Green Chile-Tofu Migas

I have a really special recipe to share with you today! This one is from Quick Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson, a book that I am enjoying exploring and everything I've made from it so far has been great and easy! This dish takes less than half an hour to prep and cook, which I love. It includes lots of fresh ingredients that come together extremely well, and can be customized according to your tastes.
Migas is typically made with eggs, but of course this vegan version uses tofu as a stand-in. This has to hands-down be the best tofu scramble-esque dish I've made and is sure to become a staple in my house! You can make it as hot or as mild as you want, top it with whatever yummyness sounds good, and whip it up for a fancy brunch or a casual dinner - it fits well anywhere and will impress non-vegans!
As a tip, I used some small glass bowls to set aside my pre-chopped veggies, etc. so that they were ready to go in at the right time. I had everything prepped before turning on the skillet, because things come together quickly after that and I prefer not to stress while chopping onions, etc. =)
So without further ado, I share with you the recipe....

Green Chile-Tofu Migas
1 pound soft tofu, drained (I actually used firm tofu, as I prefer my scrambles to hold up better and really think firm makes a better stand-in for scrambled eggs)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup tomato salsa
1 ripe avocado
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, minced
4 (6-inch) corn tortillas, torn into bite-size pieces
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, hot or mild, drained
1 tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

Place the tofu in a bowl and mash well. Add the nutritional yeast, salt, and salsa and mix until well combined. Halve and pit the avocado, spoon out the flesh, and chop. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, scallions, and tortilla pieces and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chiles and the reserved tofu mixture and cook, stirring, until hot and well combined. Add the chopped tomato and cilantro and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed (here I added about a teaspoon of Himalayan black salt, to bring in that eggy flavor that vegan scrambles tend to lack - I recommend it!!)

Serve hot topped with avocado. Feel free to add vegan sour cream, additional salsa, hot sauce, dairy-free cheese, etc. as you wish!

 

In all its glory....and now I officially want to eat it right now!! Excited to share this one with my Mexican food-loving family!

Original recipe taken from Quick Fix Vegan cookbook by Robin Robertson.

Grilled Tofu with Pineapple Salsa and Coconut Rice

Yet another recipe courtesy of Oh She Glows, this recipe is adventurous and delicious. It features a variety of flavors, from the delicate flavoring of the tofu to the spicy salsa to the sweetened rice. I highly recommend it if you need to break out of a boring dinner routine into an island-inspired flavor extravaganza!

Grilled Tofu with Pineapple Salsa and Coconut Rice
for the tofu:
1 package firm or extra-firm tofu
cooking oil for brushing
Herbamare or salt, for seasoning
for the coconut rice:
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dry/uncooked short grain brown rice
1 can (400ml) light coconut milk
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon coconut oil (optional)
Sprinkle of nutmeg  
 for the pineapple salsa (this makes over 5 cups, so you may want to only make half of a batch!):
1 pineapple, cored & diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 jalapeños, seeded and diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
3 tablespoon fresh lime juice (from 1 large lime)
1/4 cup packed fresh mint leaves, minced
Red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

First, you need to press the tofu. Remove tofu from package and rinse with water. Place a couple kitchen towels on the counter. Wrap the tofu with another towel, place another towel on top, and finally several heavy cookbooks on top. Let sit for at least 20 minutes to soak out the water.

After pressing, slice the tofu block down the middle, lengthwise to make two halves. Now slice each piece diagonally to make 4 triangles total. Brush each side with cooking oil and then season generously. This tofu is plain, but you can marinate it if you prefer.

Preheat oven to 300F. Toast shredded coconut for about 8-12 minutes until golden. Rinse brown rice in colander and then place into a medium-sized pot. Add the can of coconut milk and stir. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat immediately to low. Cover with lid and cook for about 25-30 minutes until most of the coconut milk is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat, keep lid on, and let it “steam” for another 10 minutes or so. Stir in brown sugar and optional coconut oil. Garnish with toasted shredded coconut.

Meanwhile, add all salsa ingredients into a large bowl, adjusting to taste. Pineapple may need draining if it is very watery (to do this, place it in a colander for ~10 minutes prior to adding to the salsa mixture).

