chimichurri potatoes and tofu

As promised, I am taking the recipes from Prep Ahead Week 3 and posting them individually for the folks who would rather not make the entire menu.

If you are as busy as I am and life sometimes serves up plain beans and rice or a simple sandwich, when you'd rather be enjoying a delicious and unique meal, then I highly recommend you give the Prep Ahead menu a try.

The first recipe in the rotation on Week 3 is Chimichurri Potatoes and Tofu.

Typical chimichurri sauce is made with tons of oil and loads of fresh herbs, but I wanted to come up with a recipe that used no oil, but still tasted great.

Instead of the oil, this sauce recipe uses yogurt and tahini. The yogurt offers the body and the tahini offers the richness that would usually be supplied with olive oil. You can still make the sauce using oil, if you'd rather, and Becky Striepe has a terrific recipe over at Glue and Glitter, so I'd head there for a more traditional version.

I used both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes when I made my dish, but you can use one or the other. Press the tofu overnight using a flour sack (just wrap the tofu tightly and set in the fridge) or press it for an hour using a machine.

I air-fried my potatoes and tofu, but you can broil them instead.

Since the tofu and potatoes need a vegetable, I went to my go-to, easy way of cooking up greens, kinpira. This is a very old and traditional way of quick braising vegetables in any flavored broth. I chose a spicy kinpira for this dish to help elevate the chimichurri even more. The veggies are ready in about 5 minutes with minimal fuss.

Serve these with warmed tortillas; use the tortillas as tacos or just use them to scoop up all the goodies.

Chimichurri Potatoes and Tofu
Makes 4 servings

2 (14-ounce) packages firm tofu, rinsed and pressed 1 hour

Chimichurri Sauce:
1/2 cup packed parsley (1/2 bunch)
1/2 cup packed cilantro (1/2 bunch)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoon unsweetened plain vegan yogurt or olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 pounds potatoes, any kind

Kinpira:
1 pound bok choy
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
2 tablespoons vegetable broth

4 tortillas, warmed

1. Make sure to press the tofu first. Preheat the air-fryer at 450-degrees F. If not using air-fryer, preheat the broiler if needed.
2. For the sauce, combine the parsley, cilantro, garlic, water, vinegar, yogurt, tahini and chili flakes in a food processor. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch wedges. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch slices. Cut the slices of tofu into 1-inch pieces. Toss 3/4 of the sauce with the potatoes and tofu. Add them to a baking sheet or air-fryer basket and cook until crisp and tender, about 15 to 25 minutes. 
4. For the kinpira: Chop the bok choy. Add it to a large pot. Add the minced garlic and chili flakes. Add 2 tablespoons broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until tender and the broth has reduced. 
5. Serve the potatoes, tofu, vegetables and warmed tortillas with the rest of the sauce.


© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

PIN IT!

mediterranean chickpea + tabouli sliders

Day 3 of our Burger Extravaganza is brought to you by these lovely Mediterranean Chickpea and Tabouli Sliders. These sliders are perfect when you are craving good old' fashioned hummus and tabouli, but prefer to have them in every single bite.

These particular sliders are made with freekeh tabouli and cooked chickpeas.

Last year I tested for Tami Noyes' and Celine Steen's upcoming cookbook, The Great Vegan Protein Book, and it is no secret that Tami loves to use freekeh - which is toasted and cracked green wheat. The very best thing about freekeh is that it is loaded with protein.

You can use regular cracked wheat in this recipe (you will need 1 1/2 cups cooked cracked wheat), but I recommend you find freekeh because it is delicious and nutritious.

I love sliders because they are cute as a button, easy to eat and your burger stays relatively together during consumption.

I top these adorable sliders with Tahini-Lemon Sauce that is spiced with just a tad bit of Sriracha, because you can't really go wrong there!

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKPEA AND TABOULI PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Mediterranean Chickpea and Tabouli Sliders

Makes 10 sliders

1 cup packed parsley leaves

½ cup mint leaves

4 scallions, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ½ cups cooked freekeh, cooled

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (zest lemon first)

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

¾ cup quick cooking oatmeal

¼ cup vegetable broth

1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon red chili flakes

Zest of 1 lemon

10 slider buns, toasted

Garnish: lettuce leaves, thin slices of red bell pepper

Tahini-Lemon Sauce (recipe below)

1. Combine the parsley, mint, scallions, garlic and oil in a food processor. Process until fine and transfer to a large bowl. Add the freekeh , lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.

2. Heat the oatmeal and broth in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir and cook until the oatmeal thickens. Transfer oatmeal to the freekeh mixture.

