cajun pasta + coconut-crusted tofu

Making your own, quick Cajun spice mix will allow you to control what actually goes into the mix, the amount of spice it will contain and save you a few bucks. This pasta dish comes together fairly quickly, including pan-frying the coconut-crusted tofu, which reminds me of coconut shrimp from my pre-veg days.

This fresh tomato based sauce reminds me of Hungarian lecso or Latin sofrito, both of which are covered in recipes in my upcoming cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N). I adore this way of making sauces as it is both flavorful and a snap to prepare. The most important ingredient in the process is patience.

As for the tofu, I am thrilled to have found an easy way to dredge and crust an ingredient without the batter dissolving before being cooked. I didn't try baking it, but am planning on attempting to do so in the future.

Finally, since I received some pedron peppers in my CSA last week, they had to make it onto the plate. I preheated my toasted oven and baked them on 400 for about 5 minutes, until they blistered. You could also quickly fry them in the same pan after all the tofu is cooked. Pedrons have very thin skin so they cook fast. Incidentally, they are delicious!

Cajun Pasta with Coconut-crusted Tofu

Serves 4

12 ounces pasta, cooked al dente, drained and reserving 1 cup of cooking water

Spice Mix:

1 ½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon white pepper

¼ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 celery ribs, chopped

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup vegetable broth

2 teaspoons spice mix (above)

1 cup reserved pasta water

Tofu:

¾ cups arrowroot starch or cornstarch, divided

½ cup vegetable broth

2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes, blended for 10 seconds in a blender

2 teaspoons spice mix (above)
1 (14-ounces) package firm or extra firm tofu, pressed, cut into ½-inch slices

4 tablespoons neutral oil

1. Spice Mix: Combine the salt, paprika, garlic, onion, pepper and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Sauce: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down, about 10 more minutes. Add the vegetable broth and spice mix. Cook until the broth evaporates, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta and pasta water. Stir and cook until the pasta is heated through and well coated with the sauce.

3. Tofu: Combine ½ cup of the starch and broth in a shallow dish. Combine the coconut flakes, ¼ cup of the starch and spice mix in a separate shallow dish. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Dredge the tofu in the wet mixture and then in the coconut mixture. Fry the tofu until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels.

4. Assembly: Serve the pasta with the tofu. Sprinkle the dish with more spice mix, as desired.

© 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

mexican-flare quinoa bowl

With my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N) coming out in a few short months, I'm again craving more bowl foods. As you can imagine, after months of bowls for breakfast, lunch and dinner during recipe development and testing, we needed a bit of a break from the bowl foods, but that didn't last too long.

Bowls are convenient, easy and balanced, which is part of their appeal when dinner rolls around. Who wants to think about what to serve with a protein to make it a complete meal, when that is exactly what bowl food is all about?

Since I cooked up a batch of black beans earlier in the week, the next most obvious application for the legume was a Tex-Mex meal.

This bowl is full of Mexican flare, including roasted corn, fajita vegetables, avocado and a salsa sauce. The quinoa is dotted with spinach, adding more nutrition and flavor. Serve this bowl with tortilla chips and dig in.

Mexican-flare Quinoa Bowl

Serves 4

Quinoa:

2 ¼ vegetable broth

1 ½ cups quinoa, rinsed well

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed

Vegetables:

3 cups corn kernels, thawed if frozen

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Beans:

3 cups black beans
1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon dried oregano

Sauce:

¾ cups salsa

¼ cup vegan mayonnaise

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Garnish:

Avocado, slices

Cilantro leaves

Tortilla chips

1. Quinoa: Heat the broth in a medium pan over high heat. Bring to boil, add the quinoa and salt, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and steam for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and stir in the chopped spinach. Return to medium heat and cook until the spinach is heated through.

2. Vegetables: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook until golden, about 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and black pepper and set aside in a bowl. Add the oil to the skillet and stir in the bell pepper and onion. Season with the garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the onion is lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside in the bowl.

3. Beans: Add the beans to the skillet. Season with the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and black pepper, to taste, and cook until the beans are heated through, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

4. Sauce: Combine the salsa, mayo and lime juice in a small blender. Blend until smooth and transfer to a small pan. Heat over medium heat until warmed through, about 3 minutes.

5. Assembly: Layer the quinoa in the bottom of the bowl, topping with roasted corn, sauteed vegetables, beans and avocado and cilantro. Serve with the sauce and tortilla chips.

© 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.