James Barber's Tofu on Pita

We discovered this recipe many years ago. Thinking about it, I guess it was the first recipe that we tried that contained tofu. And we fell in love with it at first bite :)
It is very simple & quick to prepare, inexpensive, very fresh and totally satisfying. It is on our menu list this week and we will be serving it with Tofutti's Supreme Sour Cream (Viva Granola Vegan Store now carries it, if you can't find it near you)... Plain soy yogurt is also good with this.

We have been making it for more than 10 years, have given the recipe to many people, including lots of non-vegans, and each time, we hear great feedback about it. It would be so good for our ego if it was our recipe, but it is originally James Barber's.

Mr. Barber passed away in 2007, sadly. You might have followed his CBC cooking show, The Urban Peasant. Not a lot of his recipes were vegetarian, and even less, if any, were vegan - honestly, I don't remember as I didn't even know what veganism was when I used to watch his show, back in the early to mid 90s. But I discovered tofu because of him (or I learned to really love it though his recipes) and loved how he had a no-nonsense approach to cooking. He gave great tips and you could even learn some trivia before and after commercial breaks. I loved that. So, I liked to watch The Urban Peasant and Mr. Barber encouraged me to cook without feeling too self-absorbed, focusing more on my natural love of food, experimenting and creativity.

Without further delay, here is this super yummy, peanuty tofu recipe! Try it and have fun cooking!

James Barber's Tofu on Pita

- 1 block of extra-firm tofu, cut into fries
- 1/2 to 1 white onion, sliced
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil - I love to use sesame oil for this but canola or sunflower works fine, too.

Brown or sauté the above ingredients in a heavy-bottomed frying pan.
When the tofu is golden and crispy on all sides, temporarily remove pan from heat and quickly stir in*:

- 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- salt, to taste
- a bit of cayenne, or to taste

Put the pan back on the burner to heat.
Serve on/in pita bread garnished with crispy romaine leaves, spinach leaves, vegan sour cream or soy yogurt.

*You can prepare the little peanut sauce in advance and add it in all at once to "deglaze" the crispy tofu.

Tofu & Zucchini Pasta

Today I am passing on a recipe that was originally from my dear Aunt Lucie which is quick to make and delicious. You can replace the tofu with tempeh strips, seitan chunks, TVP or SoyCurls, your choice.

As always, have fun, be creative and thanks for visiting! :)



Tofu & Zucchini Pasta
Gaia's Aunt Lucie's recipe


• 900g pasta
• 1/2 - 1 bloc tofu, cubed
• 3 cups zucchini, cubed
• 2 cups green peppers, cubed or sliced
• 1 1/4 white onion, diced
• 56oz diced tomatoes, with juice
• 20 fl.oz tomato condensed soup
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 2 tsp garlic granules
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp basil
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp crushed chili peppers
• Sauce sauce, or tamari, or Bragg's


Cook chosen pasta according to directions - meanwhile, prepare "sauce":

Sauté tofu in a little oil and season with sauce sauce.

Add vegetables and cook on medium heat while stirring constantly until vegetables are tender.

Add all other ingredients and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.

Gently incorporate pasta OR serve over pasta.

Cake ... and Stew!

Mmmmmmm!

Mmmmmm, Mmmmmm, Mmmmmm!

Now that I have your attention :)

I know that summer is not the ideal time of the year for hot and delicious stew but who said it was summer?
With the weather and general lack of summer heat we are having here... although it is quite hot and humid today, which means it will probably snow tomorrow (because rain sometimes gets bored of raining, you know). So there, I'm posting this wonderful stew recipe in case it snows tomorrow.


It comes from an old issue of Animal Times that my mom typed for me under the threat of more threats. Even the photo is hers. Thank you maman! xoxoxoxo...

You can replace the seitan with grilled tofu or SoyCurls or more vegetables.


Hearty Country Stew


1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
12 oz seitan chunks (or tofu, SoyCurls, etc)
6 carrots, peeled and diced into bite-size chunks
3 potatoes, scrubbed and diced into bite-size chunks
10 oz frozen peas
4 cups vegetable broth
1 - 14oz can diced tomatoes, including liquid
1 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch, dissolved in a small amount of cold water.


In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil for several minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except the corn starch mixture, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken.

Serve hot when it's cold outside ... or when it should be hot outside but you live in an alternate universe.

