Tofu Scramble

      Sometimes I surprise myself. Like last weekend when I went to find my tofu scramble recipe on my blog and realized it didn't exist. Well that is just unacceptable. I've been using this recipe, and variations of it, for years now. It's a brunch staple in our house and a great way to get your protein first thing in the morning.

     Paired with some toast and a couple slices of tomato, or over a bed of quinoa with some avocado, this recipe is sure to please. 

If you're like me, and enjoy eating breakfast for dinner, this is a great option! Add a teaspoon of curry powder and a pinch of cayenne and you're on your way to a quick and delicious dinner. 

Serves: 2-3 3/4 cup servings (one serving of protein)

Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
• Pinch of chili flakes (optional)
• One small onion or 3 green onions, diced (about 1/2 cup/125mL)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin 
• 1/4 tsp coriander 
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 package firm tofu, 350-450g, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup of greens (spinach, Swiss chard, beet tops, arugula, cabbage....), ribboned
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Preparation

1. Heat oil with optional chili flakes in a pan over medium heat.
2. Sauté onions until translucent (about 5 minutes), then add garlic and spices. Sautee for one minute or until fragrant.
3. With clean hands, crumble tofu into the pan and stir to coat tofu with seasoning.
4. Drizzle soy sauce on tofu and stir. 
5. Let sauté until most of the liquid in the pan from the tofu has cooked off, 7-15 minutes depending on the tofu' sweater content.
6. Add the greens and cover. Let cook for 5 minutes.
7. Stir in nutritional yeast and taste for seasoning. 
8. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

Green Goddess Soup (Hearty Leafy Green Soup with Green Lentils)

       Last night I decided I hadn't had enough greens for the day, so I decided to make a soup PACKED full of greens. I figured I was better off making soup than turning the oven on to make a lasagna. My fridge was filled with a variety of greens from my CSA basket from Rye's HomeGrown. I've been loving my weekly helping of fresh veg. It's really cool. Every Wednesday I work a shift selling the produce at Ryerson's Farmers' Market, and I go home with my bike basket overflowing with local organic produce. We've barely had to do groceries these past couple of months, besides our staples.

      The trick to this soup is putting pretty much every green you have into it. Seriously, I put turnip greens, spinach, swiss chard, kohlrabi, and a bit of kale. (I had to use up last weeks bounty before I get more goodies tomorrow!) Throw those luscious greens with a delicious stock, some lentils, onions and potatoes, and you have yourself a scrumptious soup. And for those trying to watch their waste line, eating more greens is a great way to start. One 2-cup bowl of this hearty green soup will cost you under 250 calories (and it's totally worth every calorie).

       I topped  my hearty green soup with a mixture of microgreens from Rye's HomeGrown, including basil and cilantro microgreens along with pea shoots. So tasty!

Serves: 6-10
Time: 1h 10min

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 medium-large onions, roughly chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander 
• 1 cup green or french lentils
• 4 cups water

• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 medium kohlrabi bulb (about the size of a fist, alternatively use turnip or an additional potato)
• 1 small bunch of swiss chard ( about 7-8 leaves), stems and greens separated and chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 cups stock + 4 cups water or 1 bouillion cube with 6 cups water

• 10oz/280g spinach, kale and/or turnip greens, stems removed, chopped 
• Kohlrabi greens (or about 2oz/56g more greens, such as collard greens or kale), stems removed, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil with chili flakes over medium heat. When hot add the onion.
2. Let the onion saute for a couple of minutes before adding the minced garlic, cumin and coriander. Let saute for about 2-4 more minutes or until onions are transleucent.
3. Next, stir in the dry lentils, add the 4 cups of water and cover. Raise the temperature and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile chop the potatoes, kohlrabi (discard stems) and chard stems, and the rest of your greens.
5. After 10-15 minutes, add the diced potatoes, kohlrabi and chopped swiss chard stems and let simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes before adding the greens.
6. Add the chopped fresh greens in batches, stirring in between.
7. Add seasonings, including salt and pepper, nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Let simmer for about 10 minutes before removing from the heat.
8. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving with toasts, microgreens, sauteed mushrooms, whatever you feel like!

Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew

       Oh, stew. How you warm my heat. Sunday was day light savings (Spring is slowly coming to Canada) so amazingly, we actually ate dinner in daylight....though it was more of a lupper, seeing as we had brunch at 12.30. Anyways, we wanted some comfort food, so we decided on a hearty red lentil soup. Ryan wanted a soup, but I prefer stew, and it just happened that the pot wasn't big enough for him to add anymore liquid, so I won the soup vs. stew battle and we settled on a robust red stew with buttery drop biscuits.

       Also just to give you guys a heads up, I'm going to be offline for the next two weeks and will return on the 21st of March for a my birthday post (oh the options!). Two weeks four projects and four papers. Its going to be a very busy next couple of weeks. But don't worry, just because I'm not publishing recipes, doesn't mean I'n not making new recipes or testing old ones. A girl's got to eat after all.

       But anyways, back to the stew.... This stew is inspired by Indian dhal, and so uses some warm spices, like cumin and turmeric, but also some more floral spices like thyme and oregano. This stew is hearty enough that it doesn't need an accompaniment, but if you, like myself, enjoy dipping bread or biscuits into your stews and soups, give my vegan drop biscuit recipe a try.


Serves: 6-8
Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 medium-large carrots, sliced into rounds or semi-circles
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• I bunch red or rainbow swiss chard, stems separated from greens, stems chopped, greens chiffonaded
• 2 cups red lentils (dry)
• 1/4 cup white wine (or 2 tbsp white or red wine vinegar)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 can or jar tomato puree, or alternatively diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1-1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 3 medium white or red potatoes, chucked 
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

1. In a large soup or stock pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Sauté onions, carrots, garlic and chopped swiss chard stems for about 3 minutes or until onions are translucent. 
2. Add lentils, stir and let toast for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and let the alcohol burn off for an additional two minutes.
3. Add broth, water, tomato products and spices. Cover, bring to a boil on high heat, and then reduce and let simmer for 10 minutes. The lentils will absorb a lot of liquid so add more water as needed.
4. Add chopped potatoes, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes on medium heat.
5. When the potatoes are starting to get tender, add the swiss chard greens, slowly while stirring the soup to avoid greens from clumping together. Let simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.
6.  Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice. 
7. Serve with biscuits or garlicky toasts and enjoy.

Green Monster Smoothie

     Smoothie time followers! So this is my first official smoothie post. It wasn't till recently that I started blending up some awesome smoothies....You know, after I got my shiny new high-speed blender for Christmas. I made an exceptional Green monster the other day and thought I would share it with you all.
Perks of this smoothie: 2 servings of fruit, 1 serving of green veg, 1 serving of dairy alternatives and 1 (or 2) servings of deliciousness. And if you want to get a serving of protein in your smoothie too, just add 2 Tbsp nut butter. 

     I used frozen peach in this smoothie instead of my typical frozen banana, and it turned out great! But if you don't have the frozen peach, you can substitute it for a banana. And because of the chia seeds, this is a great on-the-go smoothie because it won't get all watery.

Serves: 1 large (about 650mL) or 2 small
Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 medium peach, cut and frozen
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 cup spinach, loosely packed
• 1 small chunk of ginger, about 1/4"x1/2" (about 1/2 tsp ginger paste)
• 1 cup soy milk or almond milk
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 3-4 ice cubes
• (optional: 2 Tbsp nut butter)

Preparation

1. Put all ingredients in a high speed blender, blend on high (purée or liquify) for about 2 minutes or until smooth.
2. Serve in a mason jar (because not many people have a cup big enough to fit 650mL, and if it's too much goodness for one sitting you can put the lid on and save it for later)
3. Since there's chia seeds in this smoothie, it stays thick for longer than a normal smoothie and thus can be made in advance. 

