Course: Dinner

Vegan Sesame Tofu

Vegan Sesame Tofu

I debated about using the word “vegan” in this title because I worried readers might assume this sesame tofu recipe tasted terrible. But I did it anyway because in the end I believe it is important to be completely transparent.

So, yes, this is a vegan sesame tofu recipe. It is also delicious and easy. So delicious, in fact,  that I’m going to start doubling the recipe to account for the fact that my kids eat three servings of it each every time I make it. And, it is so easy that I can make it while dealing with a 3 year old who is losing his shit because I won’t let him eat chocolate chip cookies before dinner.

Vegan Sesame Tofu Recipe Notes

Like I said, I have made this several times and so I have a few suggestions for you before you get started.

  1. While extra firm tofu works just fine with this recipe, I prefer to use sprouted tofu because it has a much firmer texture and a bit more going for it nutritionally. We use Wildwood sprouted tofu, but there are other brands out there.
  2. When I’m not making this for the kids, I use sesame oil infused with chili oil. 
  3. I know I said to serve this over white rice; however, I prefer to eat it with rice noodles. I just don’t unless I have time to make rice and rice noodles because my family thinks rice noodles are “weird.”

Want more?

Visit our recipes section for more vegan and vegetarian recipes and resources.

This article originally published on GroundingUp.

Print Recipe
 Sesame Tofu
Sesame-tofu-over-rice
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings
Ingredients
Tofu
Sauce
Garnish
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings
Ingredients
Tofu
Sauce
Garnish
Sesame-tofu-over-rice
Instructions
  1. Press and drain the tofu. Then break it into small pieces and allow it to drain further. Then combine the tofu pieces in a covered container with the corn starch and toss to coat.
    Tofu-and-cornstarch
  2. Saute the coated tofu on medium heat in a few tablespoons of oil until golden brown. Then remove from the pan and place on a plate with a paper towel to degrease a little.
    saute-tofu-and-cornstarch
  3. To make the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients except for the cornstarch slurry, in a wok or pan. Bring to a gentle boil and then add the cornstarch slurry. Mix until the sauce thickens. Then, add the tofu and toss to coat.
    sesame-tofu-sauce
  4. Serve over white rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
    Sesame-tofu-over-rice
Vegetable Dip Recipe

Vegetable Dip Recipe

In November of 2016, I spent a week at a Mexican yoga retreat center called Haramara with a bunch of friends from my yoga studio. The cuisine offered at Haramara is spectacular and while we awaited the arrival of each main course, my yoga pals and I would entertain ourselves by guessing what the deliscious dips, served with fresh tortilla chips before each lunch and dinner, were actually made of. Spoiler alert: they were all vegan vegetable dips. So often you find vegetable dip recipes that are meant to dip vegetable in. Rarely do you find a vegetable dip made from vegetables that you dip chips in.

Fortunately, Haramara offers cooking classes, so you can attempt to make the unique meals they serve there. One of the classes taught visitors how to make these mysterious dips and of course I was eager to learn. I was reminded of this moment in my personal history a few weeks ago while I was at another yoga retreat with my yoga gang (yes, I’m a retreat junkie) and we were recounting our Haramara experiences; the dips came up and I volunteered to post the recipe to the blog so we could all eat our tortilla chips nostalgically. Enjoy!

A few notes before you get started:

  • Steaming vegetables leaves quite of lot of liquid in them, which is great. The color stays high and your dips will be creamier; however, the water will encourage your oil to separate from your vegetable fibre and look a little gross. That is what the nut it for. If you think you will have this issue, be sure to add the roasted nut to the food processor. I’m not a food scientist so I have do idea why the roasted nut keeps it all from separating, but it does.