A note for those of you who still have the above cake burned on your retinae: it's again, a Moosewood cake, but Elvis style or Banana Split style (a VCTOTW idea) and you can find the recipe in the index on the right.... or here :)

Rigatoni with Chickpea Sauce

Today, I'm giving you a recipe that as been a regular at our house for more than 10 years. It comes from Susan Powter's Food, one of the first books I have read explaining the link between health and nutrition or more to the point, all the junk and crap that is in the foods we eat (or used to!).
Taking care of ourselves and cultivating health is above all, taking responsibility for our food and lifestyle choices. Each thing that we eat is a choice that we make, sometimes a conscious one. But all too often, people refuse to learn where their food comes from and what the implications are. Not to mention, what they are supporting with their money.
So it's definitely an entertaining read from a colorful woman. I learned lots from this book and it opened doors in my mind to help me learn more about the subject and make better choices all around.

So to get back to the recipe, I hope you'll want to try it because rosemary in this is wonderful and the pureed chickpeas give a creamy texture that is very interesting, too! Add fresh parsley from the garden, if you have it!

Rigatoni with Chickpea Sauce
From Susan Powter's book Food.


- 2 19oz cans chickpeas, rinced and drained
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups white onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 28oz diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1-lb rigatoni (I use a 700g bag)
- fresh parsley, chopped


In a blender, puree half of the chickpeas with the tomatoes. Set aside.

In a big pot, sautee onions and garlic until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add in the tomato/chickpea mixture, the rest of the chickpeas, broth and rosemary.
Simmer 20 to 30 minutes. (Meanwhile, cook pasta to al dente).

Remove from heat, stir in fresh parsley, salt and pepper and serve over rigatoni.

Bon appétit!

Apple Bok Choy Salad

Hey gals!
How have you been doing? Do you have nice and sunshiny weather where you live?
Here, we are still waiting for a real Spring... I haven't started gardening yet. Too cold, too wet. Very depressing. My tulips didn't grow past 15cm in height and lots of flowers are dead. I've said this before but I want to move! Somewhere warm!

In any case, I feel kind of pathetic for not taking better care of my blog and I've decided, again, to go by a different format. I'm not too interested in showing pictures after pictures of everything dish I have made, although that is nice too. But I've done that and I need a change. So I want to try posting more recipes. Here is the first one of this "new era" ;-)

This Apple Bok Choy Salad recipe was not vegan when my mom came across it and so she proceeded to make it better, meaning, she veganized it. It is very simple and very, very fantastic with its crunchiness and freshness and all around goodness. I could eat the whole bowl by myself. Be prepare to read that often here :p

Try it soon and tell me about it!



Apple Bok Choy Salad
Gaia's Mommy

• 3 or 4 rounded Tbsp Vegenaise/Veganaise
  
• 2 or 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 tsp unrefined sugar or agave nectar
  
• ½ tsp celery salt
  
• ¼ tsp sea salt
  
• 6 cups finely chopped bok choy
  
• 1 large apple (I like Fujis), julienned
  
• 1 large carrot, julienned
  
• ½ cup red oignon (or white onion), finely sliced
  
  

In a large bowl, whisk together the veganaise, vinegar, sugar and salts until smooth and creamy.

Add bok choy, apple, carrot and onion.

Mix, adjust seasonings to taste if necessary and serve right away or chill before serving.

Long overdue

Happy New Year!
(we're still in January so I'm not that late, really).
I hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season and that 2009 will bring you all the best of everything good.

You might have noticed that I have not been around here in a while and I have no other excuse than I didn't feel like blogging although I have quietly been visiting most of you.
Today though, I'm finally posting a bunch of photos to make myself want to cook.

I'll start by saying that I'm still very much into Breakfast Ice Cream.



But I finally tried it in a cone (I'm a big baby that way).



Believe me, an ice cream cone for breakfast makes you very popular with your own kids and they will gladly clean off their bedrooms after this if you play your cards right.



This was a fresh garden salad (it was fresh, back in September) with Goddess dresssing. I just can't wait for the snow to melt and start gardening again. OR, I want to move someplace where I can garden all year long. I would actually REALLY prefer the second option. Feel free to make location suggestions.



Could not resist :p



Veganomicon's White Bean and Leek Cassoulet. So good and satisfying! And there is never enough.



Rice Crispy Chocolate Swirls Squares made with Sweet & Sara Vegan Marshmallows! Again, my boys loved me :)



Vegan Bubble and Squeak with Gravy. This was an experiment and we totally loved it. I need to make some soon.



Thai Curried Chickpeas OR Curried Thai Chickpeas. I'm not sure. But it is one of those meals that is simple and done in 10 minutes (or so) and that makes you go mmmmmm! with every bite.



