Curried Tofu Salad

When I started this blog, I wanted to be a resource for other cooks, of course, but I also wanted to be able to store my own recipes, and other's recipes that I make often, all in one place for myself. Even if it's a recipe I've made dozens of times before, I like to refer to it when I make a grocery list. Currently, I have recipes in an index card box, a homemade cookbook, and out on VegPeople and Delicious. When I want to make something I've had before, first I have to remember where the recipe is!

This is one of those fallback recipes that's always good any time of the year and comes together quickly. It travels well, and will keep in the refrigerator for at least a couple of days.

In my last post, I mentioned that I had a new camera. I have almost no sunlight in my kitchen any time of day, so I either have to take the pictures outside, not practical most of the year, or use a flash inside. Since October, I've been borrowing my son's Canon XSi and using with a 20-year-old flash, bouncing the light off the ceiling. This flash unit isn't controllable through the camera, nor does it have a way to turn it down manually, so the light is pretty intense. Even though I got exactly the same model of camera, all of my photos with my new camera have been overexposed. There's only so much you can do in Photoshop and I have not been happy with any of them! So last week, I dumped all of the change from our change jar into a Coinstar machine and bought this Opteka flash, which just arrived. Here's a preview of what I can now capture. Juicy!

Curried Tofu Salad

Baking the tofu makes it chewy.

16 ounces firm or extra-firm tofu
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup diced celery
1 green onion, including green part, sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons walnut pieces
1/3 cup Vegenaise
3/4 to 1 teaspoon curry powder

Preheat oven to 350 F. Drain tofu. Coarsely crumble tofu with a fork, pat dry with a paper towel or two, and pile on the middle of an oiled baking sheet. Bake tofu for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Once or twice, turn the tofu pile with a spatula, chop it up some, and pile it back together.

Put tofu into a medium bowl and stir in remaining ingredients.

Makes 4 sandwiches or salads. 

Tahini Brownies

These brownies are perfect. They're moist and rich, with a subtle tahini and rum flavor, and not too sweet.

I won't reproduce the recipe here as I made them exactly as written, but I did have fun tracing the origin of the recipe. It comes from a cookbook called Glykes Alchymies by Stelios Parliaros, translated into French on the Greek food blog En Direct D'Athenes, translated into English on the Lebanese food blog taste of beirut, then converted from metric to English measurements by we[heart]food, which is where I found it. It's a keeper!

Four Seasons Focaccia

I accidentally grabbed another bag of white bread flour when I meant to get whole wheat, so I decided to make focaccia, since I think it works best with mostly white flour. I still slipped some whole wheat in there, though.

I topped this with four vegetables, representing the four seasons. I chose asparagus for spring (because I couldn't find fresh baby artichokes), the classic olives and mushrooms for summer and fall, and red onions for winter.

For my birthday I got a new camera, and I've resolved to take more pictures as I'm cooking, not just when the recipe is finished. There is flour on the shutter-release button already. It matches the flour on my laptop touchpad.

I

 It's dough.

 Not round, not square, it's rustic-shaped!

Veggies ready to top the dough.

Ready to bake.

What is your favorite season?

Four Seasons Focaccia

1 cup warm water, about 105 F
1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose or bread flour, divided
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 scant teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour, or more as needed
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the pan and top
1 scant teaspoon salt, plus more for the top
corn meal for the pan
fresh artichoke spears (about 5)
fresh cremini or button mushrooms (about 3)
kalamata and green olives (about 6)
thinly sliced red onion (1 slice)

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together water, yeast and 1 cup flour with a fork. Cover and let stand for 45 minutes to an hour. Mixture will bubble up and double in size.

Add 3 tablespoons olive oil and salt and combine with a fork. If you're using a stand mixer to knead the dough, start it now. Add remaining flour, stopping to combine the last of the flour with a fork if necessary. Let mixer knead dough for 5 minutes on low, or turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead by had for 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, add more flour as necessary, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time.

Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for an hour, until doubled in size.

