August 12, 2008Roasted Potatoes and TofuI feel like, just by writing this entry, every single reader of mine in the South is going to send a hard and nasty glare in my direction. I'm just going to brace myself for it. The weather here is already autumn-like, and the autumn produce is showing up at my favorite stands at the farmers markets, so last week I carted home red potatoes, fennel, golden beets, and Walla Walla onions to make one of my favorite autumn staples, a roasted potato and tofu bake. Honestly, it doesn't get any easier than this, and this dish is so versatile that you can change the vegetables and herbs for variety and make this every week this fall without getting sick of it. Roasted Potatoes and Tofu Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable or olive oil spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine: - 2 lbs of unpeeled red potatoes into 1/2" pieces. You could get away with them being a little bigger (3/4-1"), but I like to keep them small to increase surface area; - 16-20 oz very firm tofu, sliced into 1/2" cubes. If the firmest tofu available to you still isn't very firm, you may need to press your tofu for 15-30 minutes beforehand; - one large sweet onion, sliced into thin strips; - 4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped. - another couple of cups of chopped vegetables that roast very well. I like to use a fennel bulb sliced thinly, golden beets, carrots, squash... use what is available, in season, and on sale! Toss all of this with: - 1/4 cup olive oil - 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice - 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, dill, rosemary, parsley) - zest from half a lemon - 1 teaspoon salt - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper - 1/4 teaspoon paprika There is no need to mix this dressing beforehand. You add the ingredients one at a time directly to the bowl. Toss well with a spoon or your hands. Dump into the baking dish. The dish should be filled to the top. Throw this in the oven, uncovered, and roast for a half hour. Remove, mix well, and roast for another half hour. Eat!
posted by joanna @ 12:53 PM
2 Comments
August 07, 2008For the Love of All That's Vegan, Vote for Ted LeoIf you're like me, you listen to music while you cook. To be fair, I listen to music or podcasts while doing most things, but I really love to listen to music while I cook. So I'm saying this with a certain degree of authority: Ted Leo is, hands down, the best music to cook to. It's high energy, easy to sing along to, and gets your ass shaking while you're whisking your sauces. I especially like to put in "Shake the Sheets" while I'm cooking, so that by the time "Counting Down the Hours" comes on, I can sing into my wooden spoon. This is why, when the VegNews survey came up this year, I was sure to write in "Ted Leo" under Favorite Vegan Musician. (Don't ask me why he wasn't there in the first place!) I implore you to do the same. While you're there, you might want to vote for me as your favorite vegan cookbook author. Your vote doesn't count unless you fill out at least half of the survey and leave your contact info, but voting automatically qualifies you for some awesome prizes, so that's just in your best interests to do so, anyway.
posted by joanna @ 1:51 PM
10 Comments
August 02, 2008Seitan Deli SlicesI have learned my lesson. Never again will I post here about an up-and-coming recipe unless I plan on posting it later that day. Here is the baked version of the seitan recipe that I promised. It's the easiest and most reliable seitan recipe that I've made so far. The tapioca flour can be replaced with another 1/4 cup of chickpea flour, but I really do feel that it results in a more meat-like seitan. Since trying it in my seitan, I haven't made a single batch without it. dry: 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten 1/4 cup chickpea or all purpose flour 1/4 cup tapioca flour 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1 tablespoon onion powder (optional, but I prefer it with) 1 tablespoon sage 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, crumbled 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper wet: 1 1/2 cups cold vegetable broth or water 2 tablespoons canola or light olive oil 3 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced Preheat oven to 450. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and the wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. When all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, get your hands in there and start massaging the dough. You don't want to knead it the same way that you would bread, but instead squish it between your fingers like you do with wet sand at the beach. Massage for five minutes or so. Line an 18"x12" piece of aluminum foil with a sheet of parchment paper the same size. (If you don't have parchment paper, you can also spray the foil lightly with vegetable oil or olive oil.) Make a log about 8" long with the seitan dough and wrap it with the parchment-lined foil. Twist the ends loosely and then turn them underneath. You can put it directly into the oven like this, but I like to put it in a loaf pan just to make it sturdier. Bake for one hour, then cool for a half hour. It's ready to eat like this, but if you refrigerate it, it will get even firmer. When ready to serve, use a serrated bread knife to cut the seitan into slices as thinly as possible without losing structure. I haven't yet tried to cut the slices with a mandoline, but that would be ideal. I'm still working on the boiled version but hopefully you'll enjoy this. I hope to have some pictures up relatively soon. We have been eating this in some form at least once a day for the last two months.
posted by joanna @ 4:20 PM
7 Comments
|
