Caramelized Tofu & Brussel Sprouts

                                      from 101 Cookbooks

This recipe was SO very yum.

My only problem with it: The cutting of brussel sprouts into "1/8-inch wide ribbons." No matter what direction I cut, they were chunks, not ribbons. I don't know what wonderful land of strangely ribbony brussel sprouts 101cookbooks lives in, BUT IT APPARENTLY IS NOT THE U.S. of A.

So my recommendation: Just do the best you can with shredding them up thinly. The thinner the better, since they'll take less time to cook.

Also, I doubled the recipe (sort of) below, mostly because--I'm sorry but--there's no way in hell that 1/2 block of tofu can serve 2-4 people.

Otherwise: this is one of those wonderfully minimalist recipes that brings out a delicate and sweet medley of flavors from your brussel sprouts and tofu by not overdoing it with too many other ingredients. And it doesn't take very long to make. Woot woot!

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz. extra-firm tofu cut into thin 1-inch segments (or just thinner strips--I also pressed my tofu)


• A couple pinches of fine-grain sea salt (optional)


• A couple splashes of olive/peanut/sesame oil


• 4 medium cloves garlic, minced


• 2/3 c. pecans, toasted and chopped


• 6 T. fine-grain natural cane sugar or brown sugar


• 1/4-1/2 c. cilantro, chopped


• 1/2 to 1 lb. brussels sprouts, washed and cut into 1/8-inch wide ribbons

DIRECTIONS

Cook the tofu strips in large hot skillet (or pot) with a bit of salt and a splash of oil. Saute until slightly golden, about 4-8 minutes each side. Add the garlic and pecans, and cook for another minute. Stir in sugar. Cook for another couple of minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Scrape the tofu out onto a plate and set aside while you cook the brussels sprouts.

In the same pan (no need to wash), add a touch more oil, another pinch of salt, and dial the heat up to medium-high. When the pan is nice and hot stir in the shredded brussels sprouts. Cook for 2 - 10 minutes (or until golden and tender), stirring a couple times (but not too often) until you get some golden bits, and the rest of the sprouts are bright and delicious. (It may take as long as 15 minutes if you cook a whole pound.)

Serves 2 - 3 as a main, 4 as a side

(Original recipe from 101 Cookbooks)

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Wok Steamed Collards and Quinoa

                                    from VeganYumYum
Goddamn.

That's all I have to say about this recipe.

No no no.

God-motherf-ing-damn.

Let us just say, it's moments like these that remind me why everyone loves Lolo's recipes so freaking much. Best thing I've made in months. But if you want to know the whys, hows, and whats of my goddamns, you're just gonna have to make it for yourself.




[*NOTE: Anything that is asterisked in the ingredients below was not used when I cooked this myself.]

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Block Tofu, extra firm, 14 oz

Sweet Chili Lime Sauce

• 3 T. Sugar


• 3 T. Reduced Sodium Tamari (or soy sauce--if you don't use reduced sodium, definitely cut out the salt below)


• 1 3/4 T. Fresh Lime Juice


• 1/2 Zest of the Lime


• 1/2 t. Red Chili Flakes (or 1-2 fresh hot chilies, minced)


• 1 Clove Garlic, pressed, optional


• 1/4 t. Salt*


• 4 Mint Leaves, chiffonaded

Quinoa

• 3/4 c. Quinoa, rubbed/rinsed in cool water, drained


• 1/2 Zest Lime


• 2 Bruised Cardamom Pods, optional*


• 1 Tiny Stick of Cinnamon (a broken piece of a larger stick), optional*


• 1/4 t. Salt*


• 1 1/3 c. Water


*Other options: For brown rice, adjust water to 1 1/2 cups, for medium/long grain rice, water measurement is the same. Noodles can be boiled, drained, and given a light splash of soy sauce and lime juice for some background flavor. The tofu is very flavorful, so whatever base you choose, it needs only subtle additions, if any at all.

Wok Steamed Collards

• 1 Bunch Collard Greens, middle veins removed, washed


• 2-3 T. Water


• 1 Pinch Salt


• 1 t. Lime Juice

DIRECTIONS

Quinoa:

Option 1: Combine all the ingredients for the quinoa in a pot that has a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes, then turn off heat. Do not open lid. Let steam for 10 minutes before serving.

Option 2: Combine all the ingredients in a rice cooker and let it cook 'til it's all done.