Snap woody ends off asparagus spears and break in half. Thinly slice mushrooms. Pit and slice olives (a cherry pitter works great for medium-sized olives). Separate onion slice into rings.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Oil a baking pan and dust with cornmeal. Spread dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut the dough into quadrants, but leave the pieces together on the baking pan. Dimple the dough with your fingers. Top with sliced vegetables, and brush/dab with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Let cool, and slice.

Makes about 20 pieces.

Mushroom-lentil Burgers with Indian Spices

I love the way recipes evolve over the years. Once upon a time, I ate a veggie loaf sandwich at a restaurant and wanted to recreate the veggie loaf at home. You can see my effort here. Then, I tasted vegetable biryani, and wanted to recreate that, and made a brown rice and mushroom version. A few weeks ago, I had the brilliant idea to combine the two recipes and make burgers.

About half way through combining these ingredients, I looked at the blob of stuff in my pot and thought, "Oh, what the hell was I thinking?" but I kept on with it and it all came together deliciously in the end.

Mushroom-lentil Burgers with Indian Spices

I used mushroom soy sauce to give these a dark color, but any soy sauce will taste fine. I had these with lettuce, chutney and avocado, but the spices are mellow here, so you can serve these with any burger fixings you like. I suggest Texas style: lettuce, tomato, thinly sliced red onion and mustard.

2 tablespoons oil
1 small onion, finely diced (about a cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces cremini mushrooms, well chopped
2 dried red chilies
4 green cardamom pods
1-inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup brown rice, preferably basmati
1/2 cup red or green lentils
2 cups water
2/3 cup oatmeal, coarsely pulsed in the blender
2 tablespoons flax seeds, ground to a powder
1/3 cup roasted cashews, ground to a powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1-1/2 tablespoons mushroom or regular soy sauce
oil for the tops of the patties

In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, heat oil to medium. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chilies, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bayleaf, brown rice, lentils and water. Bring to a low boil, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

Remove the chilies, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and bay leaf. The rice and lentil mixture will be soupy, and if you use red lentils, they will have completely come apart.

Add oatmeal, flax seeds and cashews. Stir in cumin, coriander, garam masala, pepper, cloves and soy sauce.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil a large baking sheet. Scoop out burger mixture by rounded 1/3 cups. Drop on the baking sheet and use the bottom of the measuring cup to flatten patties to the size of a burger bun. Brush the tops lightly with oil. Bake for 20-22 minutes, turning over after 10 minutes. Don't overbake, as you just want these to be firmed up enough to handle, but not too dry on the inside.

Makes 8 burgers.

Sweet Potato-Edamame Mini-Samosas

Spinach and mushrooms. Lentils and brown rice. Mushrooms and broccoli. Peaches and strawberries. Mangos and avocados. Spinach and artichokes. Tomatoes and basil. Some vegetable and fruit combinations were made to go together. Another great combination is sweet potatoes and edamame, a sweet-creamy-nutty combination that has a special affinity for spices. 

These are some extremely non-authentic samosas, encased as they are in won-ton wrappers. The won-ton wrappers make these really easy to put together, though. Also, these freeze well, which is good, as this recipe makes a lot.

Sweet Potato-Edamame Mini-Samosas

2 tablespoons oil
1 small yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 jalapeños, finely diced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon  turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 medium sweet potato, about 3/4 pound, peeled and diced to 1/2 inch
2 small potatoes, about 3/4 pound, peeled and diced to 1/2 inch
3/4 cup shelled edamame (if frozen, no need to thaw)
1/2 cup water
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon amchoor powder or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 package wonton wrappers
canola oil

Heat oil in a large, deep skillet with a lid. Add onion and cook over medium-high heat until onion is just becoming tender. Turn heat down and continue to cook until onion is soft and starting to brown, 7-10 minutes. Turn heat back to medium, add garlic, jalapeños and ginger and cook 2 minutes. Add cumin seeds, garam masala, turmeric and cinnamon and cook 1 minute.