Black Quinoa and Cremini Collard Rolls with Tahina Dipping Sauce

     While I was at my parents house over the holidays, I had quite a few opportunities to experiment in the kitchen. I pretty much spent my entire two week vacation in the kitchen, which is exactly what I like to do on my time off. I had been thinking up this recipe for quite some time and knew it would be perfect for hors d'oeuvre for either Christmas eve or New Years eve. More an hors d'oeuvre than an appetizer, these finger sized rolls can be eaten with your fingers with a glass of wine in your other hand while chatting with friends and family. 

     This is a two part recipe, first the rolls and then the dipping sauce. When conceptualizing the rolls, I wanted something that would be fresh but nutty. For the freshness I used lemon. There's lemon everywhere in this dish: in the rolls, on top of the rolls and in the sauce, without being too lemony. As for the nuttyness, I chose a dark quinoa. I chose black quinoa, but any quinoa would work in this dish. Collard greens are a great vessel for these small rolls. Unlike cabbage rolls, collard greens are easy to manipulate when rolling and tend to stick to themselves after they are blanched. All of this results in a sturdy roll that can be dipped in tahina for a tasty treat.

     Tahina (salatit tahina) is a Middle eastern sauce of tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon and water, and sometimes garlic (though not included in my recipe below). If tahini is new to you, you can usually locate it in the ethnic food sections of larger grocery stores and even in the canned goods section of some dollarstores. Tahina complements these rolls perfectly, so don't neglect it. The rolls really aren't the same by themselves. If you take a look at the measurements for the dip below, you'll notice they aren't that exact. Truth behold, every brand of tahini is different, it might be thicker or oilier, and depending on these properties you may need more or less water, and the proportion of salt and lemon juice will need to be adjusted accordingly. Just taste as you go, and once it is a good consistency, adjust to your tastes. This dip is very versatile, and can be further watered down to create a tasty salad dressing.

Serves: 8-12 (2 servings each) to 16-24 (1 serving each)

Ingredients

Quinoa and Cremini Collard Rolls

• 1 medium bunch of collard greens (large leafs) (alternatively, use swiss chard if you cannot find collards)
• 1/2 cup black quinoa, or red if black is not available
• 8 oz cremini or white mushrooms* 
• 1 large white onion
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 juiced, about 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 sliced, put aside for later
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley or 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley
• 1/8 tsp each of salt and pepper

*Try and use as many cremini mushrooms as possibly as they have a more robust flavour than the white button mushrooms, I only used white buttons when I photographed the recipe because we had run out of our creminis.

Tahina Dip (Salatit Tahina)

• 1/3 cup tahini
• ~1/3 cup water
• 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
• ~1/4 tsp salt or to taste
• A quick grind of black pepper to garnish

Preparation

1. Put a large pot of water on the stove top, cover, and bring to a boil. While its heating up, wash your collards. Once the water is boiling, put the collard greens (stem still in) in the boiling water, and blanch for about 3 minutes or until the leaves are a rich green. 
2. Meanwhile, prepare a large metal or plastic mixing bowl with cold water, you can add ice to make it colder if you can't get the temperature down enough. After 3 minutes remove the collards and submerge in the ice bath to cool them down so that they are cool enough to handle. Lay out the leaves in a single layer between two tea towels to dry.
3. In a large microwaveable soup bowl combine 1/2 cup quinoa with 1 cup of water. Seal closed the bowl with plastic wrap and then microwave at 60% for 8 minutes, then stir, then microwave for another 5 minutes, this time at 100%. Remove from the microwave, if any water remains, microwave for additional minutes, one at a time at 100%, until all the water is absorbed. Alternatively you can cook your quinoa on the stove top as per manufacturers instructions. Let cool.
4. While your quinoa is in the microwave, wash you mushrooms with a damp cloth. Cut the stems off your mushrooms and discard the waste from your onion. The mushrooms and onion can then be given a fine chop, or rough mince. You can do this by hand or you can do this in a food processor (so much easier, I love my food processor), on a medium speed in pulses. 
5. Heat up a large pan with olive oil and sauté the onion and mushrooms, until the water has been released and evaporated, about 10-15 minutes.
6. Mix quinoa, mushroom and onion mixture, lemon juice, and spices. This will be your filling. 
7. Cut the vein out of the collard greens, cutting the large leaves in half so that you have two leaf-segments to use for the collard rolls.
8. Place one heaping tablespoon in the center of the leaf, fold in the two sides and roll like a burrito, making sure to keep it all tight.
9. Place the rolls in a 9" x 9" pyrex dish, pack tightly, seam down so that the rolls don't unroll, until they are cooked (they are still a bit fragile).
10. Place the sliced lemons on top of the rolls (if you are refrigerating, wait till you are about to put the dish in the oven to put the lemons on) and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 25 minutes or until the rolls are hot and steamy. 
11. Meanwhile prepare the tahina, by shaking (or whisking vigorously) together the tahini and the water, start with only 1/4 cup water and add more as you go. If your tahini is loose, you may not need to add all the water. Mix in the lemon and salt, add more to your liking. 
12. Serve the rolls warm next to a bowl of tahina and enjoy with friends or family.

