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Meatless Monday Tofu Salad

June 5, 2012 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 5 comments

This is another “make this now” sort of meal. If you like lots of flavors, textures, and a sriracha kick of spice, this healthy dish is for you. Luckily it makes lots of leftovers and is even more delicious after it’s been sitting for awhile!

I planned to make summer rolls, but was feeling lazy was really hungry and didn’t want to make individual rolls. Tossing everything together turned out better than I had hoped. I would love to add some noodles to this for a little extra bulk. Otherwise, it was just perfect.

tofu salad

The ingredients:

1 block of firm tofu, drained, crumbled and seared in a pan on high heat until lightly browned

3 cups of grated carrots

2 large jalapenos, chopped

1 cup peanuts, roughly chopped

8 – 10 leaves of mint, shredded

juice of 1 lime

tofu

mint

peanuts

Before I started any other prep, I drained the tofu, crumbed it into a frying pan, and turned the heat to high. This tofu, from Trader Joe’s, was particularly watery, and exposing it to high heat dried it up and made it a lot more firm. If you have time, putting the chopped or crumbled tofu in the oven at a low temperature for a long time is also a good way to dry it out. Or you could buy a tofu press, which I definitely need to do.

Next up, I pulsed the peanuts a few times to get them roughly chopped and prepped my jalapenos, mint, and lime. My dear husband did all of the carrot grating.

ingredients

When the tofu was nice and dry, I just tossed the tofu, peanuts, mint, jalapeno, and carrots in a casserole dish and squeezed the lime over. Then came the best part, the amazing dressing I made for our gyoza over the weekend and that I now want to put on everything.

1 cup of rice vinegar

1/4 cup or more of sriracha

a few drops sesame oil

chopped cilantro

If you like the above ingredients, you will want to find food to put it on. It is amazing, and it’s kind of how this whole dinner came about. 

sriracha dressing

The salad was seriously tangy, spicy, crunchy and offered a warm and cold contrast between the tofu and the rest of the ingredients. It also brought a little brightness to an otherwise very dreary day. I need the sun!

Meatless Monday is always a fun way to ensure we eat vegetarian eat least one day a week (though we usually do 3-4 days) and a nice time to try a new recipe or whip up something fun on your own.

Do you participate in Meatless Monday?

Tags: dinner, Food, healthy, recipe, tofu, vegan, Vegetarian

Peanut Tofu Quinoa

May 10, 2012 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 5 comments

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.

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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

Two Seasons Salad

March 27, 2012 in Food by traveleatlove | 9 comments

Like Mother Nature, our lunch this week is caught between two seasons. I was inspired to whip up a healthy lunch salad for the week by some fresh asparagus I picked up at Target, and I decided to mix it with one of my favorite wintry veggies, Brussels sprouts.

I started with a bag of whole wheat Israeli couscous from Bob’s Red Mill. I may be a whole grains loving nerd, but I can browse the Bob’s section at Market Basket for a really long time. I am so intrigued by how many different options there are. Melissa mentioned in a comment that Bob’s products are cheap at Ocean State Job Lot; I need to empty out the trunk of the car and head over there!

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While I was boiling up some water to cook my couscous, I chopped my fresh asparagus and started thawing my Brussels sprouts.

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I also got the oven heated to 425 in order to roast a small head of garlic. I went to a class at Whole Foods River Street last week with Chef Chad Sarno, and he showed us how to roast garlic in vegetable stock. I didn’t have any on hand, so I just filled this little ramekin about 1/4 of the way with water, chopped the top of the garlic off, and popped it in. It worked out really well and didn’t require oil.

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Chef Sarno also showed us how to caramelize onions using a really hot pan, then deglazing it with liquid. I have tried this twice in the past week, and I have made the best caramelized onions I have ever made. Again, you avoid using unnecessary oil here but still get a great result. I am all for oil and other fats, but it’s nice to be able to cut back when you can.

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While all of that was going on, I was stealing bites of asparagus. I can’t get enough!

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When the couscous was cooked, I stirred the asparagus in, letting the heat of the couscous do its thing. I tossed the Brussels sprouts in with the onions and let them cook.

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And then it was time to make the “sauce” for the salad. This might be a really weird idea, but it was delicious. I pureed the Brussels sprouts, roasted garlic, and caramelized onions with some salt, pepper, olive oil, truffle oil, and nutritional yeast, then tossed the couscous in it until coated.

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This was definitely an interesting dish, and one I would make again. Pureeing the sprouts gave the salad a ton of flavor and nutrition without making it seem overwhelmingly filled with vegetables. It was a good way to use them up!

And it was very nice to have lunch all set for both of us for the next three days!

In other news, you may remember a call for recipes I posted awhile back. Well, the book is now available online:

You can find out more about Where Hash Rules and buy a copy by clicking on the link below.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/144495 or visiting the Amazon page:

Here’s a little bit of information about the book.

Where Hash Rules is the story of Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe, a cultural landmark in Boston since 1927, with tales and photographs about the many interesting characters who have enjoyed turkey hash and eggs through the years. Named an “American Classic” by the James Beard Foundation in 2005, the diner has evolved to be as much a part of local folklore as the tea party.

Have a great day, everyone!

Tags: asparagus, brussels sprouts, couscous, Food, healthy, Lunch, recipe, salad, vegan, Vegetarian, whole wheat

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