3. Add the chickpeas, paprika, chili flakes and lemon zest in a food processor. Pulse only to break up the chickpeas into smaller pieces, about 4 (2-second) pulses. Transfer to the freekeh. Mix the burger mixture well using a large wooden spoon or hands. Taste and adjust seasoning. Divide the mixture into 10 portions and form into small 2-inch burgers.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking oil or add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Cook the burgers until golden, about 2 minutes per side.

5. Make the sliders by adding a lettuce leaf, a slider burger, a tablespoon of sauce and a few slices of bell pepper to each toasted bun. Serve with extra Sriracha.

Tahini-Lemon Sauce

¼ cup tahini

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

1 to 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce

3 tablespoons finely minced parsley

1 garlic clove, minced

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well and adjust seasoning with salt, black pepper.

© 2014 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

I am linking to these recipe parties: Healthy Vegan Fridays, What I Ate Wednesday and Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck. 

 

     

grilled chimichurri tofu with lime-scented couscous + "vegan planet" winner

I love the flavor that grilling imparts on vegetables, tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, lemons - you name it, grilling makes it taste decidedly unique. And while grilling outdoors in not to be missed in the coming months (check out Grills Gone Vegan by Tamasin Noyes for some kick-butt grilling recipes), I love to grill year round.

That is not exactly an impossible feat, being nestled here in the moderate temperatures of San Diego, but even then, I'm more often than not too lazy to light the charcoals and wait for them to get ready. In the instances that that occurs, I'm happy as a lark, but mostly I settle for indoor grilling. Not exactly, the same, but delicious none the less.

There are other reasons to utilize grilling besides the flavor grilled food achieves - less oil. Grilling versus sauteing uses much less oil and fat required for the cooking. If you are cooking with little or no oil, you have a few choices: steaming, broiling, boiling, cooking in paper, baking or ... grilling.

I use a well-seasoned cast-iron grill pan, which as it happens, never leaves the stove top. Call that further proof of my laziness at not putting away dishes, but I just call it practical - I use the thing so often that putting it away would mean an extra preventable step come dinner time.

This recipe, Grilled Tofu and Squash with Easy Chimichurri Sauce and Lime-Scented Couscous, might sound like a mouthful, but is actually quite easy to prepare. The sauce is simple to make, as it utilizes the blades of a food processor, the veg and tofu is just skewered and grilled, the couscous is cooked and then tossed with beans, spinach and pepitas.

The best part is that it is a complete meal - grain, protein, dark leafy greens, seeds and herbs. Another great thing: you can skip the tofu and increase the vegetables since there is protein in the couscous. Gluten free? Use quinoa instead of couscous. Oh, the versatility!

We were completely smitten with this dish! The only trip-up could be that the recipe might not make enough chimichurri sauce if you are as liberal with its application as my husband was. On the bright side, this recipe calls for a fraction of the oil than the typical traditional chimichurri sauce does.

I just KNOW you have been waiting for the winner of Robin Robertson's updated and revised edition of Vegan Planet! Before I get to the winner (of which there is, unfortunately, only one), let me entice the rest of you who can also be winners in your own right if you purchase the book. As a reminder, this cookbook has been hailed  the "vegan bible," "vegan joy of cooking" and the "ultimate vegan cookbook."

It has 50 new recipes and all the information is updated for relevance to today. Here are some pictures I took during testing.

AUTUMN ROASTED VEGETABLES

CRISPY KALE STRIPS

CURRIED LENTILS WITH CARROTS AND PEAS

LEMON RISOTTO WITH PEAS AND SCALLIONS

SMOKY MAPLE KALE AND BEANS

I've strummed you along long enough! The winner of "Vegan Planet," out of 58 entries, is comment number 11 by Papa Dragon. [I feel terrible, but I was not contacted and had to choose another winner :{ ] Please email me at zsu [at] zsusveganpantry [dot] com so I can send this to you as soon as possible. Congratulations! You have until April 14 to contact me before I will have to sadly move on to another winner.

Return for another vegan cookbook giveaway on the very next blog post. I love passing out vegan cookbooks! Use the convenient follow-me buttons on the top right-hand side and don't miss a single opportunity.

I am linking to these recipe parties: The blogs hosting Healthy Vegan Fridays are Suzanne at Hello Veggie, Anna at Herbivore Triathlete, and Kimmy at Rock My Vegan Socks.  

I’ve decided to submit this dish to What I Ate Wednesday hosted by Peas and Crayons.