Vegan Swedish Neatballs (a variation of Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe). Another successful experiment. Now when we go to IKEA, we can bring a thermos of that stuff ... and shop, of course.



Vegan Maple Pecan Buns that are oooh, so good! Quick base recipe below. Have fun with it :)



One of the best things in the world: Jo Stepaniak's Vegan Gyros, from Vegan Vittles.



Same basic bun recipe but with date spread filling. Amazing, too!

I really recommend you try the following recipe if you like Cinnamon buns. Very quick to make and all my attempts were hugely successful. It was originally posted on the internet by Oneness, so thank you, whoever and wherever she is!

So here it is for today. Keep cooking, keep baking and Happy Vegan Eats!

Gooey Vegan Cinnamon Rolls


Rolls:
3/4 C unsweetend soy milk
1/4 C Earth Balance, softened
3 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
1/4 C white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C plus 2 TBS water

Filling:
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1/2 C Earth Balance, softened (I use about 1/3 cup or a bit less)

Glaze: (I half the glaze recipe)
2 tsp corn syrup (I use brown rice syrup)
2 tsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C icing sugar
4 TBS unsweetened soy milk

Instructions:
Heat the soy milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove
from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until
lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt;
mix well. Add water and the soy milk/margarine mixture; beat well. Add
the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each
addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a
lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes

Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon,
softened margarine.

Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with
margarine/sugar mixture (if you want you can add in some raisins or
nuts).

Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 2 lightly
greased rounds pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30
minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Combine
all the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and mix until
smooth. Let rolls cool a few minutes then drizzle with glaze.

The Green Elephant in Portland, Maine

Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying the beautiful Autumn colours!

I have been meaning to blog about this great restaurant we visited during our vacation to Maine at the beginning of September. It was so great to relax by walking on the beach!
Before leaving though, we had the good sense of asking Happy Cow for some good restaurant suggestions and we printed out menus and were really looking forward to trying out The Green Elephant, the most interesting option for us this time around.


The Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro
"Here at the Green Elephant, we offer Asian-influenced cuisine. Relax in our nice, cozy, and elegant atmosphere.
Come to celebrate the joy of eating with a nutrious meal from our innovative vegetarian menu."
That could not be more true. We absolutely loved our evening there and can't wait for our next trip. The atmosphere was awesome and the personnel, simply wonderful!
We wish we could have tasted everything vegan on the menu but there was simply too many options to try out in one visit! Only a handful of dishes are not vegan (they contain egg). (See the menu for yourself by following the link above).

Here is a few pictures of the tasty dishes we tried this time:

King Oyster Mushroom Tempura
That was my selection. Very fresh and wonderful!


Soy Nuggets with Chili Sauce
Simply the best chicken-style nuggets we have ever had!


Deep Fried Spring Rolls
Crispy good and the sauce was amazing! And 4 of them, too!


Crispy Wonton with Chili Sauce
So, so good! Stuffed with vegan cheese and spinach.


Veggie Citrus Spare Ribs
"A stir-fry w/broccoli, bok choy, carrot, zucchini, mushroom, bell pepper, onion" - and some tempeh!
Every dish was really, really fresh.


Far East Duck
"Stir-fry w/broccoli, bok choy, carrot, zucchini, mushroom, bell pepper, onion "
This was my husband's selection and it was spicy good!


Organic Green Tea Noodle
"In miso soup w/napa cabbage, soy filet, seaweed, scallion"
Simple, yet so delicious!


Spinach Noodle and Vegetables
"Stir-fry in shitake-ginger sauce,w/bok choy, snow peas, and carrot, soy meat"
This was my plate but I was forced to share with everybody more than I wanted to :p
We all agreed that this simple noodle dish was the most impressive of all. I would so LOVE to be able to make this myself!


Tofu Cheese Cake
The two desserts we just had to try, even though we were more than stuffed, were totally amazing. This Tofu Cheese Cake with caramel sauce was insanely good. The best we have ever had.


Chocolate Orange Mousse Pie
And this, OMG! There is simply no words for it. Just go and try it, you won't be disappointed!

The Green Elephant is a wonderful restaurant, our favorite so far. It is an 8hour drive from home and totally worth it.
If you are ever in Maine, visit beautiful Portland and treat yourself to amazing food... and bring me back a doggy bag!

The Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro
608 Congress St. Portland, ME Tel. 207-347-3111 Fax. 207-347-3112
Tuesday-Saturday Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm Dinner 5pm-9:30pm
Sunday Dinner 5pm-9pm
Monday- Closed