tofu

Anniversary Getaway Day 2: Providence

5 Comments

After our morning at the best bakery ever the Hubz and I continued on our way to Providence. After a few bad turns and a round about way we finally made it into downtown Providence where we first got our shop on and then hit the pavement to explore the city. When I was planning our trip I asked the twitterverse what I should do/see in Providence and many people replied with the Waterfire Providence. Unfortunately we were only in the Providence for the day but we did get to see them setting up for it and it looks like it would have been really nice to see. Oh well, something for next time.

After strolling around the downtown streets visiting with lions and turtles we finally found somewhere to eat.  We stopped in at AS220 a place I had read about during my planning sesh.  AS220 has a gallery, a bar and a cafe and they also host a number of other events.  When I saw the menu I was all about ordering the vegan Bahn Mi but of course just my luck they were out.  Instead I ordered the vegan mac and cheese and the Hubz got the marinated tofu and kale sandwich.  We also ordered the “spicy” black eyed pea fritters.

My mac and cheese was really delicious and Neil (who waited inside to get the food) said they made it all fresh right there. I loved the addition of the broccoli and crispy bread crumbs to my mac and cheese- so good. The Hubz sandwich was really delicious too; we both loved the pickled onions that they put on it- so good. Now as for the “spicy” black eyed pea fritters …..well they were um gross. They had a weird smell, consistency and taste and they were by no means spicy. The vegan sour cream that they came with also tasted really awful. Well I guess two out of three isn’t bad- can’t win them all! Overall we really like the food at AS220, would we go back? Possibly but there are other vegan options around so we would probably try something new first or just eat all our meals at the best bakery ever.

Presto Pesto and Pancakes!

3 Comments

Nutrition Tuesday is turning into Food Tuesday this week because I’m really excited to share my recipe from tonight’s dinner. I am tired out tonight and am having a hard time focusing writing a more informative post but don’t worry things will be back on track for next week. Okay so lets talk food; first lets rewind to last nights dinner. Last night the Hubz took over dinner and made VeganYumYum’s Easy Weekend Pancakes as part of the Cookbook Club.

With our pancakes we had a side of fruit (I was too full to eat my dates) and we topped our pancakes with a little almond butter, chocolate chips (for fun) and a homemade blue-raspberry sauce. Overall we thought the pancakes were good but they weren’t our favorite; we probably won’t make them again.

Dinner tonight was all about making a nice restaurant dinner at home. The Hubz and I have been trying to have more date nights in and I am loving it because that means more time in the kitchen; as the Hubz says “I have my groove back.” So tonight I decided to make a delicious Italian inspired meal of pesto manicotti, red wine and raspberry vanilla soygurt parfait.

Presto Pesto Manicotti


Yields 4-5 Servings
Preheat Oven 350F
Cashew-Basil Pesto
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1t salt
  • 1/3 cup raw cashews
  • 2T nooch
  • 1 bunch of basil
  • 1/3 C olive oil
  • 1/4 C water
  1. In the bowl of a food processor place the garlic and salt; pulse 5-6 times.
  2. Add the cashews and nooch and pulse 5 times.
  3. Add the basil and process on low; steam the olive oil and then the water in through the feed tube.
  4. Remove from the food processor and set aside- don’t clean the food processor out though use it for your tofu ricotta!

Tofu Ricotta (make in the processor that has the pesto remains, you don’t want to miss out on any yummy goodness)

  • 1 block extra firm tofu
  • 2T nooch
  • 1/3C almond milk
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1t salt
  • 1/2t black pepper
  • 1/3 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)
  1. To the food processor add everything to the bowl and process on low until the tofu mixture is smooth.

10 manicotti shells (cook by directions)

1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)

Assembly

In a 9×12 baking dish evenly spread a 1/4 cup of pesto on the bottom of the dish.  Fill 10 cooked manicotti shells and place in the baking dish in one layer.  Top with remaining pesto- spreading it evenly over the manicotti.  Sprinkle with shredded vegan cheese, if using.  Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.  ENJOY!

Now I’m off to watch NCIS with the Hubz! Goodnight!