    Vegetable-dip-recipe-helper
    This is my little guy preparing the broccoli for the oven
  • We roasted our beets buried in salt because I heard that cooking them that way makes them taste less like dirt in the end. It sort of worked. I’m not a huge fan of beets, but my husband is so I made the beet version for him. He loved it.
  • We made carrot dip, broccoli dip, and beet dip. My kids loved the carrot dip, probably because it was sweet. I love the broccoli version but it lost a bit of its pretty color on the second day, so watch out for that. My husband loved the beet version.
  • My primary takeaway from this is that I plan to make these with mixed vegetables rather than just one vegetable. That will dial back some of the stronger veggies. For example, I’ll mix roasted cauliflower in with each batch.
  • And one final note; I used roasted garlic rather than raw garlic. They use raw garlic at Haramara, but my gut just can’t take it.

 

Want more?

Visit our recipes section for more vegan and vegetarian recipes and resources.

This article originally published on GroundingUp.

Print Recipe
 Vegetable Dip
Vegetable-dip-recipe
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Vegetable-dip-recipe
Instructions
  1. Select 2 cups of raw vegetables. You can use a single vegetable or mix it up with a few. Cooking will shrink your 2 cups of raw vegetables to 1 cup of cooked vegetables.
    Veggie-Dip-Recipe
  2. Steam or roast the vegetables and drain them well. Some veggies will hold more water than others but I'll cover that issue later.
    Vegetable-dip-recipe-roasted-beets
  3. While your veggies are cooking, roast or toast your nuts. In this case, I used raw almonds, but use whatever you like. Also, you will only need 1 roasted nut, but I always make more to eat as a snack or to store for later.
  4. Put the strained vegetables into the bowl of your food processor along with the remainder of the ingredients. Give it a whirl. This is where you decide if you need your nut. If things are watery and you think they will stay that way, add the nut. The nut oil and fibre somehow keeps the oil from separating from the watery vegetables.
  5. Process the ingredients until smooth and then process some more.
  6. When you have achieved the texture you are looking for, add it to a bowl and serve it up with tortilla or pita chips.
    Vegetable-Dip-Recipe-Broccoli
Detox Broth

Detox Broth

A few years ago, when I participated in a 30 Day detox program through my yoga studio, someone gave me a recipe for detox broth. I had heard of juice cleanses, that crazy cayenne pepper and maple syrup cleanse, and the Betty Ford Clinic, but I had not as of yet, heard of a detox broth.

The recipe that fellow yogi gave me consisted of onions and a few root veggies and water and that was about it. I never actually prepared the recipe because it just didn’t sound that good and seeing as I don’t live atop a toxic waste dump, I don’t technically need a detoxing. But it did get me thinking about the idea of detox broth and set me on the path to a version that was not only drinkable, but actually enjoyable.

Detox Broth Recipe

In general, I aim for a broth that tastes like my midwestern grandma’s vegetable soup, which is no easy task considering the first ingredient in her vegetable soup is beef or pork shoulder. Oh, Iowa, I love you.

I’ve provided a list of ingredients and quantities for those of you who feel more comfortable cooking with an actual recipe, but honestly, I recommend just winging it. Add more of what you like the flavor of. My broth is never the same twice because I usually only make it when I have a bunch of vegetables laying around without a purpose in life.

If you are on an IBS diet, than you’ll want to steer clear of the vegetables that will cause a flare up. Here is a list. I have heard that tomatoes can bother people on anti-inflammatory diets, but I include them because a life without tomatoes seems hardly worth living.

I guess some people drink their broth cold, but that’s not my style. If you subscribe to ayurvedic philosophies, you’ll tell me the hot broth is good for my Vata dominant dosha. I love it, so you might be right.

Want more?

Visit the recipe section for vegan and vegetarian recipes

And don’t forget to comment below with what you put in your broth. I’m always looking for new variations to try.

This article originally  published on www.groundingup.com.

