veganmofo.1.3: Squash Risotto with lemony tofu

Last night I made a risotto with brown rice, (more) buttercup squash, and some lemon-marinated tofu. It made for a yummy weeknight dinner.

The recipe was based on this one, and it was very easy. I first soaked 1 cup of short-grain brown rice. Then I combined 1 package of firm tofu with 1 minced clove of garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, and the juice of one lemon, crumbled it all together and put it in the fridge for awhile. I chopped up 2 cups of buttercup squash (leaving the skin on) and 1 leek. I sauteed the leek in 1 tbsp of olive oil for a couple of minutes, then added the squash. Then I added the rice (drained and rinsed), fried it for a couple of minutes, then  added 2 cups of vegetable broth, 1/2 cup sake, and 2 tsp soy sauce. I brought it all to a boil, then down to a simmer, and then cooked it for an hour, stirring every once in a while and adding water as needed to get the right consistency. Then I took the tofu out of the fridge, folded it into the risotto, and I was done.

Curried Adzuki-Edamame Stuffed Kabocha Squash

I love fall. I absolutely love it. When the air feels crisp and you can hear the wind through the trees and colored leaves falling. Cheesy as that sounds, I just love it.

A few weeks ago I got a little over-excited at a farm market and bought six squashes, with no idea as to what to do with them. I knew I would come up with something. Then this weekend, I woke up in the morning and it felt like a particularly autumn-y day, and I thought to myself: “I’m going to make a curried stuffed squash today, and maybe also a squash pie (see other post for the pie recipe). And I felt so healthy and balanced in making and eating it. Sometimes there are more important things than school…


Curried Adzuki-Edamame Stuffed Kabocha Squash

1 large kabocha squash, seeded and quartered

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 small onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch asafetida/hing (optional)
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large tomatoes, diced small
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced small
1 cup shelled edamame
1 cup adzuki beans, soaked overnight
1 cup brown rice, soaked overnight
3 cups water (or more, as needed)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium-sized pot, fry the oil and mustard seeds together over medium heat until the seeds start to pop. Add the onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, spices and salt. Fry for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes and pepper and fry for a couple of minutes more. Add the edamame, adzuki beans, rice and water, stir a little, then increase the heat to high and allow to boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer, and cook for about 35 minutes, adding more water if the mixture gets too dry. Meanwhile, prepare the squash. Place pieces face-down on a greased baking sheet, and bake until the filling mixture is ready. Take the squash out, flip it so the skins are on the bottom, and scoop as much of the filling as you can into the middle of each squash portion, place bake into the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes more. Enjoy!

Lentil Veggie Pockets

I won’t lie, I totally got the idea of making bean-grain-vegetable pockets from one of my favourite blogs. I think they’re awesome – you can easily modify the ingredients and come up with something delicious, and, though they’re a little time-consuming to make and assemble, they freeze great and make a very yummy packed lunch – just grab one out of the freezer when you leave the house, combine it with a good salad and maybe a baked yam or something, and you’re good to go! I’ve been enjoying these veggie pockets for dinner at work all week, and I want to try a chickpea-barley-sage version next!


Lentil Vegetable Pockets (adapted from the Quinoa Lentil Curry Pie recipe from Tofu for Two)

Dough

2 ½ cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
6 tablespoons cold earth balance margarine
¾ cup cold water

Filling

1 cup French lentils
½ cup brown rice
3 cups water
1 cube vegetable boullion
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups crimini mushrooms
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes (one can diced tomatoes would probably also work, just add it to the lentils and rice at the beginning and cook them with less water)
handful fresh thyme
1 handful fresh parsley
1 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch spinach
juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup nutritional yeast

First, make the filling. Combine the lentils, brown rice and boullion in a large-ish cooking pot. Bring to boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Now, while the lentils and rice are cooking, get to work! Prepare the vegetables – mince the garlic, chop up the onions, mushrooms and tomatoes, mince the parsley and thyme, and chop the spinach. Fry the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions begin to soften, then add the mushrooms and salt. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the rest of the herbs and spices and the tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes more. Dump it all into the pot with the lentils and rice, stir, and continue to cook until the 45 minutes are up. If it starts to look dry, add a teeny bit more water. Once the lentil/vegetables mixture is done, stir in the spinach, lemon juice and nutritional yeast and set aside to cool (until almost room temperature).

Now make the dough. Combine the flour, salt , baking powder, turmeric, and nutritional yeast, mixing well. Add the earth balance and mix, starting with a fork and then using your fingers, until there are no big clumps of margarine. Now add the water and knead until it forms a smooth, workable dough, adding more water if necessary. Chill in the fridge until the filling mixture is cooled enough.

Now assemble. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take out the dough, divide it into 10 portions, make each portion into a ball and then roll it out to circles with diameters of approximately 13-15 centimeters. Spoon some filling into the middle of each circle (about 2 heaping tablespoons), then fold the circle in half, sealing the edges by pressing them down with the tines of a fork. Also poke some air vents in the pockets with the fork. Bake for 25 minutes, until the edges of the pockets start to darken a bit.

If you are freezing them (like I do), one delicious way to have them is thawed and then heated in a frying pan with some olive oil until golden on both sides - I little bit less healthy, I know, but so yummy!

Dragon Bowl v.1 - Sesame!

I have a feeling that I’m going to make a lot of dragon-bowls in the coming weeks. What makes a dragon bowl? I'm not exactly sure, but the ones I’ve seen have consisted of a grain (usually rice), a bunch of vegetables (cooked/raw), something protein-rich (usually tofu), and a dressing to bring it all together. And it’s always served in a bowl (but that’s a no-brainer, right?). Can a dragon bowl have beans instead of tofu? That is what I'm wondering right now....

This version is for sesame lovers. It’s got rice as a base, marinated and sautéed garlic-ginger-sesame tofu, raw carrots, daikon and green onion combined with sautéed kale and cabbage, and a sesame dressing with lots of tahini. It is very tasty, salty and satisfying, and the different vegetables give it a nice combination of different flavours and textures. Yum! This photo does not do it justice…


Sesame Dragon Bowl

½ lb extra-firm tofu, pressed

Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger root, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon agave nectar

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 bunch kale, thinly sliced,
1 cup green cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, grated
½ daikon, grated
2 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp sesame oil

Dressing:
3 tablespoons sesame oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon agave nectar
2 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds (for garnish)

Marinate the tofu: The tofu must be pressed – wrap the block in a dishtowel, put something heavy on it (I used a plate with a can of beans on top) and let it sit for a couple of hours – this will make the tofu firmer and it will also absorb flavours better. After pressing, cut the tofu into ½-inch cubes. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a shallow pan, add the tofu, toss to coat, cover and put in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Start cooking the rice (I’m sure you already know how to cook rice – combine rice and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and then simmer for 35 minutes or so, until the liquid is gone). While the rice is cooking, prepare the kale, cabbage, carrot, daikon and green onion. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. 10-15 minutes before the rice is done, remove the tofu marinade from the fridge, scoop out the tofu with a spatula or slotted spoon and sautee it in the sesame oil at medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Add the kale and cabbage and sautee for about 5 more minutes, until the kale has shrunk a bit and turned a more vibrant green.

Divide the rice amongst 4 bowls. Put the tofu mixture on top of the rice, and then the grated daikon and carrot on top of the tofu. Dollop the dressing over-top, and then garnish with the black sesame seeds. Enjoy! Makes 4 large servings.