Go ahead -- give it a try with anything you like!  If you leave it in a while longer it will crisp more. Forget the eggs, this is not-a fritta-ta and has its own place in the food pantheon!

Spinach Tofu Not-a-Fritta-ta

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 quarter not-a fritta-ta (161g)

Amount Per Serving		% Daily Value*
Calories	126	6%
Total Fat	6g	9%
Saturated Fat	1g	4%
Trans Fat
Cholesterol		0%
Sodium	313mg	13%
Total Carbohydrate	11g	4%
Dietary Fiber	4g	14%
Sugars	3g	0%
Protein	10g	21%

Vitamin A	11%	•	Vitamin C	39%
Calcium	35%	•	Iron	16%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Mushroom Tofu Chard Rolls

I had four large chard leaves saved for something special. My husband brought home a package of organic white mushrooms on sale because they were truly past their prime. That quick run to the co-op hadn't happened so the dinner project began with what I had on hand. This time I really made it up as I stood there, contemplating the colors, textures and possibilities. Black olives and white apple flesh, black mushrooms with white tofu crumbles, red sun dried tomatoes with the creamy garlic and farro and the vivid green of the chard... well it was just beautiful. A substantial dish, full of nutrition - fiber, protein, lots of trace elements and B vitamins - it offers a beautiful plate!

Mushroom Tofu Chard Rolls (Makes 4 full-sized)

4 large chard leaves
1/2 cup farro
4 ounces white mushrooms
8 dried shiitake mushrooms
7 ounces soft tofu
1/2 apple
6 sun dried tomatoes
5 large black Cerignola (or other) olives
2 large garlic cloves
3 scallions
1 cup boiling water to soak mushrooms
1.5 cups water to cook farro

for the sauce:
1/2 cup dry roasted no salt cashews
1/2 tsp agave syrup (or not)
1 Tblsp (or less) Tamari
1/2 cup mushroom soaking water

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Soak dried mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water - this takes about half an hour, so about as long as the rest of construction time. Start farro in about 1.5 cups water. - this also takes about half an hour. Quick steam/water saute large leaves of chard and set aside -- do not overcook!


2. Prepare filling:  chop fresh mushrooms in small bits, mash together with tofu. Chop garlic fine, Chop sun dried tomatoes in strips and chop again in bits (not too small). Chop up apple in small 1/4" pieces. Cut up Cerignola black olives (I cut mine off the pit) into same size bits as apple bits. Chop scallions. When farro is nearly done, take soaked mushrooms out, SAVING liquid and putting 1/2 cup of this aside for the sauce. Cut the stems off, slice the mushrooms and chop across into medium small bits (these will be the chewy counterparts to the farro). Mix all this together with farro (which will still have a chew factor to it when it is "done").


3. Make sauce: chop cashews and put in a bowl, pour the 1/2 cup mushroom soaking water in, add the 1/2 tsp agave syrup and 1 tablespoon Tamari. Puree this but don't worry if there are still bits of cashew remaining in it.

4. Construct your rolls. I did this in the pan, placing the first chard leaf rib down near the edge of a 9X13 pan. plopping 1/4 of the filling along the rib, fold the inner edge up, and put the next leaf down, rib close to the 1st leaf. Fill that leaf and then fold in the top of the 1st leaf, fold in the sides, and roll it onto the folded side, so that the rib is on top. This way you can space the leaves -- and figure out how much filling to put in the remaining leaves. Put the third leaf in, plop in the filling, and then roll up the 2nd leaf, doing the same with the last leaf.  Don't worry if there's a little filling left -- taking a spoon, you can gently lift the end of the stem on each roll and squish in that last bit of filling!  Pour the sauce over the whole thing.

5. Bake at 350F covered for 20 minutes, uncovered for 10 minutes. Serve & Eat!

Nutrition Facts: Mushroom Tofu Chard Rolls  Serving Size: 1 chard roll (375g)

Amount Per Serving		% Daily Value*
Calories	285	14%
Total Fat	10g	16%
Saturated Fat	2g	10%
Trans Fat
Cholesterol		0%
Sodium	468mg	19%
Total Carbohydrate	39g	13%
Dietary Fiber	5g	21%
Sugars	7g	0%
Protein	12g	25%

Vitamin A	10%	•	Vitamin C	33%
Calcium	10%	•	Iron	21%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.