Spicy Pineapple Cashew Rice

I am now on day three of having no budget for groceries. I have to say I am really luck that I seem to hoard non-perishable food. I have lots of dried herbs and lots of canned and frozen vegetables. It is truly saving my life this week.

I made this recipe sort of loosely based on chicken and rice. It was something that I lived on while when I was traveling in Thailand. At the time, I was a little scared of spicy food and a little scared of anything that I didn't know. Chicken and Cashew was this one dish that was everywhere. On every menu at restaurants and sometimes on food carts and stands. It had a little spice, but nothing crazy. It was filling and most of all, tasted really good. I decided to veganize this... but my version is very, very loosely based on this Thai version. What you get in Thailand is usually very simple. I am not sure how they are cooking the rice, but it seems flavours. Mine, however, is a pretty much a dump of all sorts of stuff I had in my fridge with a base of rice and cashew... anyways, both are good, but this version has not meat making it even better.

Spicy Pineapple Cashew Rice
*Serves 2-3, about 30 minutes to cook if rice is pre-made.

Ingredients:

Many Ingredients not pictured. I sort of built
this as I cooked.

• 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice
• 1 can of pineapple, drain and reserve the juice
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 of a package of firm tofu, pressed and diced
• 1 Tbsp oil (I used canola)
• 1/2 cup of toasted cashews
• 1/2 cup of frozen (or fresh, I don't have any) spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 2 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp toasted coconut

First, drain the pineapple and reserve the liquid in a bowl. Add to it the soy sauce and the tofu and let it marinate for at least 20 minutes, but can go as long as a couple hours if you want.

Prepping for marinade - Very important when dealing with tofu.
Marinated is always better

If you have this meal planned out, do this the day before. It can
soak for up to 8 hours.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the tofu to the skillet and cook for about 5-6 min a side or until it is golden brown. Add the cashews and the pineapple and cook another 5 minutes or so. Now add all the other ingredients (except the reserve liquid and the green onion). Stir fry this for at least 5-6 minutes or until everything is well heated through. If things are sticking, add some of the reserve liquid, about a table spoon at a time. I ended up used 3-4 table spoons. if you like a little crunch, turn the heat up for a couple minutes and stir fry on high to crisp up the rice.

Building the dish.. I started with tofu

Added my other base ingredients

Then really, I just kept adding until this is what I had!
One pot/one bowl meal.

Now when this is done or close to done, toast some coconut. Get your unsweetened shredded coconut and add it to a dry pan on low-medium heat. Toast for about 3-4 minutes. Watch it really closely and remove from heat as soon as it browns. Add it to the rice bowl with the green onion prior to serving.

The final result - Sweet, spicy, filling. Good.

For a dish that is essentially a basic grain and left over and frozen foods.. I cannot believe how good this tasted. It was nice to start this week of being on a zero budget with something good. It made me feel like I might actually be able to pull this off. The toughest part for me is that I have no fresh fruit for snacks and I have no popcorn... I have been relying on these for snack foods and without them, cravings have gone from strong to intense.

Just four more days to get through.... Not going to be easy!

Sweet Chili Tofu on Vermicelli and Spinach

Tofu done right for once!

This recipe all started today when I got home early enough to make some proper dinner. I haven't grocery shopped in a while and I had no intention on going to the store. Tonight was reserved to hang out with myself. Usually it's the result of having too many late nights and grounding myself. This time.. I guess I would call it a punishment for being lazy. Eating vegan for over two years now, I have figured out how to get away with little cooking. Lately I have been living off of various rice dishes (See: formula for an easy wholesome meal) and it has gotten a little boring. So I got hunting around in my kitchen to see what I had available to make something a little different. What did I find? Tofu, Spinach, basil, and lime. This sparked an issue with me that I don't think I have talked about here. I have never been able to cook a piece of tofu and make it as good as a restaurant. Mine is always too soft, too spongy, overdone, underdone, over-marinated.. You name it, I have messed it up with tofu. It always taste good, but just doesn't taste the way it does when I get it in any restaurant.

I have done a little research and it seems the overwhelming response to this question is dry-frying. I saw it a couple of ways and decided to try one that did not seem to require marinating the tofu. I was hungry, and frankly I hate waiting that extra hour and I'm never prepared in advance to do it before work. This can be done in advance or right before using. It only takes a few minutes to prepare too.

