Baked Orange-Teriyaki Tofu with Stir Fried Broccoli and Red Peppers

This baked tofu recipe was adapted from Vegan Bites by Beverly Lynn Bennett. It can be eaten alone, on salads, in a stir fry, or with a side of vegetables. Tonight I used broccoli and peppers, along with some reserved sauce, to make a stir-fry base to add the tofu to.

Ingredients:

1 lb extra firm tofu, drained and cubed

¼ cup tamari

2 tbps apple cider vinegar

1 tbps orange marmalade

1 tbps orange juice

4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

4 teaspoons maple syrup

1 tbps minced garlic

1 tbps minced fresh ginger

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp sriracha

2 heads of broccoli, cut into small florets

2 red peppers, cut into strips

Sesame Seeds for garnish

Directions:

Gently squeeze tofu to rid of excess water. Cut tofu into small cubes and place in a shallow baking dish.   

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place all remaining ingredients in a small bowl and whisk them together until well combined. Pour sauce over the tofu pieces in the dish and flip over each piece until evenly coated on all sides. Reserve 2 tablespoons of sauce.

Bake tofu for 20 minutes. Flip pieces over and bake for 15-20 additional minutes, until most sauce is absorbed.

Meanwhile place broccoli in a covered microwaveable container with tbps of water and cook for 2 minutes on high. Then heat the remaining sauce in a wok and add steamed broccoli and sliced peppers. Cook until lightly wilted. When tofu is done, add to wok, heat, and serve. Sprinkle sesame seeds over plate.

Seared Tempeh & Three Bean Salad

After a wonderful vacation in England & Croatia I am back in Boston. Having splurged on everything from clotted cream to octopus there, it is back to healthy vegan recipes for me. I got this recipe from the Southbeach Taste of Summer cookbook and just made a few tweaks. Perfect for a light supper or satisfying lunch.

Seared Tempeh & Three Bean Salad

• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar substitute
• 1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 can white beans, drained & rinsed (I used half a can of garbanzo beans that I had leftover from dinner last night)
• 1 cup of green beans, trimmed and cut in 1 inch pieces
• 1 eight-ounce package of tempeh (I used three-grain)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large bowl, juice the lemon, and whisk together with 1 tbsp. olive oil, 2 tsp. dijon, 1 tsp. soy sauce, the garlic, sugar, and pepper.
2. Add kidney & white beans, stir to combine.
3. Boil or steam green beans to crisp-tender (about 2 minutes). Drain and run under cold water immediately. Add to the bowl and stir together to combine.
4. Coat a skillet in olive oil spray and heat over medium-high. Add tempeh & remaining two teaspoons of soy sauce. Cook, turning occasionally until tempeh is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
5. When cooked, combine with bean salad and serve warm.
6. Garnish with chopped tomatoes and parsley.

Rainbow Soba Noodles

I ended my evening run at Whole Foods last night and was intending to just pick up a salad from the salad bar for dinner. Once there, however, I realized I had no plans for lunches this week and given my client's penchant for 11am - 1pm meetings it is difficult to grab something out. I decided to come up with a simple, minimal prep recipe on the spot that would pack well for the office. I had a package of soba noodles at home and decided to just pick up some pre-cut veggies to make an easy noodle stir fry. This dish came together in under 20 minutes and is delicious as a cold (and colorful!) salad for lunch.


Ingredients:

2 tbps safflower oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package of soba noodles
1 cup of diced peppers
1 cup of defrosted shelled edamame
1/2 head of mixed cabbage leaves, shredded


2 tablespoons of peanut butter
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of honey
2 tsp of sriracha

Directions:

Cook soba noodles according to package directions, about 6 minutes. Drain and run under cold water.

Heat oil in wok. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (around 30 seconds). Add cabbage and stir fry until slightly wilted, around 2 minutes. Add peppers and edamame and cook until heated through. Add cooked noodles.

Meanwhile heat peanut butter, soy sauce, vegetable broth, honey, sriracha and cook until incorporated.

Add sauce to vegetables and noodles and serve.

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables & Basil

This bright and colorful pasta loaded with fresh vegetables makes for a quick, satisfying dinner. Leftovers became a pasta salad for lunches during the work week.