To grill the tofu, preheat the bbq grill for about 15-30 minutes  on high. Turn heat down to medium/low. Carefully, grease the grill with a cooking oil safe for high heat (e.g., canola, sunflower, safflower, or sesame). Grill the tofu for about 5 minutes on each side (this will vary). Be sure not to overcook the tofu or it will be dry. (**I don't own a real barbeque, just a miniature one without a top. So, to speed things up, I simply fried the tofu for a few minutes on each side. It didn't get a grilled flavor but was still tasty, especially because the other parts of this dish are so flavorful).

To serve, poon coconut rice on a plate and sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg if desired. Add grilled tofu next and then spoon over a generous amount of pineapple salsa. Sprinkle everything with more toasted coconut and garnish with mint leaves. Feel free to serve with a bit of BBQ sauce on the side to spruce up the tofu.

 Bottom line: This was an incredibly flavorful, sweet-and-spicy dish that I'd recommend for any palate craving some adventure. Also a great way to use up lots of aging kitchen produce, if you tend to have that problem like I do =)



Recipe found here on Oh She Glows.

Soup & Salad Combo, Please

Okay so I am excited about this one. These recipes, paired together, make a delightful lunch or dinner on a spring or summer day. The tofu salad is very cooling, which balances out the warmth of the soup. The soup would also be great in the winter time, when I usually picture squash in recipes. But I would HIGHLY recommend both of these, taken from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet.

The tofu salad is quick and easy, just requiring some chopping of ingredients and a quick steam of the tofu. It would be great on toast or in sandwiches; I put mine on top of the pitas because I didn't have high hopes for the pita standing up to the heavy salad.

The soup is so incredibly simple...if you can just get the squash cut up! Kabocha squash has such a tough skin and is a very hard squash, so I find it very difficult to cut up and peel. Other kinds of squash could be substituted, even bought already cut up (such as butternut)...I just love the taste of the Kabocha so much that it is worth the battle!

A pretty frightening (albeit accurate) picture of Doug and his power saw at war with the Kabocha squash.

Creamy Sweet Kabocha Squash Soup

4 cups kabocha squash, peeled and cut into 2" cubes

2 pinches of fine sea salt (or 1 pinch salt, 1 teaspoon shoyu - this is what I used)

minced fresh parsley

Place the squash in a saucepan with 3 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, and add a small pinch of salt. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, until the squash is soft. Mash the squash with a potato masher, or blend with a handheld blender, right in the pot. Add another pinch of salt (or 1 teaspoon shoyu) and simmer for 7-10 minutes longer. Serve the soup hot with a sprinkle of parsley on top.

Soup served in a mug, as a side dish to the tofu salad

Tofu Salad

1/4 cup fresh, or frozen and thawed, peas

1/3 (14 oz.) package firm tofu

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

3 olives, chopped

1 tablespoon rinsed capers

2-3 slices kosher dill pickles, chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions or chives

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon Vegenaise

1 tablespoon umeboshi vinegar or 2 tablespoons umeboshi plum paste

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

whole wheat pitas

green leaf lettuce leaves

1 red radish, thinly sliced (I don't really like radishes, so left this out)

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the peas, and blanch for 3 minutes or until the peas are bright green. Drain and set aside.

Wrap the tofu in cheesecloth or a clean dish towel and place on a plate. Place a second plate on top of the tofu, and place a weight on top of it for 10 minutes to press out the liquid. Bring water to a boil in a steamer or pot fitter with a steamer basket. Unwrap the tofu and place it in the steamer basket. Cover the pot and steam the tofu for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the tofu and transfer to a bowl. Mash with a fork to make it crumbly.

To the tofu add the peas, celery, olives, capers, pickles, scallion or chives, parsley, Vegenaise, vinegar, and lemon juice. Taste the mixture. If it is too bland, add more umeboshi vinegar, a little at a time, to taste (I needed to add another splash or two to mine).

Spoon the tofu salad into warmed pitas with the lettuce leaves and sliced radishes, or serve on the lettuce leaves and garnish with the radishes.

As good as it looks...reminiscent of egg or potato salad!

