Showing posts with label Tofu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tofu. Show all posts

Monday, May 7, 2018

South of the Border Burrito; Meatless Monday vegan recipe and a giveaway!!




My family is a connoisseur of vegetarian food. Fish and chicken is cooked only occasionally. I love fish and cannot resist grilled chicken. However, my husband and kids prefer vegetarian food over non-vegetarian. Needless to say, I therefore end up cooking more vegetarian dishes than non-vegetarian. Truth be told, personally for me, cooking a vegetarian dish is much easier and quicker than non-vegetarian.



I am a huge supporter of the Meatless Monday Movement. I often feel that people in the West have this misconception that a meal is incomplete without some form of animal protein and that animal protein is essential for normal growth and development.  Indian cuisine proves that this is a myth. Many Indians are vegetarian and lead a healthy, whole and successful life. 

Coming back to the recipe on hand.. when Taylor from Meatless Monday told me about an opportunity to work with Kristi Funk by trying one of her healthy recipes that support her  latest book filled with tons of information regarding breast cancer, how to prevent it with a healthy lifestyle, I was all for it! I am always on the quest for cooking in a healthier manner. I grew up in a family where 1 liter of oil would last the entire month. This recipe of Kristi’s uses no oil at all! I had to try that. I have to tell you, it came out delicious!! 




For those of you who are not familiar with Dr. Kristi Funk, she is a leading board-certified breast cancer surgeon and specialist in comprehensive wellness, including nutrition, fitness, and stress management. Best known as the breast surgeon for Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow, Dr. Funk has compiled her accessible and powerful strategies for reducing cancer risk and achieving optimal overall health into a much-anticipated book, Breasts: The Owner’s Manual, which came on shelves May 1, 2018.



Dr. Funk embraces meat reduction for healthy living. She personally provided a selection of delicious Meatless Monday recipes exclusively for us to try. One of them was the South of the Border Burrito. I tried it and everyone at home loved it! It was quick and easy. I would have never imagined that cooking without oil would taste so good! I made some minor changes to it due to lack of some ingredients. I didn’t have cilantro or avocado and therefore skipped it. I used chopped lettuce instead. Instead of Braggs amino acids I used tamari sauce. I have described the recipe verbatim as provided by her.

If you would like a copy of Dr Funk’s book, sign up with your email to participate in the give away! 




Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz.) organic firm or extra firm, well drained tofu (prep technique below)
1 onion
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
2 handfuls chopped spinach
2 tomatoes
1 tsp turmeric
2 T Bragg Amino acids (or tamari)
Veggie broth to broth sauté
Salsa
1 Avocado
Cilantro to taste
Whole grain tortillas

Directions:

Heat pan with a tiny bit of broth just covering the bottom of the pan. Once the broth is simmering, add the chopped onions, tomatoes and peppers. Sauté until they start to get soft (about 6-8 minutes). Keep adding broth by the tablespoon when pan is gets too dry.

Crumble tofu (I use my hands), add turmeric and Bragg Amino acids and sauté until everything is starting to brown just a bit.

Add spinach, turn OFF heat, and toss for a minute or so.

Taste and decide if you want to add a little more Bragg’s.

Heat tortilla until soft and fill with mixture. Add salsa, cilantro and avocado and wrap into a burrito.

Tip: Draining tofu completely is important. Cut the tofu block in half and press in clean kitchen towels, then wrap in a dry towel and place under a heavy pan (or a stack of books!). Leave for at least 20 minutes and change out towels if they get too saturated. Better yet, buy a tofu press... such a great gadget to have!

I am bringing this salad to all my friends at Angie's Fiesta Friday #223. Her cohost this week is the amazing Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau.


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Friday, February 19, 2016

Grilled Tofu with Sriracha




Today is an extra-special day as I have been given the privilege of co-hosting Angie's Fiesta Friday #107,with a seasoned co-host and an excellent blogger Margy @ La Petite Casserole. I hope I can stand up to the trust placed by Angie on me. If you don't yet know what Fiesta Friday is yet, it is time to check it out! It is one of the friendliest blogger parties ever! I joined Fiesta when I first started blogging two years ago. Over the past two years, I have made several friends at the Fiesta, learnt a lot from all the wonderful bloggers who party there. The best part about Angie's Fiesta is that everyone is so willing to impart whatever they know to you. This place is a blessing to new bloggers.Check out the guidelines here for coming to this party. Link up your posts at Angie's Fiesta and to both the co-hosts!