Recipe of the Week: Pan-Fried Tofu Steak w/ Chili Yuzu Sauce

5 Comments

Recipe of the Week

Yields 2 servings

Pan-Fried Tofu Steak

  • 1/2 Block of extra firm tofu, cut into 2 thin slices
  • 3T all purpose flour
  • 1 T sesame oil
  • 1t Canola oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced or microplaned

Dust the tofu with the flour and set aside.  In a large saute pan place the oils and garlic and heat over medium-high until the garlic is fragrant.  Place the tofu in the pan and pan fry on each side for 4-5 minutes.

Chili Yuzu Sauce

  • 1.5T tamari
  • 1T yuzu
  • 1t rice wine
  • 1t rice wine vineagr
  • 1t sesame oil
  • 1-2 thai chilies, thinly sliced

Whisk all of the ingredients together and set aside.

Sauteed Cabbage and Shiitakes

  • 1/2 T canola oil
  • 2 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 8 shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
  • 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over high heat.  Add the cabbage, mushroom and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until soften.  Reduce the heat to medium and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 4-5 more minutes until veggies are soft.

Garnish:

  • gomasio
  • crispy garlic
  • cilantro
  • Green onions, thinly sliced

Place the tofu on the plate and pour 1/2 of the Chili Yuzu Sauce over; garnish with your choice of toppings.  Serve with brown rice and sauteed cabbage & shiitakes.

Recipe: Scrambled Tofu al la Hubz

2 Comments

I’ve been sick with a fever and the flu since Saturday night so little cooking has been happening at our house.  The hubz however made a tofu scramble for himself last night that he was really proud of so I decided to post his recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion – thinly sliced and caramelized
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 5 mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 block of extra firm tofu, crumbled
  • 2 T of braggs (you can use soy sauce)
  • 1/2 t of smoked hot paprika
  • 1/2 t of tumeric
  • sprinkle of crushed red peppers
  • sprinkle of italian seasoning
  • 2 cups of baby spinach
  • salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat  the olive oil; add the onions and cook until caramelized.
  2. Stir in the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in the spices and tofu and cook for 5-6 minutes.
  3. Stir in the baby spinach and cook until wilted. Taste and season with salt and pepper

Hot News

3 Comments

I know I tweeted yesterday about a new recipe that I have been working on for Coconut-Lime Tofu and I had planned to present you with a recipe…..but I changed my mind and decided that it was so delicious I am going to present it to my testers and feature it in my next ebook. So yes the cats out of the bag I am starting another e-book!

Please take a minute to fill out the following survey so that I can use your feedback to make improvements to my blog: http://bit.ly/fkO4u2

A Yummy Day of Eating

3 Comments

I know I have been pretty absent from my blog lately but I am working on getting back in the swing of things and the posts should start to flow again.  Hubby and I spent the day trying to be productive and yet relaxing and fun as well.  We started out with a trip to Plato’s Closet so that we could see how much dinero they would give us for our old clothes.  We made out pretty well so we treated ourselves to a huge veggie sandwich at Martone’s that was filled with veggies, hummus and tabouli it was massive so we got one to share, I wish I had taken a photo of it.  After a wonderful lunch we decided to go to a matinee and we saw Date Night which was absolutely hilarious!

After our relaxing lunch and movie it as time to get down to business and by business I mean shopping.  Grocery shopping that is! We picked up some great finds at Costco (greens, broccoli, mushrooms and Organicville no sugar added BBQ sauce). Then we were off to pick up a few more veggies and such for lunches.  We picked up this yummy treat to share, a little one serving container of Ciao Bella Sicilian Blood Orange Sorbeto:

For dinner I made a yummy dinner of baked BBQ tofu, roasted broccoli, green salad and garlic-saffron quinoa:

Baked BBQ Tofu

  • 80z of pressed tofu cut into 4 thin slices
  • 1/3 cup BBQ sauce of your choice (I used Organicville no sugar added)
  • 1T soy sauce
  • 3T water
  • 1t sirracha

Preheat oven to 425F. Mix the BBQ sauce, soy sauce, water and sirracha together and pour into a small baking dish. Place the tofu in the sauce and flip over a few times to coat.  Bake for 40 minutes, flipping half way.