Summer Swiss Chard Pasta

       Based on Grandpa Mark's pasta, this savoury dish is packed with one of my favourite veggies out of the garden, swiss chard. You can enjoy this dish year round, but it's best in the summer with greens and herbs from the garden or the market. I prefer using swiss chard, but you can also use spinach (like Grandpa Mark used to do) in this tasty pasta sauce.

Serves: 3-6

Ingredients

3 Tbsp or 1/8 cup olive oilOne large white onion, cut into chunks4 cloves of garlic, minced1/8 tsp red chili flakes1 tsp dried basil or about 1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves cut into strips1/2 tsp dried oragano1/4 tsp dried thymeHalf a large bunch or 300g Swiss Chard, stems and greens chopped2 cans chopped tomatoesOne can (514mL) chickpeas or white beans, drained and rinsed About 300g pasta

Preparation

1. In a large pan on medium heat, add olive oil, onions, garlic, chili flakes and herbs and sauté for 2 minutes.2. While the onions are sautéing, chop up the swiss chard stems and add them to the pan. Sauté the mixture for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the swiss chard stems begin to soften up.3. Add two cans of tomatoes and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile start a pot of salted boiling water for your pasta.4. Add the beans and the chopped swiss chard to the sauce. Cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.5. Once the sauce is complete, you can add your pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook to al dente. Meanwhile remove your sauce from the heat, taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.6. When you pasta is finished, strain and spoon the pasta onto plates and cover with sauce. Any leftover pasta can be tossed in olive oil so that it does not stick.7. Garnish with fresh basil if desired and enjoy!

Low-Fat Vegan Manicotti

       Manicotti can normally be a very heavy and fattening dish, but a simple solution for that is to replace that non-vegan friendly cheese with tofu. If you've never tried cooking with tofu, but want to try lightening up you traditional manicotti, you will not be disappointed with this recipe.

Dad: "You can't tell it's not cheese, this stuff is white."

       I recently made this pasta dish for my parents. My mom's a vegetarian but my dad's a meat eater and although normally harder to please, both he and my mom loved by manicotti! And believe me, if my dad doesn't like something I make him, he isn't shy to say so. But my parents said that they would eat this manicotti recipe over cheese-based manicotti any day (my mom was very happy to hear this). 

Serves: 3-6

Ingredients 

8-12 manicotti shells

Pasta Sauce (alternatively, you can use 1-2 jars of your favourite spaghetti sauce)

1/8 cup (3 tbsp) olive oil

1/4 tsp chili flakes

1 large onion, sliced 3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp basil 

1 tsp thyme 

1/2 tsp parsley 

1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 jar diced tomatoes 

2 cup tomato purée  

1/4 tsp salt and pepper 

optional: handful kalamata olives, pitted or 1/3 cup marinated artichoke hearts 

1 brick regular or firm tofu

2 tbsp lemon juice 

2 tbsp nutritional yeast 

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp tyme and basil or 1 tsp Italian herb mix

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional 1/4 cup vegan mayo (makes it extra creamy)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 bag spinach (8-10oz), chopped 

Optional Daiya or vegan cheese

Preparation

Pasta sauce

1. In a large pan or medium sauce pot, on medium heat, warm olive oil and chili flakes. When warm, add the chopped onion, garlic and herbs and sauté until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Toss you mushrooms into the pan and sauté for an additional 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes and tomato purée. 

