Category: photo

Almost tofu jerky

Is a Tofu Xpress totally necessary for pressing tofu? No. But it does make the job easier. And you don’t risk cans falling off your counter when the tofu doesn’t press evenly, which always happens to me.

So I pressed some tofu, and marinated it with one of the recipes in Vegan Vittles. Except instead of orange juice, I used a packet of True Orange that Dr. Joe Esposito gave me at the office.  And it worked pretty well. I’ve also successfully used it in salad dressing.

So, when I baked the tofu, I got distracted, probably by the internet, and forgot about it. When I caught it, it was well on its way to becoming tofu jerky. But it didn’t burn and wasn’t too chewy. It actually turned out to be just fine, and an excellent salad topper. Maybe next time I’ll cook it a little long on purpose.

Trader Joe’s vegetable green curry

And, back to lazy food. Trader Joe’s has recently started carrying a couple of vegan heat & eat Thai curries. I failed to take a picture of the bucket for some reason, but you can see it here. To make it even lazier than actually making rice, I dumped it over a packet of Seeds of Change Uyuni Quinoa & Whole Grain Brown Rice.

The vegetables looked a little anemic coming out of the bucket, but tasted pretty good. There’s very little heat, which was disappointing. And it’s mostly sauce. I added a side of corn so it would feel like I was getting enough veggies. It would probably be good simmered with half a pound of cubed tofu. No, it doesn’t measure up to restaurant Thai or what you can cook on your own with a nice pre-made curry paste. But for instafood, it’s perfectly acceptable.

Lentil Minestrone

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison is one of the first vegetarian cookbooks I owned. It was a gift in .. 1996, I think. And even now as a vegan I use it on a regular basis.

This time I cracked it open for a lentil soup variation, Lentil Minestrone. The only veganizing the recipe requires is to replace the parmesan with a vegan version, or just omit it. This soup straddled the line between a minestrone and a straight up lentil soup. It hinted at Italian seasoning without the obvious oregano and basil. I’m always a fan of something that cooks in one pot and can be a meal in a bowl. With lentils, pasta and a nice veggie assortment this one meets my meal in a bowl needs.

Mysore Woodlands

Indian food never gets old. Wait, good Indian food never gets old. Udipi on Church St. closed, and another South Indian veg spot opened in its place, Mysore Woodlands. Since other vegans broke the seal on it, we went ahead and gave it a try first week it was open.

I pretty much can’t resist vada, lentil doughnuts. This time I got them floating in rasam. Delicious rasam.

Kevin got Tofu Pakora and Gobi Manchurian.

And I got the .. chole batura, I think. Or chana masala with puri. Can’t keep my deep fried bread and chick peas in gravy straight. It’s hard for me to avoid the fried when having Indian food. Diced onion and lemon was hiding under the bread.

Everything was really tasty. We really need to get back for another try.

Falafel salad, out

The falafel salad I made a while back with the Trader Joe’s frozen falafel balls was totally inspired by the falafel salad you can get at Ali Baba’s in Little Five Points. Greens, tabouli and more covered in chopped up falafel balls, tahini sauce (ask for it instead of yogurt to make it vegan) and hot sauce. If you get the platter, you can choose a side. This time I got dolmas.