Marinated tofu and Israeli couscous

I have had a bag of Israeli couscous sitting in my pantry for a while now, and I finally got around to using it in a recipe today. I found a recipe for marinated tofu and Israeli couscous from the site Liesl Made which I really wanted to try. Normally when I think of Israeli couscous I think of a salad with parsley, raisins and nuts, but I thought I might try something different and try out this recipe.

I wasn't really in the mood for cooking tonight, but I just plowed through my feeling of laziness and just did it anyways. I'm glad I did it. This recipe was delicious and it's much better than just settling with the easy option of eating toast for dinner. 

Marinated Tofu and Israeli Couscous (from Liesl Made)

Time: few hours to press tofu, 8 hours to marinate (ideally, but a few hours will do if in a pinch) then a half an hour to an hour to prep and cook

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb extra firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup low-sodium/light soy sauce (We generally only use low-sodium soy sauce. If you only have regular soy sauce you could probably substitute some of it with a rice wine vinegar.)
• veggies/stir fry foods of choice (I used broccoli, mushroom, carrot and parsnip.)
• 1 cup Israeli Pearled Couscous (also called Israeli Couscous or Pearled Couscous)
• 2 cups water (You can stretch the dish out more by doing 1 1/2 cups couscous and 3 cups water and get a few more servings without losing too much flavor.)

Notable Tools + Stuff

• basic kitchen utensils
• seal-able container or plastic bag for marinating
• frying pan (and fitting lid)
• serving bowl + extra bowl to hold hold tofu temporarily

Directions
Press Tofu (a few hours before marinating or at least six hours before serving time):

1. The first thing you want to do is press tofu to remove the excess water. What I do is wrap my block in a towel and set on the counter, place a small cutting board on top and then something heavy like a dictionary or soup can to weigh it down. I let it press for quite a while, I do a few hours. Sometimes, if I remember, I’ll change the towel halfway through because it can get pretty saturated.

Marinate (8 hours or at least a few hours before serving):

1. Cut your tofu into cubes.
2. Put in a seal-able container or bag.
3. Sprinkle the agave, ground ginger and granulated garlic over top then pour on the soy sauce.
4. Shake it up so everything gets coated.
5. Store in fridge for at least a few hours but ideally overnight/eight hours. Shake the container every once in a while to make sure the soy sauce is soaking nicely into and around all the tofu cubes.

Cook the Couscous:

1. Bring two cups of water to a boil over high heat. A pinch of salt is optional. (Whenever I cook couscous I add salt or sometimes even left-over veggie broth but with this recipe you want to be cautious of the salt content.)
2. Add the couscous and drop the temperature to low. With the lid on, simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender. Then I turn off burner, give the couscous a toss with a spoon and let sit for a little while longer without the lid  to finish absorbing the rest of the liquid.

Cooking Tofu and Veggies:

1. While the couscous is simmering I like to prep all the various veggies I want—chop up the onions, mushrooms, carrot etc. You may want to steam things like broccoli to desired texture because you will only be sauteing it (I just cut up the veggies so that they were small enough to cook through by just sauteing them)
2. Get out a frying pan (cast iron is my favorite) and a lid that fits over it, a medium sauce pan and your serving bowl and a bowl big enough to temporarily hold your tofu. You will cook the tofu first then set aside so you can either use a temporary bowl big enough to hold it or just dump it into your serving bowl.
3. On medium heat, sauté just the tofu cubes in oil, reserving the excess marinade for later. One of the tricks I’ve learned to get really great tofu is to cook it over medium heat for a longer time, instead of high and quick. Keep them on the burner until at least two sides of the cubes are nicely browned.
4. Transfer tofu to your bowl temporarily.
5. Now you’ll cook up you veggies, also on medium heat. I cook until my onions are just before the texture I like them at. This is where the lid comes in handy, it can help trap the moisture in and cook them quicker.
6. Then you pour the extra marinade into the frying pan.
7. Add your tofu back to the pan and continue to cook until most of the marinade is absorbed, stirring everything occasionally to get everything browning nicely.
8. Toss the veggies, tofu and couscous in your bowl and serve. 

Tomato couscous with capers

I was going to cook myself something new from my Veganomicon cookbook today, but I only found out the recipe I wanted to make needed beans which have been soaked overnight. I only read this after I had gone out to the shops and bought all of the ingredients. The recipe specifically said that canned beans wouldn't work. 

But not to worry, I will get my hands on some dried beans and you'll be seeing a post for Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms soon enough. I did however, buy the ingredients to make Tomato Couscous with Capers.

I went and bought some wholemeal couscous at the shops. I didn't even know such a couscous existed. So what is couscous you ask? It is tiny granules of durum wheat called semolina. It's generally prepared by steaming and is usually served with vegetables, legumes (especially chick peas) and/or meat. 

Before I went vegan, I changed my diet to include mainly low GI foods. A lengthy explaination of the Glycemic Index will come another day when I have more time (sorry!). What I will say though is that low GI foods are great for sustained energy and to keep you feeling fuller for longer.A lot of the white frefined carbohydrates are very high GI, meaning that they'll raise the blood sugar up high and after a short 1 or 2 hours, you'll "crash" and start feeling hungry again. Another thing I don't like about white carbohydrates is that it doesn't offer much nutritional value.

So why is whole wheat couscous better than normal couscous? Regular couscous is more refined, and so during the refining process, parts of the grain of wheat is removed. Whole wheat couscous is less refined and so some of that nutrient is retained, for example fibre. There is generally more fibre in whole wheat and wholemeal carbohydrates than the white carbohydrate equivalent.

The Tomato Couscous and Capers recipe was super easy and very tasty. It was simple and could easily be paired with a vegetable and legume dish. 

On a side note, I'm really glad that I'm not completely hopeless at cooking. If I were a super bad cook, I don't think I'd be able to maintain a vegan lifestyle. I don't have anyone to cook vegan meals for me and there aren't many vegan restaurants in Australia. So being able to cook is one of the blessings I'm counting for today. 

Take a minute and think of something you're grateful for too :)