...and Pickled Okra.

lentils and cauliflower with gremolata salad

LENTILS AND CAULIFLOWER PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Above is a Lentil and Cauliflower Stew topped with a Gremolata Salad. Gremolata is a traditional Italian condiment of chopped parsley, minced fresh garlic and lemon zest. It is a great punch of flavor. I decided to create a cooling salad using cucumber, roasted peppers and toss it with gremolata.

The salad adds a different dimension to the old stand-by of lentil stew, which, in this case, also contains cauliflower that has been steamed with the stew. 

This was a great variation on a favorite legume dish.

Cost Breakdown

gremolata: $1

cucumber, pepper: $2

lentil: $.50

broth: $1

cauliflower: $2

onion, oil: $.25 

Total to make 5 servings:

$6.75

osso buco

Part of the goal of this blog is to reinvent 'traditional' recipes, renew conventional ideas and let people see that the omnivore rut that they have been stuck in is easy to get out of.

This traditional Milanese recipe of braised veal shanks, Osso Buco, is literally translated to mean 'Bone with a Hole." Not really sure how accurate the name is in this vegan context, but for the sake of tradition we'll keep it as is. 

This is what I mean about altering conventional thinking; normally 'Bone with a Hole' has no right to be in cooking distance of a vegan kitchen, but since the recipe itself means both the dish and the cut of animal, I couldn't really call it "Seitan Buco" or "Osso Seitan," could I? Maybe "Seitan Osso Buco," but I try to keep as close to the original name as possible, for simplicity sake. It is difficult to know what someone will name a veganized version of a dish - it is much easier to search for the omni version of a name (and hence the one most recognized) than to try to guess what an author chooses to call something. As much as I would like to rename dishes to reflect a more vegan world, I try to stay as true to the original as possible.

I made "veal" seitan cutlets, thick-cut, and braised them with carrots, celery, onion, herbs and wine. This dish is usually served over a risotto, but Catt has been asking for mashed potatoes. She must be getting kick-backs from the potato board, and since I knew this dish would have some great sauce for the requested spuds, mashed it turned out to be. 

It has been a few years since I've made this, but it was just as great as the first time. It is garnished with gremolata, a condiment of parsley, garlic and lemon zest. The garnish gives it a nice punch that cuts through the richness of the sauce and seitan. I wouldn't skip it if I were you.

Cost Breakdown

seitan: $3

carrot, celery, onion, garlic: $2

spices, herbs, tomato paste, wine, broth: $3

potatoes: $3

gremolata: $2

Total to make 6 servings:

$13.00

OSSO BUCO PRINTER-FRIENDLY-RECIPE

walnut and asparagus scampi pasta

Pasta Night

In another life, seafood and I were partners. Or more to the point, seafood graced many of my plates, as I happily devoured the little creatures, be they swordfish, tuna, shrimp, scrod, halibut, scallops or cod. I was a pescetarian, thinking that sea creatures were not factory farmed and were fair game for the honor of becoming my next meal. In fact, I felt pretty good about my decision to save the lives of their land counterparts - cows, pigs, chickens. It was a sad day for my eating repertoire when I discovered that fish were being factory farmed. The practice wasn't as common back twenty years ago, but it was certainly beginning its snowballing. On top of the fact that fish nowadays are intensely more factory farmed in huge over-populated underwater nets, the animals that are being caught in the wild are dwindling at an alarming rate. Add mercury and other heavy metals and toxic chemicals that leach into the seas from human pollution into the system of these same creatures, and you no longer are eating Omega-3 fatty acids wrapped up in an affordable lean protein, but are stuffing yourselves full of misery, metals and guilt, knowing that you are contributing to the extinction of numerous other species of sea life. 
How does your shrimp taste now?

Lovely segue into tonight's meal. Shrimp Scampi was a long time favorite of mine, ever since my father couldn't serve us the delicacy while owning a seafood restaurant because every penny had to be saved. Scampi was something that was expensive and carefully snuck out to the kids by my mom when my dad wasn't around. Some women lie to their spouses about the cost of the new dress they just bought at Macy's; my mom lied about food. 

While there are plenty of veggie shrimp substitutes on the market, this meal does not utilize any. I was wanting to make a dish that was a memory jolt to shrimp scampi and not a lightning bolt to the gut - in a good or a bad way. The seafood substitutes we've tried over the years have either totally missed the mark or were overwhelmingly 'fishy,' trying too hard to be something that they weren't. 