Sauce:

Prepare the sweet chili lime sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together until the sugar and salt is dissolved.

Tofu:

Drain tofu and cut it into small triangles. [I did sort of like Lolo recommends and sliced the block into 8 rectangles, then each rectangle in half to make two squares per rectangle. I cut each square diagonally to make four triangles per square. Tofu geometry is my favorite kind of math! You can cut the tofu however you please, but a thinner, smaller shape will work best for this method.]

Heat a well-seasoned cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. (A 10" skillet will fit all the tofu, so if you're using a smaller skillet, you'll need to do this in batches. In order to properly "dry fry" the tofu, you'll need a pan the tofu won't stick to even without any oil.) Spread the tofu out in one layer in the pan.

Using a spatula, press the tofu. The liquid will squeeze out and boil away, and the tofu will begin to turn golden. The more water that evaporates, the sturdier the tofu will be, so be gentle at first to prevent the tofu from breaking up. After several minutes, flip the tofu over and press the other side. After about 10 minutes of dry frying, you can turn off the heat and set the tofu aside for finishing later, or proceed to adding the sauce. (You might want to set the tofu aside before finishing in order to to prepare the collards, below.)

Collards:

Stack the collard leaves on top of each other, 3-4 at a time, and roll. Slice the roll in 3/4 inch segments. Run your knife through the chopped collards to make smaller pieces, then add them to a wok with the water, lime juice and salt. Cover with any lid that will contain the collards and cook over high heat for 3-4 minutes until the collards are steamed and tender.

[Alternately, you can just use a regular old pot and do the same thing.]

All together now:

To finish the tofu, bring the pan back up to temperature if it's not already very hot. You want to heat the pan and the tofu over high heat, making sure the tofu is hot all the way through. Add the sauce and stir to coat the tofu. Turn off the heat. The sauce will bubble up, reduce, and form a glaze. If it isn't bubbling up and forming a glaze, turn the heat back on high and cook until the glaze is.. well.. glaze-y.

For plating, arrange the collards atop of a bed of quinoa. Add tofu over the top, drizzling any leftover sauce over the dish. Garnish with lime slices and mint leaves. Serve.

(Makes 2-4 servings)

(from Vegan YumYum)

General Tao's Tofu and Mango-Avocado Spring Rolls

Saturday night for dinner, I *attempted* to finally make spring rolls. I say *attempted* because I was none too pleased with the results--what I chose to stuff them with wasn't bad, but the actual wrapper and the process of rolling them left a lot to be desired. The inside-ingredients ended up being way too loosely packed, and they were difficult to eat. Needless to say, come Monday, I promptly looked on the internet for precise directions on how to roll them (here's a good tutorial). I didn't think it would be difficult, but MAN are soggy rice-papers difficult to manipulate.

Anyways, I ended up packing them with chinese vermicelli rice-noodles, shredded cabbage, lightly-steamed pea pods, mango, and avocado. I definitely liked the variety in the filling, but for some reason they weren't as aesthetically pleasing, taste-wise, as I'd wanted them to be, simply because they were difficult to eat. You can see them in all their flabby glory above. (I think next time I may use a couple wrappers for each roll, to give them a bit more backbone.)

I *DID* really like the thai dipping-sauce recipe that I concocted though, so I will share that here at least. It's kinda salty though, so you may wanna nab some of that nifty low-sodium soy sauce if you want to avoid a headache.

Sweet Thai Dipping Sauce
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. soy sauce


• 1/2 T. crunchy natural peanut butter


• 1 t. seasoned rice vinegar


• 1 t. agave nectar


• 2 t. water


• Juice of 1/2 a lime


• Ground ginger, to taste (I probably used 1/4 t. or so)

DIRECTIONS

Mix everything together. Duh.

* * * * * * * * *

To accompany the spring rolls, I finally decided to make the infamous General Tao's Tofu recipe from the VegWeb that I always hear people raving about. It looked so damn good on people's blogs, that I've been drooling over it for weeks. I was trying not to get my hopes up too high about it, since I tend to be slightly disappointed about things that get overhyped. But damn if people weren't correct.

For some reason I was expecting something a bit spicier and, um, tasting a bit more brown-sauce based (not sure why--I think it's just because General Tso's chicken/tofu is typically that way... spicy spicy), but this sauce was a bit more like a subtle sweet-and-sour sauce. Delightful though. And easy to boot. I was also pleased to note that it made for some DAMN good leftovers. I highly recommend.

