Best Tofu Ever!!

Recipe:  Black Pepper and Garlic Tofu (Modified)

Verdict:  Best tofu dish ever!!!  Amazing!

I have always thought that oil was necessary in order to have crispy tofu.  Boy, was I wrong!

This recipe is slightly modified from Susan Voisin's recipe on her blog Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

1 16 oz package of extra firm tofu
1 Tablespoon Bragg's liquid aminos
2 Tablespoons water
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
Lots of black pepper, freshly ground
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 400F.  Cut the tofu into strips and gently press between paper towels to remove moisture.  Place the tofu in a Ziploc bag.  Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour over the tofu.  I had to go to the store to buy parchment paper, so I let the tofu sit in the marinade while I was at the store.  It was the perfect amount of time.  Bake the tofu in the oven for 1 hour, turning at 15 minute intervals.  I baked for the extra time to make the tofu even crispier.  Yum!

Now to make the sauce.
1 1/2 Tablespoons Bragg's liquid aminos
1/2 cup of veggie broth
1 teaspoon Sriracha
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a small pan.  Whisk frequently while heating.  Sauce will thicken as it heats.

Once the sauce was complete, I added the tofu and mixed them together.  I then served the tofu with a baked potato (which I prepared at the same time as the tofu) and some green peas.

This meal was so amazing!!  I cannot put in words how tasty the tofu was.  And the spice was perfect.  I hope to make it again and again.  Thank you Susan at Fat Free Vegan!

Orzo Salad

Recipe: Orzo Salad

My husband and I wanted to make a tabbouleh salad one day, but didn't have any of the necessary ingredients other than tomatoes, cucumber and lemons. After going through the pantry and the fridge, we came up with this.

4oz orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions then cooled

about 20 cherry tomatoes quartered (or equivalent slicer tomatoes, chopped)

about half a cucumber, peeled and chopped

fresh basil leaves, chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1-2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Could it be any easier??

We like to serve it with falafel, tahini sauce (tahini whisked with lemon juice and a little water), and hot sauce. Yum. You can easily stretch this meal for more people by adding hummus, pita bread, stuffed grape leaves, olives...... Now I'm hungry :)

Vegetarian Gravy

I love this recipe. Gravy is great on rice, on potatoes, with biscuits, etc.

Vegetarian Brown Gravy

2 1/2 Tablespoons butter

1/8 cup of flour (I usually use whole wheat flour)

1-1 1/2 cups veggie broth

1-2 tablespoons liquid aminos (could substitute soy sauce)

black pepper to taste

1. Start by melting the butter in a saucepan.

2. Add the flour and whisk. Allow to cook for about 30 seconds.

3. Begin to add the veggie broth. Add a little at a time and whisk, allowing the sauce to thicken to your preference.

4. Add the liquid aminos to your taste. This also adds the brown color.

5. Add pepper to taste.

6. Serve on your favorite meal.

Enjoy!

Salad of the Day: Peaches and Chik'n

I love eating salads during the summer. I usually eat one every day for lunch. I will look in the fridge and use whatever I can find to make the most interesting salad I can. Here's what I found today :)

Peach and Chik'n Salad

9 Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips

1/3 cup frozen peas

1 peach, cubed

handful broccoli slaw

2 tablespoons sesame ginger dressing

Heat peas and Chik'n strips. Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss. Enjoy.

Are you going for a pint?

On a hot summer day, there is nothing quite like a cold beer (unless you are in the mood for cocktails, but that's a different post ), so I thought I would post about some of my favorite places to enjoy a beer here in Albany, Oregon.

First, of course, is Calapooia Brewing, our local microbrew. They always have a great selection of food and sometimes they will also have music. Their french fries are awesome, by the way, nice and crunchy :)
On our latest visit, we had some Pacicfic Pilsners. I highly recommend that you try ther Chili Beer. It is so unique, a beer brewed with hot peppers. They will generally give you a small taste of any beer before you buy, so you know what you're getting into.
Cappies is another great place. They have a huge amount of beers on tap, including many of the Calapooia beers. I have heard that their green bean fries are delicious, but I have yet to try them.

On our most recent visit, my hubby had Twilight, a summer ale by Deschutes Brewery, and I tried a local cider from Corvallis, Oregon. Very tasty :)

Another one of my favorites is Bailey's. Bailey's is a local neighborhood bar. You will often see the same regulars in there, and the atmosphere is very friendly. They always have a couple of local brews on tap; recently they have had Ninkasi. Bailey's has a nice heated, covered outdoor seating area and great food. Again the french fries are amazing :)

Can you tell I have a weakness for french fries with my beer?

New Recipe: Roasted Smashed Potatoes

Recipe: Roasted Smashed Potatoes Verdict: Yummy This recipe was super easy. Just boil some potatoes. Then flatten them. I used a folded up paper towel. After flattening, season with olive oil, salt, pepper, etc. and roast in the oven. They were super yummy. I served them with a veggie protein, some peas and my homemade brown gracy. YUM! They would also be great as a finger food at a party, as suggested in the original recipe.

New Recipe: Pretzels!

Recipe: Alton Brown's pretzel recipe Verdict: Yummy! Modifications: I used whole wheat flour and I could not find pretzel salt, so I used coarse sea salt. Rob loves big, soft pretzels dipped in pizza sauce We often eat them as a snack on the weekends. We decided to try making them ourselves. Here is the dough after rising. I swear this is the first time I have had dough successfully rise. I was so excited. I was sure that it would not rise fully, because I had a little accident while mixing the dough. The recipe calls for a stand mixer. I thought that my food processor with a dough blade would make a great substitute. Unfortunately, my food processor does not have the necessary liquid capacity, so as I was adding flour, yeast and water were leaking out of m food processor. I scrambled to switch to a bowl and do the mixing by hand, but I was terrified that I had lost some of the yeast that I would need for the dough to rise. Apparently I was wrong. Voila! Next we formed the pretzels. The dough was really airy. It was weird to roll out and shape.

Next step is boiling.

Then each pretzel gets salted, and finally they are ready to bake in the oven. Some of our salt dissolved on the wet pretzels, but it did not affect the final product.

Out of the oven, golden brown. These pretzels were tasty The process is time-consuming, but it was fun. I will definitely make them again some day.