When I don’t have time or the inclination to cook, Amy’s Kitchen often feeds me. Today’s menu Indian Mattar Tofu.
Over the weekend, I tried Asian Noodle Stir-Fry for the first time. It was good enough. I would have liked more tofu and less sauce.
Fourteen days of Vegan Month of Food remaining and I don’t have a proper camera. For today, a recipe I made a couple weeks ago.
For these white beans, after cooking the beans, I added a little (1/4 c) red wine, dried bay leaf, dried basil, one veggie boullion cube, and a few dried cherry tomatoes.
For the next meal I added some tofu, frozen green beans and a little more basil. At first I thought it was kind of weird to mix beans and tofu, but then I figured it’s no more weird than beans and cheese, or hamburger and cheese, or steak and bacon.
I’ll have to do cannelinis again this week. They were really yummy!
This potato salad is inspired by my mother’s Layered Potato Salad. That recipe has layers of potato, onions, mayo, cottage cheese, salt and pepper. You could do layers here, but if you guessed I don’t take time for that you’re right. Maybe I would if company was coming. This is also really good ultrarace food when made with Nayonaisse. Although I like it better with Veganaisse, I nearly always use Nayonaisse, because Veganaisse is so high in fat. Nayonaisse also adds some protein.
- boiled potatoes thinly sliced
- extra firm tofu, crumbled, not diced
- chopped onion
- Nayonaisse or Veganaisse
- salt (or celery salt) and pepper
I don’t know amounts. I use about half as much tofu as potatoes. I suggest you start with less onion, mayo substitute, and salt and pepper than you think you’ll need. It’s a lot easier to add-to-taste than subtract-to-taste.
This is better if you give it a day or to in the frig for the flavors to meld. I also like mixing it when the potatoes are still warm, adding the onions first and the mayo last. I’ve even known omnivores to eat this and like it. I didn’t tell them it had tofu before they tried it.
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What a day! Two Cyclocross races in Longmont and a disc dog play day in Broomfield. Needless to say, I didn’t cook except to microwave some falafel. Vitamin Cottage has been stocking these yummy tortas for awhile, but I don’t think they sold well. They seem to be on sale at every store that has them, and near their expiration date. They’re a pastry like, cracker made in Spain.
[I'm not sure why, but now the camera on my phone isn't working so the only way I can take photos is with Photo Booth on my Mac which only does very low resolution. Hopefully I can find a loaner camera for the rest of Vegan Mofo.]
I had some boiled potatoes and when I came in from early morning bike intervals I was ready for a hearty breakfast. Probably the tempeh should be marinated, but I used it right out of the package. The flavor didn’t really perk up until I added a bit of soy sauce at the end.
Put non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir as you add:
1/2 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp. onion chopped over pan
1/3-1/2 pkg tempeh choped over pan
liquid smoke dropped over tempeh
2 small boiled potatoes or 1 med boiled potato chopped over pan
a few cherry tomatoes (green/red peppers or carrots would also be good, add after onion)
dash black pepper, more or less depending on your taste
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp red wine
1 tsp soy sauce
Time: about 10 min.
Whenever I return home after visiting my family it takes me a day or two to get back in the routine of cooking and eating well. I needed something easy to get me going. I soaked some black beans overnight and cooked them yesterday morning. Chili sounded good, but I was out of tomatoes, fresh or canned, so I dumped a box of Fantastic Foods taco filling into the pot. Then I added diced potato and a splash (~1/4 c. of red wine) and simmered about an hour. It doesn’t make for very good photos, but it was very satisfying and reminiscent of the beef-potato hash my mother used to make when I was a kid.
[I lost my camera while I was away, so I only have photos from my phone for now.]
Potatoes are one of my favorite things so any dietician/nutritionist that gives me permission, even encourages me to eat potatoes, is a hero in my book.
I nearly always cook potatoes in the pressure cooker. Occassionally I “bake” a potato, sweet or non, in the microwave. I use the pressure cooker partially because boiling takes a long time at 9000 ft. Also, they get steamed in the pressure cooker, rather than boiled, and I think they hold onto more flavor and have better texture.
To prepare I place the steaming plate in the pressure cooker and add some water, not so much that it rises above the steaming plate. I scrub potatoes and cut out any bad spots, then cut into roughly equal pieces. It doesn’t really matter what size as long as they’re not small enough to fall through the holes, into the water. Smaller cook faster. I usually choose a size that’s roughly equivalent to a medium-small red potato. Organic red potatoes are my favorite. I often wrap a salted potato or two in foil to eat during brevets. In that case I peel the potato either before or after cooking.
I bring up the pressure and hold it for 10-15 min. (As I’ve said before, if you live at a lower altitude you’ll need to adjust your cooking time. At sea level you may only need to cook for 5-7 min.) After that I let the pressure release naturally. Then voilà! Perfect (most times) potatoes!
If these weren’t so expensive (about $2 per serving from Vitamin Cottage) they’d be a perfect food. Corn masa “pancake” stuffed with black beans and a little corn. The package recommends cooking with 1 tsp of oil. I just heat them in a non-stick skillet with no oil. They’re particularly good when they’re still hot and crunchy on the edges. The red sauce I posted last week is a good accompaniment. (Note: I’ve only found them at Vitamin Cottage in Pueblo.)