3. Let simmer on medium-low for 15-20 minutes before tossing in the optional artichoke hearts or olives, and seasoning with salt and pepper.

4. Remove from the heat and set aside until ready to use.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Put a large pot of salted water on the stove top on high and bring to a boil. When the water reaches a roaring boil add your pasta shapes. Cook until al dente, about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water.

3. Drain and rinse the tofu. Squeeze any excess liquid out of the tofu, then finely crumble into a medium mixing bowl.

4. Add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and seasoning to the crumbled tofu and mix well.

5. In a large pan on medium heat, heat up a couple tbsp of olive oil and sauté onions and garlic, 5-7 minutes.

6. Once the onion has softened up, toss in the chopped spinach, in batches. You want to cook down the spinach, so cover the pot between batches and stir frequently.

7. Once the spinach is wilted and dark green, add it directly into you tofu mixture. Mix well and add salt and pepper if necessary.

8. Put a thin layer of pasta sauce down in your Pyrex dish (9"x13")

9. Fill your manicotti pasta shells with the tofu mixture and arrange on top of the sauce. 

10. Pour the remainder of the tomato sauce on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with cheese if using. 

11. Cover with tin foil and poke a hole in the center with a fork to let steam vent out.

12. Bake at 350°F covered for 25 minutes and uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes until bubbling. 

13. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Southern Comfort Food

I absolutely love comfort food! A few nights ago, we whipped up a batch of mac 'n' cheese with some garlic collard greens, sweet potato mash, vegetarian chicken fingers (store bought) and some tasty biscuits.
We've made mac 'n' cheese many times, however the recipe below is are go-to. It's rich and creamy, and really easy to make. As for the collard greens, the trick, as we've found, is to steam them, then quickly sautée in warm oil with garlic.
This meal is perfect for when you're having a craving for southern dinner food. All the goodness, but without all the animal products and butter! Yum!

Mac 'n' Cheese

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 pound or 450g of pasta, cooked al dente

1 1/2 cup water

3/4 cup plain soy milk, or dairy-free milk

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt + more to taste

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp onion powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Put all ingredients in the blender and pulse until smooth.

Taste for seasoning.

In a large pan, on medium heat, add all the cooked pasta to the cheesey-cheeseless mixture.

Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture has thickened.

Serve immediately with fresh ground pepper and salt if needed.

Add the remaining uncooked sauce to any leftovers so that tomorrow's leftovers will be as creamy as tonight's.

Garlic Collard Greens

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

1 large bunch of collard greens

olive oil, about 1/8 to 1/4cup, enough to well coat the bottom of your pan

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced

pinch of red chili flakes

salt to taste

1 tsp lemon juice

Preparation

In a large skillet, heat olive oil with the garlic and chili peppers on low heat for 10-15min.

Wash the collard greens and cut into 1" strips.

Steam all the collards in a steamer basket in a covered pot with an inch of water at the bottom.

Steam for about 5 minutes, until bright green then drain, trying to remove as much water as possible.

Toss the collards in the warm olive oil mixture and sautée on low for 3 minutes. 

Mix the collards with the lemon juice and serve.

Sweet Potato Mash

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

4 medium-large sweet potatoes or garnite yams

3 cloves of garlic

water

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup molasses, or to taste

pinch of allspice or asian 5-spice

1/2 tbsp paprika

scant 1/4 cup margarine

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In a large covered pot, bring salted water to a boil. 

Wash the sweet potatoes and cut into 1" chunks. Husk and remove the ends of the garlic, keeping the cloves whole. Add the garlic and the sweet potatoes to the boiling water.

Boil for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to mash.

Reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid, and drain the rest.

In the pot, mash the sweet potatoes adding the spices, and the margarine and cooking water until a smooth texture is obtained. You may also use an immersion blender to quicken the process.

Season with salt and pepper and serve along side your mac'n'cheese, collards and biscuits.