Italian-Style Tofu(Vegan); Coconut Rice(vegan)

It has rained just about all day, thank goodness, because we still need it desperately. I love the sound of the rain on the skylights here in my little house, but it made me sleep late again this morning, lol. Woke up around 5:30, heard the rain, and rolled over and slept until just about 8, sigh, and didn't want to get up then, really. The ol' back and hips made that decision for me, tho, so I crawled out. And that's just about how my day has been today: Just crawling along, lol. Finished a book, finished the laundry, but couldn't use the computer too much this afternoon because it started thundering. But, life went on anyway!

The two recipes I'm going to post are both from "Vegan with a Vengeance," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Both of them are easy, and they both turned out good, much to my delight.

Marinated Italian-Style Tofu

1 lb. firm extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/2C white cooking wine
2Tbs. EACH olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari, fresh lemon juice.
2 cloves garlic, smashed
A big pinch each dried basil, marjoram, and thyme

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Cut the tofu widthwise into eight equal pieces. Marinate for an hour, flipping after 30 minutes.
Place tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip over and bake another 10 minutes. Place in the broiler for about 3 more minutes for extra chewiness.

I have to tell you that I made a mistake when I got the tofu ready to marinate: I only cut it four ways, and don't know how I misread "eight." The recipe still came out ok in my opinion, tho. Another change I made was to use oregano, as I don't like basil, and I used mint, because I don't have any marjoram. The thyme I had and used. All in all I thought it was good, I'll make it again, and since I have two pieces left, that's what I'm going to have for dinner tonight.

Isa makes one suggestion about the marinade: "Don't throw it out. Reserve the marinade and get creative. Mix in a little water and arrowroot or cornstarch, then heat it up, and you've got yourself a gravy. Or, use it to stir-fry broccoli or asparagus for a nice, fast side dish: heat up some vegetable oil over high heat, then add your chopped vegetables, pouring on splashes of the marinade as you cook."

Since I'm going to bake a potato to go with the tofu, I'm going to try to use cornstarch and water to make the gravy, and see if I like it on the potato. I dunno, it's pretty intense. Possibly the 1/2C of white wine was a bit much, especially since I don't drink, and, um, have to admit, that wine has been in my cupboard a long time, lol. Oh, well, live and learn, right?

This next one just plain sounded good, so I bought some jasmine rice and decided to give it a shot. My version is much, much simpler than this one, tho.

Coconut Rice with Toasted Coconut

2C jasmine rice, washed
1(13.5 oz)can coconut milk
1C water
1 cinnamon stick
1/4tsp. salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
12C unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine the rice, coconut milk, water, cinnamon stick, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover pot, and simmer 20 minutes. Add the lime zest and stir with a fork. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the shredded coconut:
Heat a skillet over low-medium heat. Add the coconut and toast, turning frequently, for about 3 minutes, or until the coconut is browned and toasty.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the rice and serve, sprinkling the toasted coconute over each serving. Garnish with lime wedges if you so desire.

Like I said, mine was much simpler. For one thing, altho I had fully intended to buy cinammon sticks, the price was just more than I could deal with. Outrageous, in fact...or at least, for my wallet. Maybe not for yours, I dunno. Plus I forgot the shredded coconut, lol. Duh, right? So, I used the coconut milk, water, and a little margarine, and that's all. Long story short, it was pretty good, and I enjoyed it. There's some leftover in the 'fridge, and one of these days I'll heat it up and eat it.

Now it's time to heat the oven for my baked potato, and see if I can make a decent gravy out of that marinade. Until next time, Happy Eating, and God bless.

Marinated Tofu w/Cabbage, Tomatoes, and Sour Cream

Not a bad day at work at all, thank God. We weren't all that busy for a Sunday, but still stayed steady, and I made good money. And we had three dozen assorted doughnuts, as well as a huge plate of chocolate brownies that had nuts in them, and swirls of yummy caramel. I've brought home a lot, so I can have some with my coffee in the morning.

Friday I cooked the Woman's Day recipe of Marinated Shrimp...without the shrimp, of course. Instead, I used a block of tofu, cubed. So, here's the recipe, along with the Cabbage with Tomatoes and Sour Cream from Mark Bittman's cookbook, "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."

Marinated Tofu in Cabbage with Tomatoes and Sour Cream
1pkg. firm tofu, drained with a 1lb.can on it for about 20 minutes, and then cubed
1/2C olive oil 1/2C lemon juice 1/2tsp. each minced garlic and hot sauce
1tsp. salt and pepper.