Scampi, whether shrimp, scallops, or asparagus, all contain tons of garlic, olive oil and lemon. The garlic is slowly infused into the oil over low heat, while the lemon juice gives an extra needed tang right before service. I chose to use asparagus, walnuts, dulse seaweed and parsley. Perhaps the empty serving bowl with the few lone strands of pasta sticking to the sides, sitting in the middle of the dining table gives an indication of how well received it was. Even hours after the dinner dishes have been dried and put away, the house is still perfumed with the garlic and olive oil. A gentle reminder of a meal well enjoyed.

Cost Breakdown

pasta: $1
asparagus: $4
olive oil, lemon juice, garlic: $1
parsley, dulse: $2
walnuts: $2
Total for 4 servings:
$10.00

Walnut and Asparagus Scampi Pasta Recipe

mojo tofu - "viva vegan!"

Continental

Deciding to make something from Viva Vegan! for our Continental Night, I made Terry Hope Romero's Red Beans with Dominican-Style Sazon, Yuca with Cuban-Lime-Mojo Sauce and Zesty Ornage Mojo-Baked Tofu. 

I didn't have any yuca, but since it is a starch almost like a combination of potato-and-yam, I used the last of my winter squash from my CSA - kabocha squash and acorn squash. The Mojo Sauce I am not sure should be called a sauce because it is a lot of oil with onions and a few tablespoons of lime juice. It was very good, but, no surprise, quite oily, so we used it very sparingly drizzled over the cooked squash.

One might think that Latin food is closely related to Mexican and Tex-Mex fare, but they couldn't be more different from each other than Chinese and Indian foods. Latin dishes use a lot of citrus and for those palates to whom this is something new, it will be a very unusual flavor profile. Not bad in any way, but very unexpected - as David is coming to find. He is not a citrus enthusiast and last night's meal gave his palate a workout. However, if anyone who has this lack of love-affair with citrus can really enjoy these dishes, you know the food is excellent. 

I found everything a bit tangy but delicious. The Baked Tofu was superb and very easy to make. Just press, cut and bake. Add marinade and bake some more. It's texture was nice and chewy and the flavors were wonderful. 

There is so much to explore in this cookbook, and even though I had a week of Viva Vegan! in April of last year, I've barely scratched the surface - looking forward to more.

Cost Breakdown:

beans: $4

peppers, onion, garlic: $2.50

cilantro, parsley, celery: $1

spices, seasonings: $.25

orange, lime, vinegar: $3

tamari, tofu: $4.25

olive oil: $1

squash: $3

Total to make 6 servings:

$19.00

  

italian casserole

This meal somehow got moved from its intended night to the next day. Funny how things like this can happen at my home...

This casserole is mostly like a layered potato dish, but without milk or cheese (nondairy, of course). Instead it has fresh tomatoes, olives and an herb paste - garlic, basil, parsley and oregano - topped with fresh bread crumbs.

I have to say that fresh bread crumbs are the way to go - just take a few pieces of bread and grind them in a food processor or blender. It tastes so much better than dried crumbs.

As for the casserole, it was a refreshing dish, with the fresh tomatoes and herbs, but the kids weren't that into it.

It didn't have the big, bold flavors that I expected, but I was still pleased. A bountiful bowl of fresh crisp salad was just the perfect accompaniment to the creamy potatoes.

Cost Breakdown:

potatoes: $2

tomatoes: $2

olives, garlic: $1

herbs: $2

bread: $.25

Total to feed a family of five:

$7.25

seitan schnitzel

European Night

My parents were restaurateurs their entire lives and they operated Hungarian restaurants exclusively. Wiener Schnitzel was on the menu at every place we had that I can remember. Not that Schnitzel is Hungarian originally, but let's face it, Europe is not a huge continent and its countries are not expansive; food travels over borders without much exception.

I haven't checked, so I hope it has been a month since the last time I made fried food. Schnitzel is a breaded and deep fried dish. I made the Tender Seitan and cut it as thin as I could and in a way that got me the biggest slices that I could get. I dredged them in flour, then in diluted yogurt and in a seasoned bread crumb mixture. I deep fried the slices at 390 degrees for 3 minutes. This was a throwback to my childhood - my Dad would serve these huge slices of Schnitzel, almost as big as the plate it was placed on.

I did good.

I served these with parsley potatoes, something my Mom used to make, and with a Hungarian Tomato and Cucumber Salad. The tomatoes are from our garden; they are Hungarian Heart heirlooms. Just thought I'd brag a little.

Cost Breakdown:

potatoes: $3

parsley, Earth Balance: $2

tomato: $2 (from store)

cucumber: $1

onion: $.50

seitan: $3

bread crumbs, yogurt, flour: $3

coconut oil: $3

Total to feed 8 people:

$17.50