Add sweet potatoes and potatoes, edamame and water. Bring to a low boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Remove cover and stir frequently while cooking remaining water off.

When excess water is gone from the pan, turn off heat and mash filling with a potato masher. Mash lightly, as you want to leave most of the edamame intact. Stir in salt and amchoor powder. Taste and adjust spices. Allow mixture to cool slightly.

Fill a small bowl with water. Lay out 8 or so wonton wrappers. If one side of the wrappers is heavily cornstarched, put this side down.

Place a level tablespoon of filling in the center of each wonton wrapper. Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run a bead of water along two adjacent sides of a wrapper. Bring the dry corner over to the wet corner and press together. Pick up samosa and press the edges together. Flatten slightly. Repeat with remaining samosas, then lay out more wrappers and continue.

At this point, you can freeze some or all of your samosas.

Heat oven to 375 F. Brush each samosa very lightly with oil on both sides. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, turning over once.

Serve with chutney.

Makes 48 samosas, 10-12 servings.

Millet-pepita Bread

Measuring ingredients for yeast bread need not be done precisely. You can just scoop out flour with a measuring cup, dump it in a bowl, and go. The trade-off to this ease is that no recipe can tell you exactly how much flour you need. It varies too much by type of flour and heat and humidity present in your kitchen.  Too much and the bread will be dry and unappetizing. Too little and the dough will lack structure, spread out too much, and stick to your pan. I was reminded of the inexactitude of bread baking when Allysia of Super Vegan! made a comment about the whole wheat bread I posted in February. She had made it a few times and liked it, but her dough was coming out too wet. (Check out her blog when you have a chance - there's some tasty-looking food over there!)

With observation and practice, you will develop a feel for how much flour to use. I learned to judge this to when I was first learning to bake bread, but it's a hard process to describe. If you're not sure how much to add, you want to err on the side of having not quite enough flour, as a sticky dough still makes a tasty loaf. However, you want to work in enough flour so that the dough holds its shape. An easy way to do this is to put the dough on a floured surface, even if you've kneaded it with a mixer, and then sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour on top. Press on it with your hands and if it doesn't stick to you and it springs back after you push on it, it has enough flour. Otherwise, work more in with your hands, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until you're confident that your dough is dough. (See what I mean about this being hard to describe?)

As I post bread recipes from now on, I'm going to try to explain this in the recipe better. I pulled out a few cookbooks to check my penciled-in notes, and it seems that I nearly always use less than the recipe calls for, so I'm going to suggest the amount I actually used and then write (or more as needed). I hope this covers everyone's various conditions adequately!

I'd love to have 100% whole-wheat bread always, but it's a bit heavy. I've been experimenting with different quantities of white and whole wheat flour to lighten the texture, and the sweet spot seems to be about 1/3 white and 2/3 whole wheat, but if you want to make this with whole wheat flour, increase the vital wheat gluten to 1/4 cup.

This is rapidly becoming our favorite bread to have with soup. The millet gives it an amazing, crunchy texture, and the roasted pepitas warm up the flavor perfectly.

Millet-pepita Bread

Pepitas are shelled pumpkin seeds. If these aren't handy, sunflower seeds would make a good stand-in.

1-3/4 cup warm water, about 105 F
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups white flour
3/4 cup millet
1/4 cup roasted, unsalted pepitas
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or more as needed)

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together water, yeast and white flour with a fork. Cover and let stand for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This sponge will bubble up and double in volume.

Add millet, pepitas, oil, agave nectar, salt and vital wheat gluten and mix into the sponge with a fork. If you're using a stand mixer with dough hooks to knead, turn it on now. Work the whole wheat flour into the rest of the ingredients. You may have to stop your mixer and work the last of the flour in with a fork or wooden spoon.