Roasted Broccoli

  • 4 cups of broccoli
  • 1T olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • Aluminum Foil

Preheat oven to 425F.  Toss the broccoli with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place the broccoli in aluminum foil and create a closed packet. Place in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes.

Garlic-Saffron Quiona

  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2T olive oil
  • 10 strands of saffron
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 vegan chik’n bouillon cube
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2T nutritional yeast

In a small pot heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic for 3-5 minutes.  Add the water, bouillon and saffron to the onion and garlic and bring to a boil.  Stir in the quinoa and return to a boil.  Cover and turn the heat down to medium, and cook 12-15 minutes until the water has been absorbed.  Take off the heat and fluff with a fork.  Add the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste.  Let sit covered for 15 minutes before serving.

For dessert we were cravings something sweet and banana like:

Chocolate Banana Soft Serve

Ingredients

  • 2 frozen bananas broken into pieces
  • 1 T nutbutter (today I used Sunbutter)
  • 1/3-1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk

Directions

Place everything in a food processor (a blender really won’t work not even a Blendtec or Vita-Mix) and processes until fluffy smooth and softserve like.

Giveaway & Recipe: Coconut Red Curry Peanut Stir Fry

63 Comments

Coconut Red Curry Peanut Stir Fry

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup firm tofu, diced
  • 1 large carrot, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 5 cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 1.5 cups frozen edamame
  • 1T coconut oil
  • 1T coconut peanut butter (can substitute half coconut butter/half peanut butter or just use peanut butter)- win your own Coconut PB below
  • 1T red curry paste
  • 2T soy sauce, tamari or shoyu
  • 1/2T vegetarian oyster sauce
  • 1T arrowroot powder mixed with 1/4 cup of water
  • 1t garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts

Directions:

  1. In a wok over medium high heat melt the coconut oil and coconut peanut butter together.
  2. Add in the red curry paste and stir fry together for about a minute.
  3. Add in all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the peanuts and cook for 7-10minutes until the vegetables are soft.
  4. Add in the peanuts at the end.  Serve with your favorite rice or noodles.

To make this recipe I used Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil and Coconut Peanut Butter.  The coconut peanut butter is rich and creamy tasting and works really well in this dish.  The peanut butter flavor is not overwhelming but is rather great combined with the coconut.  I found that this is not an easily spreadable butter but is great on warmed foods such as oatmeal, stir fries, noodles, and sweet potatoes.

“Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter is made from organic peanuts and organic coconut. Two ingredients: nothing else! No fillers, no binders, no sweeteners, and no preservatives. The peanuts are 100% organic Valencia peanuts grown organically by family farmers in New Mexico and Texas. Grown in the dry climate of the southwestern United States, these peanuts are certified organic and free from aflatoxins. The dried coconut is certified organic coconut meat from the Philippines from coconuts that are grown with no fertilizers or pesticides. This premium dried coconut contains no additives or preservatives, and is not sweetened. Unlike most dried coconut on the market, our dried coconut products are not treated with sulfites to keep them white. Together, these premium organic roasted peanuts and the premium organic dried coconut are ground together to make a delicious and nutritious spread!” soucre

Tropical Traditions Giveaway- Please Enter by 8am on February 26, 2010

To win your own jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter visit the Tropical Traditions website and take a look around- leave a comment on my blog telling me something you’ve learned or about a product that interest you.

Additional Chances to Enter

  1. Subscribe to Tropical Traditions email Sales Newsletter here:http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm(Leave me a comment saying you did)
  2. Tweet about this giveaway – “I want to win @Troptraditions Coconut Oil from @cookveganlover http://wp.me/ppaTI-vQ
     (Leave me a comment saying you did)
  3. Follow me @cookveganlover on twitter (Leave a comment saying you did)
  4. Visit Tropical Traditions Free Coconut Recipe websitehttp://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/ and leave a comment telling me what your favorite recipe is.
Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Giveaway Winner is:

hihorosie // February 24, 2010 at 6:32 PM | Reply (edit)

How can one ever go wrong when there’s coconut involved? But there are a couple of recipes that catch my eye: coconut ice and Coconut Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa. YUM!