Category: Quinoa

Stir Fry Veggies and Quinoa with Seared Tofu

4/6/2015

Stir Fry Veggies with Quinoa and Seared Tofu

I had some of the best tofu ever when eating out the other day - the firmness and texture were amazing. It was hard to tell that I was eating tofu (they had even sliced the tofu on an angle so that it looked like chicken breast). I asked the waiter how it was prepared and he told me that the chef pressed, seared, and baked the tofu. I had to try to recreate it! It turned out great and was not difficult to make. If you have a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe pan) you can use the same pan from the stove right into the oven and would probably be ideal.

As I have all winter - I had some carrots on hand and some butternut squash that I had shredded and froze. I added some cooking greens and mushrooms. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Make sure to chop them to approximately the same size so that they all cook for the same amount of time.

I made mine for lunch, so I divided everything into four portions to bring into work with me.

Ingredients:
I block tofu
2 cups cooked quinoa
4 Medium sized carrots
1 cup butternut squash
2 cups greens
1/4 cup mushrooms
Turmeric
Ginger
Sriracha (optional)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4

Instructions:
Press your tofu for about 5 to 10 minutes. Slice in fours. Sear tofu for 5 minutes on each side on high heat with a little bit of water or oil. Sprinkle turmeric and ginger on each side. Cook in oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping halfway.

While the tofu is cooking - chop and saute the vegetables with water over medium heat. Start with the carrots and squash. Once again, add a generous coating of turmeric and ginger and stir in to cover all the veggies. When they are soft add the greens and mushrooms and cook until the greens are wilted. I generally need to add the greens a little at a time and let them wilt down until I have room for some more.

Serve the veggies over quinoa and top with a slice of tofu. Top with sriracha, if desired. Enjoy!

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Lucky Green Bowl

3/15/2015

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Looking for something healthy to make for St. Patrick's Day? Look no further! This bowl is chock full of awesome, healthy, greenness. It's got edamame, broccoli, basil, salad greens, avocado - what more could you want? You can use it as a side or a main dish. The quinoa and edamame provide a ton of filling protein. The avocado and pine nuts give you some healthy fats. And the broccoli has a ton of potassium and vitamin C. Eating this just makes you feel good! You know you're treating your body well, it tastes great, it fills you up, and you feel festive!

Plus, it's super easy to make. Steam the broccoli a bit. Add all the pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender. Then dump everything in a bowl and mix it together - how easy is that? It's so easy I forgot to take pictures of it all! There weren't that many steps to document!

I made this for a St. Patrick's themed going away party at work (full of a ton of non-vegans) and it was a big hit!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Edamame
1 Small - Medium Sized Head of Broccoli
1 Cup Cooked Quinoa
1 Avocado
1 Cup Greens

Pesto Ingredients:
1 Cup Basil
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cloves Garlic

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 3-4 as an entree

Instructions:
Chop up the broccoli so that you are left with small pieces of the heads - remove all the stems. You don't want the pieces of broccoli to be too much bigger than the edamame so that everything blends together well. Add the broccoli to a pot with enough water to cover about 1/2 of the broccoli. If you have a steaming basket feel free to use it. In that case the water should be below the basket. Cook for about 5 minutes, just so that the broccoli can be easily pierced with a fork.

While that is cooking add all the pesto ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Slice open an avocado, remove the pit, and slice the avocado into cubes.

If you have large greens, chop them up into smaller pieces.

Add everything to a bowl and mix together. Serve and Enjoy!

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Baked Tofu with Quinoa and Veggies

2/21/2015

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I make a lot of Asian stir fries with tofu, but I had a lot of local seasonal vegetables, so I wanted to put a different spin on things. I still used a lot of Asian flavors with ginger and sriracha, but I used some different cooking methods and ingredients.
I love roasting squash - it really brings out the flavors and adds a nice sweetness. In this recipe I used delicata squash, which I think is the easiest squash to cook with. It's generally smaller and has a softer skin so it's easier to cut open and you don't have to worry about peeling it. Since I was roasting the squash I thought I would try roasting the tofu as well. Many people don't like tofu because of the texture, but changing up the cooking method (as well as pressing the liquid out of it) has a big impact on the texture. Roasting or baking tofu makes it firmer and dryer and gets rid of the mushy texture that many people don't like about tofu.

I hadn't had any quinoa in a while, so I decided to use quinoa instead of rice. I had purple carrots, so I sauteed those on those stove by themselves. First because I didn't have any more room in the oven, but also because I've learned that purple carrots turn everything else they're cooked with purple, so I needed to isolate them.
This dish has a lot of pieces cooked separately, but they all fit together well. There's a great mix of textures with the fluffy quinoa, soft squash, spongy tofu, and crunchy carrots and pepitas.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Dry Quinoa
1 Block Tofu
1/2 of a Small Delicata Squash
1 Cup Sliced Carrots
1/4 Cup Pepitas
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
Sriracha

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Slice cube and press your tofu. Slice the squash in half. Scoop out the seeds inside and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place the tofu and squash on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkle with turmeric, ginger, and paprika and roast for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your quinoa. Add quinoa and 1 cup water to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
Slice carrots and saute on over medium heat for about ten minutes. Remove from the pan and add the pepitas, cooking for about 5 minutes.
All of your items should finish cooking around the same time. Divide the quinoa, tofu, squash and carrots evenly among four plates. Top with the pepitas and any sauce you would like - I used sriracha. Serve and enjoy!

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Stir Fry Veggies and Quinoa with Seared Tofu

Lucky Green Bowl

Baked Tofu with Quinoa and Veggies

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