Knead with a mixer on low for 5 minutes or turn dough out on a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If your dough is too sticky to work with, add more whole wheat flour a tablespoon or two at a time. When the dough has been kneaded enough it will not stick to your hands and will spring back when touched.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover loosely with a clean dishcloth or paper towel. Set aside to rise until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour. Shape into a rectangle and press into a large 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Cover again and set aside to rise until doubled, about 30 - 40 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 F. Bake for 35-40 minutes. To test for doneness, turn bread loaf out of the pan and rap on the bottom with your knuckles. If it makes a sound, the bread is done.

Onion-apple Chutney

I'm working on a couple of new recipes that I think would be good with chutney, and I thought it would be fun to make my own chutney first. This is a variation on the Caramelized Onion Chutney here. This is my first attempt at making preserves. The recipe suggested waiting 4 to 6 weeks before opening the first jar, but I only waited 5 days.

Onion-apple Chutney

1 tablespoon oil
1 extra-large red onion, cut into slivers
1 extra-large apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 bayleaf
1-1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat oil in a large pot. Cook onions over medium heat until tender, then turn down heat to low. Cook onions until soft, about 10 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until onion and apple have become very soft and vinegar is absorbed.

Pack into sterilized jars. (Note: I used instructions from eHow to sterilize my jars, which I won't paraphrase here, as I don't want to omit something and poison you if you make this.)

Makes 2 cups.

Grilled Tofu with Adobo Sauce

Grilling season is here! For those of you not blessed with Gulf Coast heat and humidity, I promise it's on it's way. Gulf winds are blowing the heat northward as hard as they can.

Tonight's dinner was a repeat of one I made last year, but this time I made homemade adobo sauce to marinate the tofu. Oh, and there were Margaritas.

Marinated Grilled Tofu

1 pound extra-firm or firm tofu
1 cup adobo sauce (or BBQ sauce or sauce of your choice)

Wrap tofu in a clean dishcloth or with several layers of paper towels. Place on a cutting board, place another cutting board on top, and weight with several cans. Press for 20-30 minutes. Slice tofu into three slices about 3/4 inch thick, and then cut each slice diagonally into two triangles. Put a layer of sauce in an 8 x 8 pan*. Top with a single layer of tofu slices. Spoon more sauce on top. You'll use a total of 1/3 to 1/2 cup sauce. Reserve the remainder.

Refrigerate tofu for 1 hour or as long as a day.

Prepare coals. Grill tofu over medium heat, turning over every 5 minutes, until browned and firm, about 15 minutes total. Warm reserved sauce to serve with the tofu.

Serves 3. 

* a 9 x 13-inch pan holds 2 pounds of tofu.

Adobo Sauce

adapted from Rick Bayless's recipe, found here.

2 ounces dried ancho peppers, or a mix of anchos and cascabels
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cloves
2-1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable broth

Remove stems and most of the seeds from the peppers. Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté peppers until fragrant, less than a minute per side. Transfer to a medium bowl. Pour 1-1/4 cup hot tap water over the peppers. Allow to soak for 20 minutes or more. Pour off excess oil and set pan aside.

Transfer peppers and all of their soaking water to a blender. Add remaining ingredients, except vegetable broth. Purée.

Transfer mixture back to skillet and simmer until the sauce has the consistency of ketchup. Stir in broth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Strain through a wire-mesh strainer into a small bowl.

Makes about 2 cups.

Restaurant Tour: Eating Vegan in LA

We just got back from a quick trip to Southern California to visit Jim's mom and step-dad. It was barely a long weekend, really. Between visiting the folks, we ate at as many restaurants as we could.

Still feeling groggy from the plane ride, we almost didn't find Native Foods. The location on Gayley Avenue is in two narrow spaces. You order and grab your drinks on the left, then go out the front door, walk all the way to the back of the space next door, go up some stairs, and eat overlooking the open kitchen.

I overheard a conversation between a couple of the cooks:
"So, I heard you don't eat vegetables."
"Yeah."
"What's that about?"

I ordered the quesavilla, to which I added Native chicken, plus the soup of the day, posole. Jim had the special, a French dip sandwich of thinly sliced seitan and avocado. The first bite I had of my quesavilla was surprising, as the food here is really low on salt. I'm used to restaurant food being a lot saltier than my cooking. Once I got used to it, I liked it. The fresh flavors of the food really came through.