Mix the oil, juice, garlic, hot sauce, salt and pepper in a good-sized bowl, and add the tofu cubes. Stir the cubes in well, and marinate for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to be sure that all the cubes get covered with the marinade.

Now for the Cabbage, etc.

2Tbs. butter(oil for vegans) 1 med. onion, chopped 1Tbs. minced garlic
6C shredded cabbage, preferably Savoy(about 1 small head){I used plain old green cabbage, and it was fine.}
salt and pepper to taste 2C chopped tomatoes(drained, canned are fine){I didn't drain them, and it was fine.}
1Tbs. caraway or cumin seeds(optional) 1/2C sour cream{Tofutti Sour Supreme}

1. Melt butter in large deep skillet. Cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. {I added the tofu cubes here, with the onions and garlic} Add cabbage, raise heat a bit. Cook, stirring, adjusting heat so cabbage doesn't brown, until it softens, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Add tomatoes, and the seeds of you're using them, and cook over lively heat, stirring, until mixture is saucy but thick, about 10-15 minutes. Lower heat to the minimum, then taste and adjust salt and pepper. Stir in sour cream and cook another couple minutes, stirring. Serve hot.

What I should have done, I realized too late, was to fry the tofu cubes first, to get them nice and brown and crispy, and then added the onions and garlic. I also cooked the cabbage separately, letting it simmer for about 30 minutes in a pot of salted water, because I like my cabbage very tender, not crisp-tender. While the cabbage was simmering is when I did all the rest of it, and the whole thing turned out very, very well. I really enjoyed this, and will probably make it again...I know I'm having the leftovers for my dinner tonight, lol. Friday night I had some leftover cornbread, so I sliced it in half, buttered it, and cooked it in a frying pan, nice and brown and crispy...my version of polenta, which I think would have been good with the cabbage and sauce. Tonight I'm just going to have a baked potato with it, and "maybe" a green veggie, depends on my energy level by dinner time.

Vegan Fettucine Alfredo; Vegan Eggnog Cheesecake

I realized I had a couple more recipes I want to post here, here I am again. But first of all, I need to explain something, sigh, something stupid I've done...which isn't all that unusual, btw. Anyway, on the left of the blog there's a section called "Tags." When I did it, I had hoped that it would link itself automatically into my posts, but, um, nope, it didn't, and I don't know how to do it. I'm going to leave it there, tho, because it will give you some idea of what to expect to find here, even if it won't take you right to each category. Sorry about that,

This next recipe is for Fettucine Alfredo, it's vegan, and I found it on www.vegweb.com submitted by Melissa. It's incredibly good, and I was delighted with it, so, many thanks to Melissa for sharing her recipe.

Fettucine Alfredo

1Tbs. oil(whatever kind you like)
8(or more, or less{or none})mushrooms, chopped
5(or more or less)cloves of garlic, minced
1/2C coconut milk(you want the creaminess here, so I wouldn't recommend soymilk)
some vegan soy parmesan{I used quite a bit, but she said that she'd never used it.}
about 1/4tsp nutmeg(makes the recipe, don't leave out{I put it in, like she said, and don't know how it affected the recipe at all, lol}
1/2-1tsp black pepper(freshly ground is nice)
You can also add some lemon juice to the sauce, freshly squeezed is best, or garnish with lemon wedges{I didn't use any lemon, but next time I make this, and believe me, I will, I'm going to try the lemon...as well as add a little more nutmeg, just to see what happens}
Salt to taste

Directions:
Saute the mushrooms and the garlic in a pan over med-low heat, until it looks yummy. Separately, bring the coconut milk to a boil over the lowest heat possible, and as soon as it starts boiling, add the parmesan, nutmeg, pepper, lemon if you're using, and remove from heat. Mix it all together.

Add the coconut sauce to the mushrooms and garlic, and simmer onlower heat until the sauce reduces. Make sure to stir it constantly or else it will burn. Just stir until it comes to a consistency that looks like alfredo sauce, and serve immediately over fettucine noodles. I like to use black pepper fettuccine, but any kind is good. This recipe is awesome! Tastes as good as it sounds.

And yes, she's right, it's really excellent. I used plain old-fashioned egg noodles, as I had no linguine. I've never heard of black pepper fettucine, but I bet it's good, and will try to remember to look for it next time I shop.

