crusted tofu and satueed chard

i'm no gourmet vegan chef, but sometimes i put my fancy pants on. i love to make these crusted tofu cutlets because they are simple, and you can easily glamorize them. plus they are baked, not fried, so they are definitely on the healthier side. to give the tofu a firmer texture, you can freeze it after pressing. just be sure to give it enough time to thaw, though. i've made that mistake a few times!

• 1 block of extra firm tofu
• 1 bunch gold chard, chopped
• 1 tomato
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ cups balsamic vinegar

for the marinade:

• 2 cups veggie broth
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

for the batter:

• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning

press your tofu and slice into thick slabs. mix marinade ingredients in a bowl. lay tofu slices in a 8x11 casserole dish, and pour marinade over top. place dish in the refrigerator for at least four hours.

mix batter ingredients on plate or in a bowl. take each tofu slab and place in them mixture. coat both sides. place a layer of foil on a cookie sheet, and coat with nonstick spray or use a little olive oil. bake tofu in oven for 30 minutes at 440°f, flipping half way through.

while tofu is baking, place the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan on medium heat. once balsamic is heated up, turn burner to low and stir often. the heat causes the vinegar to thicken up into a nice glaze. some people add sugar to their reductions, but i don't think it needs it.

put butter in non-stick skillet, and sauté garlic. once garlic starts to brown, add the chard and tomato. continue sautéing on medium-high until chard is tender. sometimes i will add a tablespoon or two of water to assist the wilting process.

make a bed of greens with the chard and place two tofu cutlets on top. drizzle with balsamic reduction sauce, and enjoy and an easy 'gourmet' dinner. :)

barbecue veggie kabobs

i live in the midwest, and have grown up eating grilled barbecue food for most of my life. i love portabello mushrooms, stuffed green peppers, homemade brats, and everything in between. i really love veggie kabobs because you can use a variety of veggies to mix it up each time. this isn't really a 'recipe', per se, but an idea of how us veggie folks grill non-meat style. trust me, it is so filling! pardon my non-plated picture, but i was just too hungry!


veggie varieties:

• mushrooms
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• bell peppers, any color
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• cactus
• corn cob sections

cut all your favourite produce so it is close to bite-sized. find some wooden or metal skewers, and mix and match all your veggies. i use a basting brush, and coat everything heavily in bbq sauce. if you have too many veggies, toss the remainders in a grill basket with seasoning salt. make sure to put things like corn and potato slices on their own skewer as they need longer amounts of time to grill. after starting those kabobs, add the skewers with more tender veggies - they finish up in about 7-10 minutes on grill-medium heat.

when everything is grilled, pull all veggies off and eat up. optionally, serve on a bed of rice.

on a side note, i kept wanting to spell 'kebab' - but i guess that is traditionally more meat oriented. if i would google just 'kabob', it would ask me if wanted to spell 'kebab' instead. but i would google 'veggie kebab', it would ask me to spell 'veggie kabob'. interesting....

creamy cashew tomato sauce

when i set out to make pasta for dinner, i often have the southern vs. northern italy debate with myself. my great grandfather was from garda in northern italy, a region known for creamy white sauces. my great grandmother was from naples in the south, which favours hearty red tomato sauces. i love the flavours of both cuisines, but what i love most is combining the best of both worlds to create a nice creamy red. add some cashews to the mix, and you've got some crazy italian goodness!

• 8 oz. penne pasta
• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• 1 ¼ cups raw cashews, soaked
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 fresh tomatoes
• 2 basil leaves
• 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1/2 small can tomato paste (3 oz.)
• 1 teaspoon bragg's liquid aminos
• 1 tablespoon soy milk powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

soak raw cashews at least 4 hours, and then blend them up very fine in a magic bullet or food processor. set them aside. cook pasta according to directions. while pasta is cooking, steam the broccoli florets. in the food processor, blend up the two tomatoes and basil leaves.

in a medium saucepan, add olive oil and saute the garlic until it starts to brown. on medium-low heat, add the tomatoes and rest of sauce ingredients. simmer for 10 minutes, adding in additional water if the sauce is too thick. add in the broccoli florets and continue simmering for 5 minutes more.

remove from heat and serve over pasta. this recipe makes two small servings, so double as necessary.

garlic roasted asparagus

i love my cast iron grill pan. it puts those fun grill marks on sandwiches, roasted vegetables, and anything in between. i've had it for a little over a year, and it has become one of my favourite cookware pieces. the recipe here is one of the multitude of ways i cooked my 28 pounds of asparagus.

