To Tempeh or not to Tempeh that is the Question

I love Indian food and there's a local Indian restaurant just down the street, which serves delicious chicken tiki masala, but since I'm not doing meat, that won't work. There is also the issue with cream that is generally added to the sauce, which is something I'm trying to stay away from since I sound like a cat hocking up a fur ball every time I consume a dairy product.

As I was wandering through the grocery store I spied a sale on tempeh, which is rare in our neighborhood. I like the texture of tempeh and it has a kind of nutty flavor, nothing like chicken but I decided to give it a try.  Before I could get started tho I needed to find a vegan recipe for cream so I opted for this almond, cashew cream recipe. It was a bit time consuming but the end result was worth the effort.  

To make the tiki masala, I started with two onions and asked Dan very nicely if he would chop them up (and of course he said yes). I then chopped 16 ounces of tempeh into 1-inch cubes. To a medium pan I added 1 Tbsp. of oil, the onions and tempeh and sautéed until the onions were translucent.

To the onion/tempeh mixture add 2 tsp. paprika, ½ tsp. cumin, ½ tsp. red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. minced garlic, and 1 tsp. garam masala and mix it into the dish. While the mixture is cooking add about 1 ½ cups of the tomatoes (ours were from the big batch we made last fall and still have in the freezer), ½ cup of the cashew/almond cream and stir until combined.

Just for fun I threw in a handful of fresh spinach and some roasted sweet potatoes and to finish it off, because I didn't think it was spicy enough, I put in some siracha sauce to give it a little zing - it did the trick!

We served the masala over brown rice – twas quite good and we had leftovers for dinner on Wednesday night – score!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Not Your Mother's Potato Salad

First some great news! Dan's daughter Alona is graduating from the University of Minnesota this weekend - we're so excited! And on June 13th his daughter Mary will graduate from Carleton College - another great family milestone.

As I was walking by the deli at the grocery store last night I spied potato salad. Mind you I don't like white potatoes, to me they really don't have much taste. Yet, when you mix them with eggs, mayo, onions and celery they work.

With all that being said, I'm not willing to drop the meat only to load up on carbs it doesn't seem like a good trade. I'm an avid Pinterest fan and I noticed some "potato" salad recipes that swapped out the potatoes and added cauliflower instead. Unfortunately when I clicked on the links I got one of those links to nowhere and not a recipe in sight so I decided to take things into my own hands, use the picture as a guide, and make my own. After all how hard can it be to make potato salad?

I started with 2/3 of a head of cauliflower (because that's what was in the fridge). I chopped it into pieces about the same size as I would potatoes and steamed it until tender.  At the same time I put three eggs on to boil.

While the eggs and cauliflower were cooking, I chopped 3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced and chopped some onion, sliced 3 chives and added them to the a bowl. When the cauliflower was done I put it in a separate bowl until cool.

I cooked the eggs by putting them in a small pan with enough water to cover them and added baking soda (it makes them soooooo easy to peel) covered the pan and waited until the water boiled. Then I turned down the heat to medium and let them boil for about 5 – 7 minutes. Put them in the sink, turned on the cold water and refilled the pan and then let them sit until cold.

When everything cooled I added the cauliflower to the bowl, sliced the eggs and added mayo, spicy brown mustard, salt and pepper.  I wasn't fooled into thinking I was eating real potato salad but I really liked it and it definitely hit the spot – I'll definitely make it again and Dan gave it a thumbs up! 

I served it with vegetarian beans and Quorn – just so I could have a BBQ.  Next weekend is Memorial Day - Feel free to post your favorite vegetarian BBQ recipes!

Tulips, Plum blossoms, Tofu, Stir-Fry Veggies, 7-Grain Rice and Un-cooking Classes

The temps here in Minnesota have been wonderful this past week – we're definitely in spring mode. My tulips and daffodils are blooming and our Japanese plum tree has burst with sweet scented blooms. Of course the bunnies are curious, but this year we got ahead of the game and put fences around the flowers so we could actually enjoy all 60+ tulips (40 in back, 20 in front).

Camille (our cat) has one of the worst cases of spring fever I've ever seen in an animal. She spends her days out on the deck (when I have a work break) or trying to convince us she needs to go out on the deck. The goal is to eat grass and lay in the sun and if she can find a few moments to meow at the neighbor's dog she'll do that too. I swear she knows they have an electric fence and that there is no way he can come over to "visit" her. Little does she know his bark usually means "Hello" rather than "I'm dying to come over and eat you."

We went on one of our Costco shopping trips and found a great deal on tofu; 4 – 19 ounce packages for under $5 which is a steal. I've been searching for marinated tofu with a spicy twist because I've been trying to recreate the tofu at our local Asian restaurant.

One thing I learned was that if you remove as much water as you can from the tofu it absorbs the marinade better. So I sliced the tofu into strips and placed them on top of paper towels then covered them with 3 layers of paper towels and placed heavy objects on top of them for 45 minutes. I have to say it was just about bone dry.

For the marinade, I mixed: 4 T of soy sauce, 1 T rice wine vinegar, 1 T siracha sauce, 1 T agave syrup, 1T fresh lime juice, 3 cloves garlic and 1 inch of grated fresh ginger in a small bowl.  After placing the tofu in a shallow baking pan, I pour the marinade over the tofu, covered it with plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes (be sure to turn the tofu several times).

In the mean time chop, 2 stalks of celery, 4 carrots (on the diagonal), 1 ¼ peppers (mixed colors), 1-bunch scallions, 1 ½ cup broccoli florets, and some brown enoki like mushrooms (I got them at the Asian grocery store and forget what they are called but you can see them in the picture). 

Heat 1 T of toasted sesame oil in a non-stick pan and add half of the tofu slices, fry until crisp (approx. 3 minutes), turn and fry until crisp on the other side; fry the second half of tofu in the same way; keep warm until the rest of dinner is done. 

Add another Tbsp. of sesame oil to the pan and stir-fry carrots, broccoli and celery for 1 – 2 minutes. Add the scallions, peppers, and baby mushrooms and cook until the carrots and broccoli is crisp tender. Toss in a handful of chopped cilantro. Serve with 7-grain rice (from Aldi).

I would say the spicy tofu rivaled that of our local Asian haunt and after one bite, Dan declared it needed to be a repeat – so I guess since we have lots of tofu in the fridge it would be easy to duplicate.

We're taking a cooking class this week at a raw food restaurant where we will learn to make marinated asparagus, raw lasagna, garlic "bread" and a chocolate dessert – sounds delicious and will be fun.

Thanks for stoppimg by and if you don't know it, today is Star Wars Day; 

May the 4^th be with you 

And a shout out to my Dad, Bill Kelly, who is celebrating 80 years young today!