(makes around 4 large servings)

Ingredients:
1 small eggplant
1 zucchini
1 red pepper
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tsp salt
8 oz whole wheat pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp pepperinco (or hot pepper) oil (or more, depending on spice preference)
1 handful of basil, roughly chopped.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425'.

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Peel and chop all vegetables into small, 1 inch cubes. Toss vegetables with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tsp of salt. Roast for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat remaining two tablespoons of olive oil with the hot pepper oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic cloves and simmer in the oil until cloves have turned brown. Remove garlic cloves. Prepare pasta according to directions.

Add pasta to the oil mixture as well as the roasted vegetables. Toss to incorporate thoroughly and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the chopped basil and serve.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli with Israeli Couscous

Memorial Day weekend here in Boston seemed to bring with it a barrage of temptations for the vegan in me: burgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls, ice cream....the list goes on. To get back on track this week I whipped up a super quick salad as an easy "work-day" lunch.

Ingredients:

Two sweet potatoes

2 heads of broccoli

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of Israeli couscous

1 tablespoons of pesto

Preheat oven to 425'. Trim and cut broccoli into small florets. Peel & dice sweet potatoes into one inch cubes. Toss sweet potatoes with half of the olive oil and spread onto a baking sheet (I sprayed mine with a non-stick olive oil spray for good measure). Cook for 10 minutes. Toss broccoli with remaining olive oil and salt, and add to the pan after 10 minutes. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender and broccoli is crisp.

Meanwhile, cook Israeli couscous according to package directions. Once tender, mix the couscous with the pesto. Top with the roasted vegetables and voila - a filling, healthy, vegan lunch. This made around four large servings for me.

Polenta & Vegetable Casserole

I haven't spent too much time cooking with polenta, but I ran across this recipe from EatingWell.com and decided to give it a go. It requires minimal prep time, particularly if you buy jarred marinara sauce instead of making your own. The vegan cheese is a pretty integral part of the recipe so I would recommend getting a brand you really like. My favorite is Daiya.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 medium eggplant, diced
• 2 small zucchini, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 10 ounces baby spinach
• 1 1/2 cups prepared marinara sauce
• 14 ounces prepared polenta, sliced into thin slices
• 1 1/2 cups shredded vegan mozzarella-style cheese, divided

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until just translucent. Add the eggplant, zucchini, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add water and spinach; cover and cook until wilted, stirring once, about 3 minutes. Stir marinara sauce into the vegetables and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Place polenta slices in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, trimming to fit if necessary. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese, top with the eggplant mixture and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake until bubbling and the cheese has just melted, 12 to 15 minutes. Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Baked Vegan Doughnuts

When I found this recipe on  Angela Liddon's blog I knew I had to give it a go. Yesterday afternoon I had a some spare time and all the ingredients on hand. Angela is right in that the recipe is super easy to pull together. The only hard part is really the shaping of the doughnut, since if you are like me (and most normal people?!) you do not have a doughnut pan on hand. After scrolling through the comments on Angela's post I got the idea to pour the dough into a homemade pastry bag (ie ziplock bag with a corner cut out). Worked pretty well...the main issue was keeping the dough apart in the middle to form the holes. I used some shot glasses to help mold them....which was partially successful. Also, my doughnuts came out pretty thin, which I am sure would be solved by using a doughnut pan.

Dry Ingredients
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar (I used raw cane sugar, but feel free to use white)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp (scant) Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
1/2 Cup Soymilk (I used vanilla almond milk, since that was what i had on hand)
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Egg Replacer for 1 Egg
4 Tbs Earth Balance (regular margarine should work too)

Icing Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered icing
1 tbsp soy milk
sprinkles/nuts/other toppings

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Take all the wet ingredients and put in a small pot on the stovetop on low. Whisk ingredients together to blend well. Do not let the mixture get too hot, it should just be warm to the touch. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.

Mold doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you are not using a doughnut pan, get creative with what you have lying around to help you shape them! Wet your hands when touching the dough to prevent it from sticking.  

Bake for 12 minutes. You don’t want them brown, but they should slowly pop up when pressed with a finger. Cool on a wire rack and then decorate.

As you can see, I made 8 doughnuts from this batter...although two were super-sized as I was playing around with how to mold them.