 I have created this recipe especially for my friends at Angie's Fiesta Fiday! I am looking forward to tons of chit-chat, sharing and caring over the next few days!!






Tofu and I have a kind of a love-hate relationship. What is tofu? Tofu is basically bean curd that is made by curdling soy milk and then pressing I into a solid block, just like the way cheese ( paneer is made).




 I like the concept of tofu and all the good things that it stands for, but I have never come to like the taste of it; until now! I have tried incorporating tofu in my diet on several different occasions. I have made scrambled tofu, I have substituted it in place of paneer and made our traditional paneer dishes like malai paneer, paneer chilli, I didn't like it. I have made stir-fry using Tofu; didn't like it. For some reason, it just didn't appeal to me. It tasted bland, weird.. I don't know.. Just not right. I used to often see my very good blogger friend, Sonal @Simplyvegetarian777 rustle up amazing tofu dishes. I would just look at her posts and let them pass.



Then one day, I went out to dinner at this Korean restaurant downtown. One of the dishes that we ordered was rice with vegetables and something. The name was quite fancy. When the dish was served it looked great and tasted out of this world! One of the items in that dish was slices of Tofu. It was so flavorful and delicious,  I cannot even describe! Looking at that dish, I realized that the trick for cooking Tofu and making it flavorful is marinating it right. Tofu is essentially bland with no particular taste. It is askin to an empty canvas. It imbibes the taste of whatever sauce that you put it in. This gave me a renewed determination to try Tofu again!





 I marinated it in a spices honey barbecue sauce and grilled it in my grill pan over the stove top. The result was a delicious tofu steak that is super-flavorful and made a wonderful side for my meal! The best part is that there is not much prep involved and is super quick and easy to make! Perfect for a weeknight dinner. All you would need to do is at some point ( read previous night)  marinate the tofu steaks in the sauce and leave it in the fridge. Extra firm tofu works best for this recipe.






Servings: 6  ( One 1.5 cms thick steak per person)


Ingredients:


Organic Extra-firm Tofu : 1 package
Honey barbecue sauce: 1/4 cup ( any brand will do. ( I used some leftover gourmet honey BBQ sauce that I had).
Soy Sauce: 1 tbsp ( use gluten-free if gluten-intolerant ).
Sriracha sauce: 1 tsp ( you can use any hot sauce if you don't have Sriracha)
Olive oil: for greasing the grill pan.

Method:


Slice the tofu into 1.5 cms thick slices ( steaks). Keep aside.

Add honey barbecue sauce, soy sauce and Sriracha sauce to a bowl. Mix well.




Brush each tofu slice with the marinade and place in a bowl. 




Pour the remaining on top of it. Cover and keep in the refrigerator to marinate a minimum of 30 minutes.




Heat the grill pan on the stove stop on medium heat. Grease the pan using olive oil. When the pan is hot enough, place the tofu slices on the pan. Cook for 5 mins on low flame. Flip it over and cook for another 4-5 mins.




Serve hot with grilled vegetables, noodles or fried rice.




Enjoy! I am also bringing this to our friends at Throwback Thursday.


Cooking made easy:


As you can see, any combination of sauces with flavors that you desire could be used. I usually take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and see what comes out of it. If it is good, I share it with you all. You win some and you lose some. But you won't know until you have tried! Be creative!

Tip for healthy living:


Tofu is a great source of protein for vegetarians and vegans as it is one of those few foods that contains all eight essential amino acids. It is also an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous.  It is also a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1.  However, I personally prefer to use organic and non-genetically modified tofu.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu
http://www.livestrong.com/article/378597-is-tofu-healthy-to-eat/
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-tofu



Food for thought:


Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them. Albert Einstein


Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!