Step 1: Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat

Step 2: Chop your tofu into thin pieces. I cut mine into eights and then I cut the rectangles in half diagonally to make wedges

Slice it thin and do any shape you want. Triangles are easy and look good

Step 3: Put the tofu in the pan. Don't over lap

Who knew that getting restaurant consistency is so easy! Throw it in a pan

Step 4: Press the tofu to let some water out, cook 5 minutes or until golden brown

Step 5: Flip and repeat step 4

From start to finish it takes about 10 minutes to cook. From here, you can store, marinate or use as is. I was amazed because this was the closest I have gotten to restaurant-style tofu. It was really good and the right consistency.

So using this tofu I made a quick meal for myself using some vermicelli noodles I found in my cupboard and some basic ingredients to make a sweet chili sauce. Of course, served with whatever greens you have on hand. I used spinach for this one. This recipe makes 2-3 servings. Easy to half if you just want a meal for one.

Sweet Chili Tofu on Vermicelli and Greens
*Takes about 30 minutes if Tofu isn't done in advance

• One block of tofu, sliced and cooked as above

Sauce:

• Juice of one lime and half of the zest
• 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Mirin or water
• 3 Tbsp sugar or agave (I used brown sugar)
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 clove of garlic (I didn't use, but threw a pinch of garlic powder)
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup of basil, sliced thin

Noodles and Greens:

• One bunch of spinach (or collards, kale, chard broccoli, etc) Chopped
• Green onion, sliced thin
• 1-2 Tbsp water
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 package of noodles (or cup of rice, quinoa or other grain)
• 1 Tbsp Lime juice and the zest from the other half of the lime used above
• 1 Tbsp Soy sauce

First get water going for the grains and cook and set aside. If you didn't make in advance, dry fry the tofu and set it aside. While the tofu is cooking, prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Once the tofu is done or the sauce is mixed, use the same pan and saute your greens and onion with the water and salt. Once cooked, add the sesame seeds.

Cooking each piece in advance and set it aside before combining it together

Adding the sauce

Remove the greens from the pan and turn the heat up to high. Add the tofu and the sauce and wait until it bubbles (about a minute). Turn of the heat and let it sit on the burner to thicken. While it is cooking down, get plating. Start with the noodles and then top with the greens and finally add the tofu with some of the sauce and serve.

In under 30 minutes and no shopping - Dinner

Ginger Molasses Baked Tofu

Saturday night. I have grounded myself in order to get ready for my next trip. Luckily there are plenty of bad movies on TV and I have even more bad movies PVR'd. I didn't have much on hand to cook with, but I knew whatever I made I needed to incorporate a couple things: 1. roasted potatoes. I bought some from the Farmer's Market and I have been waiting all day to roast them up! 2. Tofu. I have had some in my fridge for too long and it is time something is done with it. 3. Sweet and Spicy. I just love that combo and I have a pumpkin spice cupcake for dessert that would go well with a sweet n' spicy dinner.

As usual, the next steps were to forage in the kitchen for a way to pull this together. I decided to make a basic marinade with ginger and molasses.

Molasses, specifically blackstrap molasses is about as healthy has sugar is going to get. It is full of minerals and is a great source for iron... like 15-20% of your daily requirement is in one serving. Not bad. Next time someone asks you how you make sure you get enough iron without tearing into animals for dinner, you can tell them that. Then you can google it when they don't believe you. It is also a  good source of calcium (10% of your daily requirement is in two tsp of molasses).

So yeah, healthy sugar! I still is a sweetener, so a little goes a long way, but it is so much better than white granulated sugar. Also a great choice to thicken and sweeten up a marinade.

Ginger Molasses Baked Tofu
*Serves two

• 1 block of tofu, cut into quarters or whatever shape you want.
• 1/4 cup of blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 soy sauce
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• salt and pepper

First press your tofu and place it in a shallow dish. Mix the marinade ingredients together and then pour on top. Let it sit covered for at least and hour. Longer is better. Once the marinade is ready, preheat your over to 350 F. Get a cookie sheet and cover it with Foil. Add the tofu slices and if you are doing potatoes as a side, you can put those beside the tofu. Bake for about 30-40 minutes turning half way.