• 1 pound asparagus
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

cut the woody ends off asparagus, and marinate the edible ends in olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. if you are sensitive to heat, you might choose to use less pepper flakes. on the other hand, if you are a heat fiend, sub chili oil for the olive oil. place a cast iron grill pan in the oven, and preheat to 425°f. preheating the cast iron not only provides a lovely satisfying sizzle, but helps keep things from sticking (and cleanup much easier!). once heated, pull the skillet out and place your asparagus lengthwise in the pan. bake the asparagus at 425°f for at least 25 minutes, flipping once or twice to get nice grill marks on all sides of the stalks.

when the asparagus starts to develop brown roasting spots, it is done. i've roasted anywhere between 25-40 minutes before, depending on desired tenderness.

POM-orange vegan cocktail

i think sometimes there is a misconception that all vegans are super health driven or won't put anything toxic in their body. while i won't put anything from a living animal in my body, i freely admit that i do drink. some people (vegan or not), choose not to drink, and i respect that. but i'm on the other side of the fence, and all too happy to kick up my heels with an adult beverage now and again. mainly, i'm a beer girl, but i have enjoyed a few girly drinks in my day. this is my POM wonderful green smoothie's evil twin.

• 1/3 cup soy ice cream
• 4 oz. POM wonderful juice
• 1/2 medium orange, peeled
  
• 3 oz. high quality rum

drop everything in a blender, and blend up for about 25 seconds until it's smooth and creamy. taste test, and add a little POM juice if it's too powerful. of course, if it's too weak (or if you aren't driving anywhere), add a little more rum.
evil, i know. :)

high raw salad (from lettuce wraps)

i wanted to make these lettuce wraps again, but i didn't have any large enough pieces of lettuce that would serve as a wrap. so i compromised with a salad, and it was so good i had to share! it's basically the same recipe, except in a bowl. :)

• 1/2 zucchini
  
• 1/2 cucumber
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 2 tablespoons bragg's aminos
• 1 ½ teaspoons dulse flakes
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 avocado
• 2-3 roasted red peppers
• almond cheese
  
• shredded lettuce
  

peel and julienne the veggies, then let marinate in the liquid aminos, dulse and minced garlic.


combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and serve as a salad. i didn't make a separate dressing because my red peppers came from an oil-packed jar. that plus the almond cheese made the salad rich and creamy. if you don't use oil-packed peppers, you may want to add a little something for creaminess... depending on taste.

creamy kamut salad

my dearest brother, aka 'produce boy', recently brought me an exciting foodie gift - 28 pounds of fresh asparagus. yes, i said 28 pounds. needless to say, i have spent the past several weeks cooking and eating asparagus a variety of ways - roasted, grilled, baked, steamed, boiled... i even made asparagus guacamole (not bad!). i thought this dish was perfect for a potluck, as a twist on the traditional pasta salad.

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked kamut (3 cups cooked)
• 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
  
• 1 pound of asparagus, cut to bite size
  
• 1- 2 tablespoons olive oil
• about 5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped/shredded
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
• 1 batch of buffalo mostarella cheese**
**with modifications
• 1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke

basically, you could try any vegan dressing. i wanted one that was a little cheesy flavoured so i tried the buffalo mosteralla from the ultimate uncheese cookbook. however, i omitted the agar and halved the onion powder and cornstarch in the recipe because i wanted it to be thick, but not set up like a cheese. i also added half a tablespoon of liquid smoke. if using this recipe, put all your dressing ingredients in a blender for 1-2 minutes (until the mixture is smooth). pour into a saucepan and heat on medium for about 4-5 minutes... until it starts to thicken. put in a 4-cup pyrex container (or anything glass really) and put in the fridge to cool overnight.

once you are ready to make your salad, pull your dressing out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. steam the asparagus, quarter your tomatoes and cook your kamut. after your kamut has cooked, drain and combine w/ the dressing in a large bowl. because the kamut will still be warm from cooking, the dressing should soften up and coat the grain very well. add in the tomatoes, asparagus, basil and olive oil. toss a couple more times. i added a couple dashes of lemon juice at this point because i thought it needed it.... but that just depends on the dressing you use.

serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.