This next one is from another blog I found, Fat Free Vegan Cooking, and I'm so ashamed to have to admit that I don't have the URL nor the owner's name. My very sincere apologies to this lady, and I hope she doesn't mind that I'm posting her recipe here, because it's an excellent recipe, and I will be making it many, many times in the future.

Vegan Eggnog Cheesecake
1(12.3oz.)pkg. extra firm light silken tofu
1(8-oz.)tub Tofutte "cream cheese"
3/4C sugar
1/2C vegan eggnog OR vanilla soymilk(I used Silk brand vanilla soymilk)
2T lemon juice
2 1/2 Tbs. brandy or rum(I'm a recovering alcoholic, so left this out.)
1/2tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3Tbs.cornstarch
1 prepared graham cracker crust(the first time, I had to make it without a crust, and loved it anyway. The second time I made my own graham crust, and loved it more, lol.)

Preheat oven(I neglected to copy the temperature down, but 350ºF seemed to do quite well, altho 325ºF might be better...less chance of browning it.)
Drain tofu and put it and "cream cheese" into food processor and blend until smooth(I don't have a processor, so I used my blender, and it was fine.). Add sugar and milk, process again until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Pour into pie crust and bake in middle of oven about 55 minutes-do NOT brown(well, I did, and it tasted ok to me. Might not to you, tho.) Filling will be slightly jiggly, not set, until it has chilled.

Remove from oven, let cool, and chill, the longer, the better.

So, a couple comments here. The second time I made this, I used half the lemon juice, and a full tsp. of vanilla. The next time I make it, I'm going to use a full tablespoonful of vanilla...since I didn't add the alcohol, I need a boost of flavor. I also will add another 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg, for the same reason. All in all, tho, this is just plain wonderful, and like I said, I'm going to be making this over and over and over and over!!!!

Unstuffed Sweet and Sour Cabbage

The last two weeks have been brutal. For one thing, I worked 11 days with only one day off, and that was after six days...brutally busy days, at that...in a row. One of those days was Thanksgiving, which normally would be my Thursday off, but I was told it was mandatory to work. So how come several folks who usually do work on Thurdays were given the day off, hmmm? Talk about attitudes! Then I was off one day and came right back into five more. Most of these days have been wicked busy, but, in a positive light, I made enough money to get December's rent paid, all the utilities and a doctor's bill paid, and spend a LOT of money on groceries a couple days ago. Plus, I have a whole bunch of library books to read, including the new cookbook on my list, "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," by Mark Bittman. That sucker is over 900 pages, just packed with excellent information, techniques, recipes. Awesome book, and of course is on my Christmas list. Any takers?~?~!!...snicker

Ok. Last time I posted, Sherrie and I were doing a pantry challenge. I've seen the soup she posted on A Dollop of Cream, and it looks and sounds fantastic. I ended up with a can of 'maters and one of rutabagas, and managed to utilize them both...two different recipes, both, as far as I was concerned, excellent!!!

With the rutabagas I made a Potato/Rutabaga salad, without using a real recipe. Just make a potato salad the way you like it, and dump in the drained can of rutabagas. How hard is that, right? I thought it was super, I really did.

With the tomatoes I made Unstuffed Sweet and Sour Cabbage, from a recipe I'd found in Family Circle(I 'think"), which, btw, also fulfilled my personal challenge of one recipe and one craft idea from each magazine each month. The recipe was originally a meat recipe, but I simply left out the meat, and loved the results...enough to eat it two times, in fact. So, here goes:

Unstuffed Sweet and Sour Cabbage Serves four

1(2-lb.)head green cabbage, quartered lengthwise and cored
1/2 C reduced-sodium vegetable stock
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, divided
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 (28-oz.)can whole tomatoes in juice(I had to used diced ones. It worked fine.)
1/3 dried cranberries(I'll die of hunger before I'll use cranberries in anything!!)
3 Tbs. red-wine vinegar
1 Tbs. packed dark brown sugar(all I had was light brown. It worked fine.)
2 Tbs. chopped flat-leaf parsley(all I had was dried, used 1 Tbs., worked fine.)

Place cabbage in a deep 12-inch heavey skillet with broth, 1 garlic clove(sliced), and a rounded 1/4tsp. salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cook, covered, turning cabbage occasionally, until very tender, about 45 minutes, adding more broth or water if necessary.

Meanwhile, cook onion and remaining garlic in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and stir in tomatoes and their juices, cranberries, vinegar, and brown sugar, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt.

Pour sauce into skillet with cabbage and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

So, there ya have it, and I hope you like it, I sure did.