The Native chicken in my quesavilla tasted like chickeny seitan I've made at home, with a really nice texture from being thrown on the grill. There was cheese that tasted just like dairy mozzarella would if it's best friend were a lemon slice. Rounding it all out was sweet, soft, roasted broccoli and carrots, surprisingly not at all weird in a quesadilla, and caramelized onion. The quesavilla was served with some pico de gallo, quacamole, and the best non-dairy sour cream I've ever tasted. The posole had more seitan with chewy hominy in a broth spiked with mild dried peppers. It was topped with a chiffonade of cabbage, red bell pepper and cilantro. I didn't get a chance to taste Jim's sandwich - he ate it so fast - but I stole a sweet potato fry from his plate every chance I got. These were crisp and topped with cinnamon, sugar, salt and a dusting of parsley.

I forgot my camera, so I only have a pictures of the leftovers I had the next day for breakfast. If they looked this good sitting on the trunk of our rental car, imagine what they must have been like in the restaurant. 

Afterward, we took in some sights. Here's a quick snap out of the car window. 

We visited Real Food Daily in Santa Monica, a few blocks north of the pier.

First, we walked around and built up an appetite. 

It was a beautiful day - no chance of rain, unlike back home. 

The Santa Monica RFD has a bakery next door. You are seated by a hostess. I was facing the front of the restaurant and had fun watching interesting people come and go.

I ordered the Total Reuben with a Caesar salad, and Jim had the Salisbury seitan, mashed potatoes with golden gravy and Caesar salad. My sandwich was made from mild tempeh, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, a tiny schmear of nut cheese, and avocado between two thin slices of bread. It tasted just like a Reuben should. Jim commented that the seitan wasn't as good as mine, but he didn't seem to have any trouble finishing it in record time. He's a mashed potato fiend and was taken with the two pillowy scoops and the rich gravy topping them. The croutons in our salads were unusual. I'm not sure if they were made from rye bread or gluten-free bread, but they were dark and dense and sweet. The dressing was perfectly garlicky. This was Jim's favorite place. 

Next, we headed inland. This adorable couple was the real reason for the trip. Seriously, aren't they adorable?

There is beautiful scenery wherever you go out here. 

Here's a California jay. 

A tree in bloom.

After the visit, we headed back to the coast and Seed, in Venice. This is another fast-casual place like Native Foods, where you order at the counter, sit wherever you want, and they bring your food to you. Unlike Native Foods and Real Food Daily, they serve beer and wine, but it was early so we didn't partake. We ordered lunch, and food to go for dinner. The man at the counter volunteered that all of Seed's food travels well. Since we were headed back to Texas in just a few hours, this was welcome information. 

I was tired of sandwiches, so I ordered the Mango Tango. This a bowl of short-grain brown rice and crisp-tender steamed broccoli. These are then topped with a huge, crisply fried eggless eggroll of cabbage and rich seitan. Finally, there is a drizzle of mango salsa. I spiced my bowl up with some curry gamashio and sriracha sauce I found on the side table. I brought Jim some African hot sauce which I snuck onto my rice, too. Jim had the Southwest burger, a house-made black bean and grain burger with soy cheese, quacamole and an ancho chili spread. I think this is the most popular thing on the menu, by far. Everyone on the phone ordering take-out seemed to be requesting this burger. 

A local character.

We took a quick drive up the Pacific Coast Hwy.

We stopped in Malibu before heading back south to the airport. 

At LAX, we threw away the cole slaw that came with our Seed paninis and packed them in one box. When we got to Phoenix, we found an airport bar and opened our box of sandwiches. 

How delicious-looking are these?

This is the Italian soysage panini and the roasted vegetable panini. We each had a half of each sandwich. They were both delicious. It was hard to pick, but in the end, I liked the roasted vegetable one the best. Also, Seed was my favorite restaurant of the three. 

Dessert!