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. 

Vegan blackened tofu, kale, silver beet (chard) and quinoa

I had a busy day today but I wanted to cook up a recipe I found on The Simple Veganista. The recipe was blackedned tofu, stir fried kale and quinoa. I had an hour to cook and eat my lunch before having to rush off and pick up my brother to go to the dentist. This dish was so quick and easy to make that I got it all done, plus I managed to get changed and brush my teeth! Awww yeah. 

Mind you, it was quick to make because I already had the ingredients. This dish is simple, but jam packed with flavour. I really loved it.

As The Simple Veganista goes on to explain on their site, this is a very nutritious meal. Kale is just a wonder vegetable, and quinoa is a wonder grain. Put them together and you get something even better than when the Power Rangers combine into a Megazord. 

Blackened Tofu, Stir Fried Kale (and silver beet /chard) and Quinoa

From The Simple Veganista

Kale and silver beet (chard):

Ingredients

kale and silver beet, roughly chopped

2 tablespoon of nutritional yeast, fine ground

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons sesame oil

salt to taste

sesame seeds to garnish

Directions

In large wok or saute pan heat oil on medium high. Add kale and stir fry for about a minute. Sprinkle nutritional yeast and garlic powder over top, turning and moving the kale around to get all the spices mixed well throughout the kale. Continue stir frying for another four to five minutes. You may leave a cover on for a minute here and there in between stir frying to help soften the kale. When kale turns bright green it's about ready to be removed from heat. Test a piece and see if it's too your liking, if not stir fry a little longer. Some may like it crisp and some may like it softer. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.

Blackened tofu:

Ingredients

one block firm or extra firm organic tofu

2 tablespoons tamari

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Spice Blend

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon black or white pepper

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Open and drain tofu. Slice tofu into slabs, whatever size you prefer. Press tofu between paper towels or cloth to remove excess moisture. In a shallow dish place tofu and tamari and let set a few minutes, turn after a few minutes to let the other side soak.

In medium size bowl, combine all spice blend ingredients and mix until blended. This is fairly spicy so you may consider using less black pepper and/or cayenne.

In saute pan, heat oil on medium high heat. Place tofu pieces in spice blend, press gently to get a good coating, turn and repeat on the other side. Place coated tofu onto saute pan and cook a few minutes on each side. They will  blacken nicely as they should and be so tasty! Serve with quinoa, rice, kale or anything that calls to you. Serves four.

Quinoa:

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

Directions

Rinse your quinoa under cool running water for about a minute or two to remove any dust. If you forego this step your quinoa will have a bitter taste. Well worth the step. In medium to large pot add quinoa and water, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15-20 min. Once done stir and let set for 10 minutes uncovered to rest and soak up any excess water. Stir once again before serving. It will be a perfect quinoa, fluffy and sprouted.

  

Vegan Baked Tofu with Brown Rice, Veggies and Peanut Sauce

I found a recipe in my You Won't Believe It's Vegan cookbook called Love Bowl. There was a description from the authors calling it their signature "hearty comfort food". Although the word "unhealthy" usually will pop into most people's minds when they think of comfort food, for me hearty is what describes it best. 

For the first time ever, I found a "serves 1" recipe in a cookbook. Normally it'll be at least s serving for two people. For some reason, the fact that it only serves one made me really happy. I think that's the way comfort food should be. It should be all for you. Or me. 

I made a few changes to the dish, so below if my version of the Love Bowl. 

Vegan Baked Tofu with Brown Rice, Veggies and Peanut Sauce

Serves 1

Ingredients

Baked tofu:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup tamari
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of hot sauce (I used 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce)
1 block of firm tofu 

Peanut sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 clove garlic
1/8 cup water
1/8 cup tamari
pinch of cayenne
1/2 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar

Love bowl:
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup steamed vegetables (I had broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and wilted baby spinach)
4 slabs baked tofu
1/3 cup peanut sauce
Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish (I forgot these)

Directions

Baked tofu:
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until completely mixed
Cut block of tofu into slab sizes of your choice
Cover tofu with marinade and leave in fridge overnight (or for at least an hour)
Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Place tofu on baking sheet lined with baking parchment
Bake for 20 minutes until golden, turning tofu half way through

Peanut sauce:
Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend well
Will keep for 4 to 5 days refrigerated 

Love bowl assembly:
Layer the rice, vegetables, and tofu in medium sized bowl and top with peanut sauce
Serve hot, sprinkled with sesame seeds. 

I had dinner at my friend Nhi's house tonight. It was nice to use a different bowl to plate up and a different background for the photo :)

Whoa!! I had just finished writing up this post and I decided to check out one of my favourite Tumblr pages that always puts a smile on my face. It's called Just Little Things. The blog lists all the little things in life that should be appreciated. 

I hadn't checked out the page in weeks, and for some reason I felt like I needed a bit of a pick me up. Low and behold, the lastest post which was put up yesterday was "comfort food". What are the chances of that! :)

Tofu pumpkin bars

I borrowed out a book from the library the other week called Now Vegan! by Lynda Stoner. As I was flicking through the pages, I was really glad to find a recipe for tofu pumpkin bars. I had a container full of pumpkin puree that I needed tp use up and this recipe was perfect.

I haven't used tofu in a cake recipe before and so at first I was a bit iffy about how it would taste. These bars however turned out super moist and I coulnd't taste the tofu at all. 

These bars need to set for at least 5 hours, but I couldn't help myself and I had a taste test :P

These will be perfect for a quick breakfast or snack. They're so quick to make too! 

Here's the recipe I used if you're interested (it's a little bit different from the original which called for 2 cups of pumpkin puree. I only had one, so I added extra banana and applesauce instead):

Tofu Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients

• 120g (4oz) soft tofu
• 1 mashed banana
• 2 cups applesauce (I used pureed some apples)
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 cup sweetener (I used Stevia)
• 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or all spice)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 180C
2. Blend the tofu, apples, pumpkin, banana and sugar
3. Add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice
4. Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in baking powder and flour
5. Pour into baking tray lined with baking paper
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes
7. Allow to set for 5 hours before cutting into bars