Save a little space for your veggies

I served this with kale which I added to the same cookie sheet about 12 minutes before everything was ready. This way I had nothing on the stove and with the foil, minimal dishes to clean up afterwards. It is a very practical way to cook!

The aftermath of an edible arrangement I got became the side dish of my dinner
Was told only a vegan would take garnish and eat it.. I'm ok with that. 

One dinner, one pan, no scrubbing. Love it.

The result - fast and easy dinner.

For dessert, I had my last cupcake that I got at the farmers market from vegout bakery. I bought a lemon and pumpkin spice cupcake. They were both amazing. They taste so homemade yet so perfect. It is really hard to describe it in words. I will be back for a birthday cupcake next week! If you are in Edmonton, go check them out sometime at the downtown farmers market.

Dessert from Vegout Bakery. So good, Edmontonians, Veggie or not, I recommend!

Now, the following day I decided to try this same recipe except for fried. It was even better than baked! Simply heat some oil in a pan and then bread the tofu in cornmeal. Cook about 7-8 minutes a side.

Same recipe, but fried. Seriously good.

Things Momentarily Returning to Normal

Back home. I figured the first thing I would want to do is run out and make a big home made vegan meal. Instead, all I wanted to do is lie on my couch and take a day off. Not wanting to eat junk food for another week... I lucked out and my sister cooked me dinner for World Vegan Day! and yes, I am late posting... the excuse de jour? I left my computer's power cord on my last trip.

Tofu... yum... My favourite way to cut them up. For dinner we had them quartered and it also worked really well

Laura, my sister and vegan flirt decided to make a vegan feast which is generally dinner at her place when I come over. She and her family have really gotten into a lot of the vegan recipes that I have tried over the past couple years. She made an awesome dinner that was so simple and so satisfying, it is something I never seem to get when I am on the road.

First she made ginger marinaded baked tofu from the Kind Diet. When I make something like this I am always trying to find something to give it a kung pow, but she paired it with a nice simple brown rice with roasted sunflower seeds and green onion (I also threw some of the leftover marinade on it. Highly recommend). Then some steamed veggies on the side with a little bit of lemon on them. The recipe isn't posted online, but she has lots of others available: http://www.thekindlife.com/

I was so hungry when I got there, I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished product and then ate two full servings.
One thing that Laura asked me to bring when I came over was dessert. I forgot. Those that know me know that this is pretty much a constant in my life. I forget everything, but dessert? Inexcusable! To make up for the potentially world vegan day disaster I actually went back to a recipe for a cookie I made once a long time ago (Original recipe is here).

I modified this recipe a bit. First thing I did was I did not dry the apple sauce. I just used a scant 1/4 cup instead of a full one. Next? I forgot to put the maple syrup in. Then after the cooked were ready to bakes, I stirred it in. Lastly, I didn't bother with raisins. I was in a hurry and plumping raisins takes five minutes. Chocolate cookies and chopped pecans are instant gratification.

The result of these changes? Amazing! It kind of tasted like oatmeal, but intensely sweet and a hint of salt. Even my mother who brought in pepperoni pizza in case she didn't like tofu liked them. It is so satisfying when I can make something vegan and people who hate 'vegan' food love it. She even admitted the tofu was pretty good and it was just the texture of it that she wasn't into. I consider that a win in itself.

It kind of drives me crazy when people say they don't like vegan food. Mostly because people eat 'vegan food' all the time and the things that they haven't tried yet? Just drip the vegan from the name and people seem to be much better with it. Something about that word gets some non-vegans on edge. I don't know if I will ever understand that.. maybe for another post.

A picture I found of my favourite vegan in training! 

Meet Gizmo. He is one of my pigs and a fellow vegan.
Part of the reason I have not be posting much is that he is  sick, but now happy to report he is on the mend

Happy belated world vegan day. I am getting the energy together to make some tasty meals this weekend and include lots of pictures.

A vegan in her element... blogging and cooking.

Strawberry Shortcake Anyone?

I have been on the road for a couple of weeks and it was so nice to get back into my own kitchen, unpack... and bake a cake! I am sure I have mentioned it before, but I am a midnight baker (yes, I made this term up, but I am sure there are others). Anyways, I had so many delicious vegan treats and desserts while I was gone that I felt I needed to.. well bake a cake.