General Tao's Tofu



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of firm tofu


• egg substitute for 1 egg plus 3 T. water


• 3/4 c. cornstarch


• vegetable (I used sesame) oil for frying


• 3 chopped green onions


• 1 T. minced ginger


• 1 T. minced garlic


• 2/3 c. vegetable stock


• 2 T. soy sauce


• 4 T. sugar


• red pepper to taste


• 1 T. white vinegar


• steamed broccoli


• 1 T. sherry (optional--I did not use it)

DIRECTIONS:

Drain, dry and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks. You can freeze tofu the night before to get a more chicken-like consistency, but it isn't necessary. (I pressed mine as well for about an hour/hour-and-a-half ahead of time.) Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add the additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.

Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil.

Heat 3 Tablespoons vegetable (or sesame) oil in pan on medium heat. Add green onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic. Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper and vinegar. Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well. Add fried tofu and coat evenly.

Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.

Serves: 4

(Original recipe HERE)

Lemon-Rosemary Stirfry with Caramelized Onions

So I've never ever caramelized onions before but felt a sudden burst of inspiration Thursday night when I realized I had a little bit of time to spare and a little bit of onion to use up. Holy mother of god--caramelizing onions is the fricking easiest. And they are SO VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY good. And I don't even like onions.

In an effort to use up leftovers, I whipped this stirfry up. Not quite so simple as the annoyingly simple stirfry I posted last week, but just as good. The broccoli and tofu will be *very* lemony, but once you mix them in with the caramelized onion, you will have a lovely contrast of sweet and sour.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 block of extra-firm tofu, pressed for 45 minutes or so
A couple florets of broccoli, the bushy parts cut off into small chunks
One vidalia onion
2 lemons
Fresh rosemary
Walnuts, toasted
Olive oil
Sugar
Two servings of couscous, cooked

DIRECTIONS:

While the tofu is being pressed, squeeze the juice from your two (small) lemons into a bowl. Add some fresh rosemary to taste. Let sit.

Put the olive oil (I used 2 T., but you can probably vary this) in a small saucepan and heat. Slice up your vidalia into thin slices and then add to the oil. Once the onion has begun to soften (about 5 minutes) add a teaspoon of vegan sugar and stir. Let the onion continue to cook for near 10 minutes or so, stirring often--it will begin to turn a rich brown color and get beautifully sweet, which means you are successfully caramelizing it.

While it caramelizes, dice up your tofu, and add this to a frying pan (perhaps with a bit of non-stick spray). Add the lemon-rosemary mixture. Fry until it is beginning to brown some. Add the broccoli. Add a tiny bit of sugar (no more than a teaspoon). Fry until the broccoli is tender.

Toss the vidalia onions, tofu, and broccoli over your cooled couscous. Add walnuts to taste.

Drink a toast to caramelized onions!

Makes 2 medium-sized servings or 1 very large serving.

Teriyaki Spinach and Tofu Stirfry

This is such an annoyingly simple recipe that it perhaps doesn't even deserve mention here, but hey, every once in a while you sit down to cook and find yourself thinking, "Damn, I wish I had an annoyingly simple recipe I could cook right now." So here it is!

INGREDIENTS:
Fresh spinach, rinsed well and stems removed
1/2 cube of extra firm tofu
1/2 of an onion, cut up into thin strips
A small chunk of fresh ginger, cut up into thin strips
Sesame seeds
Teriyaki sauce

As you can see, some of the ingredients do not have exact measurements--this is because I was working with junk in my fridge that I was trying to use up and probably could've easily added more of, say, the spinach. So do so to your own taste--you like sweet-ass ginger? Then hook yourself up with a buttload, you chefly beeyotches.

DIRECTIONS:
Heat up a pan and spray with non-stick, oil-free spray. Toss in the tofu, ginger, and onions. Cook until most of the moisture has been sucked out of the tofu (you could probably alternately press the tofu beforehand, but I was hungry and didn't feel like waiting) and the tofu and onions are fairly browned all over. Toss in the sesame seeds and spinach and cook until the spinach is just starting to wilt. Then toss in some teriyaki to taste and fry it up until it's good and absorbed. Then eat with chopsticks. If you don't eat with chopsticks, I will come over to your house and knock that bowl right out of your hands!

Makes 1 serving.