tofu

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Things are very busy around this household, and to cut back on prep time everyday, I have been trying to make extra large dinners that will last for at least two or three lunches. Plus we’re both trying to get a little more fit, so the focus has been on healthy, generally vegetarian meals with lots of protein.

Sunday night I pulled together a bunch of random ingredients to make a delicious quinoa dish with crumbled tofu and peanut sauce.

lime and ginger

This dish was super simple and ended up being delicious. Here’s the scoop:

Ingredients

3 cups quinoa, cooked according to package instructions

1 package extra firm tofu, thoroughly drained and crumbled into small pieces

1 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 medium purple cabbage, chopped finely

8 large carrots, chopped finely

1 tsp red curry paste

4 tsp grated ginger

juice of one lime

peanut butter

carrots and cabbage

While the quinoa cooked, I prepared the vegetables, chopping them to tiny bits together in my Cuisinart.

image

Once the carrots and cabbage were ready, I mixed them and the tofu in with the quinoa. I thinned out the peanut butter by adding some warm water and poured that in as well.  I then added the coconut milk.

Once all of the vegetables, quinoa, tofu, and peanut butter were mixed, I added in the curry paste and ginger, stirred some more, and let it simmer until heated all the way through. Right before serving, I added a squeeze of lime to each bowl.

peanut tofu quinoa

This no-fuss meal was a perfect dinner and an even better lunch with a little extra coconut milk and some leftover sweet potato added to it. The quinoa and tofu gave it a hefty protein kick, and the veggies added some extra nutrients.

It was definitely not a fancy meal, but the flavors and the little prep worked involved made it a new favorite. We’ve been making chilis, curries, and other big batches of food to get us through the week.

What are some of your favorites?

Tags: dinner, Lunch, quinoa, recipe, tofu, vegan, vegetables, Vegetarian

A sandwich favorite turned into a cool, easy rice salad for summer? Yes, please! Make it mayo-free, and it is the perfect on the go meal, great for bringing to barbecues, parties, on picnics, or less fun places like work.

I love a good banh mi sandwich, pretty much any day of the week. I really enjoy the crisp veggies, the spice and the cilantro. With a bunch of random ingredients on hand, and inspired by Myers + Chang tofu banh mi, I decided to make a salad.

 

organic basmati

I started by cooking about a cup and a half of basmati rice according to the package directions.

While the rice was bubbling, I grabbed some pre-cut veggie slaw, a mix of broccoli, carrots, and cabbage, and marinated it all in a mix of rice vinegar, cilantro paste, and sriracha for intense flavors.

veggie slaw

Once the rice was done, I mixed it right in with the veggies. I wanted them to get slightly softer from the rice, and I wanted the warm rice to absorb the vinegar mix.

veggie slaw

 

banh mi rice

While all of this was going on, I was also baking up some tofu chips to top the rice with. I sliced a block of Nasoya  extra firm tofu into very thin slices and quickly dusted them with cayenne and black pepper. I initially put them in the oven at 375 and after about 15 minutes lowered it until 320. I left the oven at 320 for 20 minutes and then shut it off, leaving the tofu in the oven to dry out.

baked tofu

The end result was tasty but not pretty! These crunchy chips made a great topping for the banh mi salad though. I used vegetable scissors to cut them into strips and tossed them in with the rice and vegetables.

tofu chips

I will definitely be making this salad again. Even though I have mentioned that I don’t love rice, I think it is more than I don’t love it on its own. Add in lots of vegetables and protein, and I am a fan!

Have you ever taken inspiration from one favorite dish and turned it into something else?

Tags: dinner, rice, tofu, vegetables, Vegetarian

This week’s meal-planning was inspired completely by one of my favorite cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. My dog-eared copy of this book has seen its fair share of splashes of tomato sauce, drops of water, and puffs of flour; it is a comfort just to read, and even more of a comfort to cook its contents.

My original, 70’s Moosewood cookbook was a gift from my Aunt Betsy. It was hers before she passed it on to me, so there are all sorts of notes about what was good, what substitutions worked well, and other fun little treasures throughout. If you are thinking of doing more vegetarian cooking, Moosewood is definitely one of the ways to go. I still dream of making a trip out to their Ithaca, NY restaurant someday.

My first meatless meal of the week evolved from a baked ziti of sorts. The recipe in the Moosewood book was an Italian Orzo Gratin.

orzo

I started with the basic idea and then used what I had in the house to whip up a balanced meal, starting with a cup of raw orzo and a can of Trader Joe’s marinara. While I prefer to make my own sauce, TJ’s marinara is a great substitute and can be doctored up with veggies and herbs for more of a homemade taste.

marinara sauce

To the marinara sauce, I added an entire container of silken tofu, whipping it with a whisk until the tofu blended into the sauce, sort of like ricotta cheese, making it more of a “cream” sauce.

On the side, I chopped several cups of baby spinach, half of a white onion, and a red pepper.

spinach and onions

When it came time to cook, I borrowed Moosewood’s idea of cooking the orzo from raw. I started by ladling enough of the sauce and tofu combo  to cover the bottom of a casserole dish, then covered that with dry orzo.

orzo

On top of the orzo, I layered the spinach, peppers, and onions. The moisture released from the cooking veggies definitely helps to cook the orzo. On top of the veggies, I layered another thick layer of tofu and sauce, then popped the dish in the oven to bake for 40 minutes at 350.

baked orzo

The orzo cooked perfectly, and while the final dish was a little bit watery, once mixed together, it was fine.

orzo bake

This made a few extra servings, perfect for weekday lunches. While this baked pasta dish was not the fancy grilled tofu I originally planned, it was the perfect low key meal for someone who was not feeling well but wanted to eat something healthy.

Do you have a favorite family cookbook? One that has been passed down or given to you as a gift by a close friend or relative that instantly brings you comfort, like my Moosewood books do?

Tags: meatless, Moosewood, orzo, pasta, recipe, tofu, vegetables, Vegetarian

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