Bottom Line: Two ultra-healthful, Superhero recipes that taste so good yet are so simple to make! Definitely recommend both of them...impress your friends with lunch! =)

For more on Alicia Silverstone and The Kind Diet, visit thekindlife.com.

Mexican Tofu Burritos

I didn't have meal plans for this evening and just decided to wing it on a Mexican-inspired meal. I was presently surprised with the results! I made small burritos (more like rolled soft tacos) using Mexican-seasoned tofu and served them with black beans. The fixin's were easily found in my house and the meal took about 20 minutes.

Mexican Tofu Burritos (makes 6 small burritos)
1 container firm tofu
6 tortillas (whatever kind you prefer...I used what we had at home, but whole wheat or similar would've been healthier)
1 cup Daiya shredded cheese (pick your favorite flavor)
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup diced white onions
~ 2 tbsp. Mexican seasonings (I threw together a blend of cumin, paprika, salt, garlic powder, and chili powder; making it yourself allows you to customize, making it smoky-tasting or spicier, etc.)
3 tbsp. cooking oil

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Chop tofu to desired size and place in skillet. Saute for a few minutes, then add seasonings and tomato sauce. Continue to stir and cook until tofu is heated through. (You can cook less for softer tofu, longer for crispier).

Heat tortillas in a dry skillet until warm and soft. Add cheese to melt, then remove tortilla from heat.

Assemble burritos/tacos as desired; I topped mine with chopped green onions and a squeeze of lime juice. My fiance is a salsa guy so he threw some salsa on his. I served these with black beans that had a garnish of green onions; you could also fit the beans inside if you had larger tortillas.

Bottom Line: A quick and easy midweek meal, easily customized using the ingredients in your kitchen. You could even sub tofu for veggie crumbles if you had those on hand. Mmm!

Asian Inspiration

There are very few Asian dishes or recipes that I am unwilling to try. As long as I can remember, my parents had always taken my brother and I out for Chinese at least once a week and it was nearly always my favorite meal of the week. I just love the salty-sweet flavors and knowing that the exploration is endless when it comes to Asian cuisine.

For tonight's meal I was feeling something Asian-inspired. For the main dish I chose "Ginger-Baked Tofu" from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet. I didn't, however, have a chance to pick up any ginger; it became more of a garlic-based flavor as a result, but was still quite tasty. As a side dish, I opted to make her "Baby Bok Choy Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette" but again found myself lacking a title ingredient: Bok Choy. Instead I followed the recipe using leeks instead and at the end added 2 cups of unsalted, cooked edamame to make it more interesting. I was pleased with how tasty and filling (it's packed with protein) the end-result was, as was my ever-wary fiancee!

(The recipes below are as I made them, omitting the ingredients I didn't use but otherwise exactly detailing the originals).

Baked Tofu
1 pound firm tofu
1/3 cup shoyu
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
2 tablespoons umeboshi vinegar
1 teaspoon brown rice syrup (optional)

Finely chopped scallions for garnish (optional)

Cut the tofu in half width-wise, and place each half on its side then slice in half again. You will be left with 4 tofu "steaks."

Pour 3/4 cup water into a bowl. Whisk in the shoyu, oil, garlic, vinegars, and rice syrup and pour over the tofu, covering it. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375. Place the tofu on a baking sheet and baste with the marinade. Reserve the remaining marinade.

Bake the tofu for 15-20 minutes. Turn the tofu pieces with a spatula, baste again with the marinade, and bake for 10-15 minutes longer. Garnish with scallions, if desired, and serve warm.

Leeks and Edamame Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette
6-7 leeks, chopped into large pieces
2 cups cooked, unshelled edamame
1 tablespoon umeboshi vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Bring water to a boil in a pot. Add the leeks and steam for about 5 minutes or until they are just tender. Add the edamame just to warm. Transfer to plates.

Mix the vinegar and oil together in a small bowl, and drizzle over the steamed vegetables (you may not need it all).

Finished product!

Bottom Line: These are simple recipes that yield a protein-packed, clean and healthy meal. You only need small serving sizes to stay full!



Visit Alicia's website The Kind Life for more on The Kind Diet as well as kind-living tips and more recipes!