Broccoli and Tofu in Garlic Sauce, vegan

Hello, again. Another gorgous day here in the Sunny South, and so was yesterday: sunny, light breeze, and the temps went up into the 90's, which is really just too high for me. Today promises to be about the same. Last night we had some wicked storming going on, hail, lightening, thunder, heavy, heavy rain, wind, and the warning sirens going off all around me. Fortunately, my little house and I came thru just fine, and so did my neighbors. I admit to being a little scared, tho, because that hail really pounded on the roof and on the skylights. Believe me, I did some serious praying...and my prayers were answered.

Today is 36 days, 1069 cigarettes NOT smoked, and $204.12 and 8 days, 3 hours of my life saved. I'm impressed. The best part is that the urge to smoke hits me less and less the longer I stay quit. It still feels very weird, tho. I smoked for around 47 years, and now, well, it's certainly different, lol. Right this moment, I guess I like it...ask me again in an hour or so, tho, ok?

The recipe today comes from www.about.com, in the vegetarian section. If you've never checked out the veg section over there, I think it's worth your time to do so. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Broccoli and Tofu in Garlic Sauce...vegan
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3Tbs. olive oil
2C broccoli, chopped
1lb. firm or extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 1/2tsp. ginger powder
1/4tsp. cayenne pepper
3TBS corn starch
1/4C soy sauce
1C water

Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes.
In large skillet, saute onions and garlic in oliver oil until onions turn clear, about 3-5 minutes.
Add tofu, broccoli, ginger, and cayenne to pan, and cook until broccoli is done, about 6-8 minutes.
In separate bowl, mix together the corn starch, soy sauce, and water, and add this mixture to the tofu and broccoli. Cook until sauce thickens, then remove from heat. Serve over rice or grains.

This is wonderful, it really is, and yes, I will most definitely be making it again some time. It makes quite a lot, and altho about.com didn't give serving amounts, I think probably four would be about right. The 1/4 tsp. of cayenne looked a little much to me, so I cut it down to 1/8tsp, but even that gave a little too much heat for me...not enough to ruin my enjoyment of this dish, but my mouth felt pretty much like it was on fire, lol. If you like it hot, fine, go with the full amount or maybe even more, it's your call. The night I made it, I put it over couscous, and the next night, I had green beans and biscuits with it. And there's enough for one more meal, lol.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Eating.

Punjabi-Style Mustard Greens

Lousy day at work...all because of one lazy co-worker...but, that really doesn't have much to do with food and cooking, I guess, so I don't think I'll vent about it. Instead, I'll talk about food, and a new recipe I tried, Saturday evening? Mm, I think so.

Thursdays, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution has a section called "Food Guide," with a few ads, what's the best produce in the stores, nutritional advice, and recipes. This week I found a recipe called "Punjabi-Style Mustard Greens." I wanted it. I really, really, really wanted it. Well, as usual, I didn't have "exactly" what the recipe called for, lol, so I just did the best I could, and I was quite pleased with the results, altho it wasn't quite spicy enough to suit me. So, here it is:

Punjabi-Style Mustard Greens

2Tbs.clarified butter or vegetable oil 1/2 small onion, chopped
1tsp.garam masala 1/8tsp.crushed or ground fennel seed
1Tbs.chopped fresh ginger 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/2tsp. ground turmeric
1 1/2lbs.fresh mustard greens, chopped 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
Juice of 1 lime or lemon Salt to taste

In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the oil. Add the onion, garam masala and fennel. Cook until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and turmeric and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the mustard greens. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the moisture eveaporates. Add the tomatoes and lemon or lime and cook until the tomatoes soften, 3-5 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Ok, now you have the proper recipe, and now I'll tell you how I did it, with what I had to work with. I didn't have any mustard greens, so I used half a bag of frozen turnip greens. Since I didn't have any Roma tomatoes, I used one can, drained well, of diced tomatoes. I've never been able to find garam masala at Kroger, so I used curry powder instead, because according to a couple cookbooks I've read, this is ok. And, because every description of fennel says it tastes like licorice, which I hate with a passion, I do NOT have any fennel...nor will I ever. Never, I say, never!!! And, the only ginger I had was ground ginger, so I had to use that. Now, even with all these substitutions, the greens were really excellent...but needed more spice, as I said earlier. I ate them with a big baked potato,and some of the leftover lentils, and enjoyed every bite of it.

Sunday night I fixed the Alfredo Noodles again. This time I actually had some mushrooms, so I put them in, like the recipe calls for, and, I used a little more coconut milk than the recipe calls for. It was wonderful, and I ate the whole thing, lol. The recipe for this is somewhere on this blog, and I apologize, but I don't know how to link to it, sigh.

Last night, I pulled the last of the cauliflower/potato soup out of the freezer, and had that with biscuits. Also a very enjoyable meal.

Tonight? Well, I'm not sure, but I'm thinking about trying to make a gravy with tempeh, the rest of the mustard(ok, ok, turnip)greens, and mashed potatoes. I haven't had mashed potatoes in a long, long time. Even if I don't like the tempeh gravy, I can still eat enough of the 'taters and greens to fill up, so I'm certainly not going to go hungry tonight.

Tomorrow...Wednesday...is grocery day. My Christmas bonus check showed up yesterday, at work, so I can have a good time shopping, lol. Always nice to know I'm not going to run short before I'm thru, which seems to happen to me a lot lately.

Until next time, Happy Eating.