I took stock of my ingredients as Edmonton is lacking in 24 hour grocery stores, so I was pretty much stuck with what I had in my place. Luckily my house / pig sitter, mom, left me some strawberries and with that the decision was obvious. Must make strawberry shortcake!

I did a little searching online and in the cookbooks and settles on what looked to be an amazing recipe at Honest Fare a lovely vegan blog with some yummy looking recipes. I have definitely bookmarked the page so I can take a closer look at what Gabrielle has on her site.

I tried to make the  cake and it was a completely failure. Similar to my last two attempts at baking, it was underdone and mushy in the middle. Further investigation uncovered devastating news... my oven is broken!

Luckily, this recipe involves hollowing out the middle of the cake to allow for a custard filling, so I made a second attempt (this time with a mix cake) and it turned out great! I cannot vouch for the cake recipe in the Honest Fare, but I can say the batter tasted great. So, if you are feeling lazy, follow my version with the mix cake. If you want a healthier and less-processed cake, follow Honest Fare or use your own favourite cake recipe.

Heavenly Strawberry Shortcake

• one cake in 9" round pan (I used a yellow cake mix, use whatever your favourite is!)
• 1 container firm silken tofu
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 sprinkle cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon oil
• A little soy milk
• ¼ cup cake (what you scooped out of the center of the cake)
• 2 cups of strawberries, chopped

First, make your cake following your recipe or package instructions. Bake in a 9" round pan and let cool completely. Once cooled, scoop out the centre of the cake. Leave about an inch around the edge and about 1/2 inch at the bottom.

Next, make the filling. Combine the remaining ingredients, except for the milk and strawberries (However, you could add a few strawberries in the custard for flavour and a pretty pink colour... I wish I had done that!). Blend with a hand blender or in a regular blender until it is smooth. It should be quite thick, similar to custard. Add a bit of milk if it is too thick and a bit more cake if it is too thin.

Pour the filling into the centre of the cake until it is filled. Add the chopped strawberries and cool for at least an hour before serving.

How easy is that? It takes a little time since you need to cool the cake then chill the finish product, but trust me... it is worth it!! And if you need further convincing... Strawberries are an excellent source of  dietary fiber, vitamin C and manganese and the tofu provides extra protein without any saturated fat!

Stay tuned for my full report on my travels in the beautiful state of Georgia this weekend and maybe some raw desserts since I am now short an oven!

Winter Escape Picnic

For what seems to be the first time in a long time, I woke up and saw blue sky... Then... SUNSHINE! Such a nice day today. I almost forgot that it was still winter. Unfortunately I promised myself that today would be a cleaning day. The pigs were dirty, laundry is way overdue. So I kept my promise and stayed in. Since I hate winter and snow, I probably am enjoying this sunny day better watching it through a window. That way, I don't have to deal with the slushy snowy mess outside.

 

Inspired by the sunshine, I decided to make a summery picnic lunch. I found this recipe in The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.

 

Tofu Salad

• 1/4 cup of frozen peas
• 1/3 of a block of tofu
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery (I did half of this)
• 3 olives, chopped (I used green pitted)
• 1 Tbsp rinsed capers
• 2-3 slices of dill pickles, chopped
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped scallion
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1 Tbsp Vegenaise (I doubled this)
• 2 tsp umeboshi plum paste
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

 

So this is very easy to make. First, take the tofu and press it while you prep the veggies. Blanch the peas for a couple minutes so they are bright green.

Next, chop up all the veggies and set aside.

Once everything is prepped, boil 1/2 cup water and steam the tofu for 5 minutes. When it is done, transfer it to a bowl and mash it up with a fork.

 

Next add all the other ingredients to the bowl of tofu and mix until it is well combined. I like a creamier salad so I doubled the Vegenaise in the original recipe. You may want to start with one tablespoon and then add the second if necessary.

 

 

Makes 1-2 servings. You can eat this as a salad or on a sandwich. I decided to make a pita boat with some green leaf lettuce. This recipe has some seriously strong flavours and really packs a punch. Since I was having a winter picnic, I decided to make some lemonade... well limeade actually which went so good with this.

Super awesome to eat in the sunshine!