Print Recipe
 Detox Broth
A vegetable based broth designed to aid in digestion and taste good. There really isn't much to this recipe from an instructions standpoint. I'm sure we could complicate it with lots of steps and timing, but that's really not necessary in this case.
Detox Broth
Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Cleanse, Detox, Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings
Ingredients
Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Cleanse, Detox, Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings
Ingredients
Detox Broth
Instructions
  1. Roughly chop all of the ingredients and combine in one large pot.
    chopped vegetables for detox broth
  2. Cover the chopped vegetables in 10 cups of water. Bring the ingredients to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 60 minutes.
    simmer the detox broth
  3. The vegetables will have lost much of their color and will be extremely soft when the broth is ready. At this point, a few cups of water will have cooked off, so you can add more water and continue to boil, or call it good and move on to the next step.
    Simmered detox broth
  4. It's now time to separate the vegetables from the broth. I send it all through a colander first to separate the large vegetables from the broth. I then send the broth through a sieve with cheese cloth to remove a lot of the vegetable fiber that comes through the colander holes. You only need to do this if fiber from certain vegetables bothers you. You can also reduce the amount of fiber in your broth by cutting back on the cooking time. The longer you simmer, the more the vegetables break down and the more fibers you up drinking.
    straining detox broth
  5. Pour the broth into some form of storage vessel and you are all set. I like to use 8 and 16 ounce canning jars. You can freeze the broth or just store it in the refrigerator if you plan to drink it in the next 5 days.
    Detox Broth
Recipe Notes
You'll notice that my broth is pink. That's because I use purple kale and tomatoes, which make it that color. If you have a sensitive stomach, I suggest you omit anything form the cabbage family.
Barley Stuffed Peppers

Barley Stuffed Peppers

These barley stuffed peppers from ThugKitchen are a staple at our house. I posted them on the blog about a year ago, but wanted to repost with a few additional notes.

A couple of thoughts regarding these barley stuffed peppers

In our humble opinion, it needs cheese. So, we add 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan to the actual stuffing mix and then we sprinkle shredded parmesan as a garnish. Obviously, doing this makes the recipe “non-vegan” but we are cool with that.

Technically, the ThugKitchen version of these barley stuffed peppers calls for white OR kidney beans. We always use white beans because they are smaller than kidney beans, which just seem to bulky to be stuffed into small places.

Also, the barley stuffing can be used to stuff much more than just peppers. We have used it to stuff zucchini, acorn squash, and tomatoes.

The kids, age 3 and 11, have a great time selecting their bell peppers. Audrey usually goes for green and you can’t really count on John to be consistent with the color of pepper he chooses. I usually buy a few extra peppers because the kids manage to eat them raw before I even have time to get the stuffed peppers in the oven.

Print Recipe
 Barley Stuffed Peppers
These barley stuffed peppers from ThugKitchen are a staple at our house. I posted them on the blog about a year ago, but wanted to repost with a few additional notes. Bell peppers with a vegan barley stuffing. Serve as a main dish for a light meal or as a side for a colorful and flavorful addition to any meal.
barley stuffed peppers
Course Dinner, Main Dish
Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings
Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Course Dinner, Main Dish
Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings
Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
barley stuffed peppers
Instructions
  1. 1–In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it starts turning golden, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, and oregano and cook for another 2 minutes. Throw in the barley, tomato, and vinegar and stir. Add the broth, salt, and pepper and let it come to a low simmer. Cook, uncovered, until all the broth is absorbed and the barley is tender, about 15 minutes. 2–While the barley is simmering, heat your oven to 375° F. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and scrape out the seeds. Place them in an oiled pie place or loaf pan, something where their asses won’t be sliding around once they’re stuffed. 3–When the barley is done, fold in the beans and turn off the heat. (This filling can even be made a day or two ahead of time, no fucking problem.) Fill the bell peppers up to the top with the filling, cover them tightly with foil, and bake until the peppers are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let them rest for 5 minutes after coming out of the oven, ’cause those fuckers are hot. Top with the parsley and serve.
Recipe Notes

Thanks to ThugKitchen for the recipe. I didn't technically ask them for permission to publish their recipe, but those assholes can just fucking get over it.

For more vegan and vegetarian recipes, visit the recipes are of this site here. Check out the homepage for additional yoga information and inspiration. Namaste!

This article originally published on www.groundingup.com

Vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli

Vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli

This recipe for vegetarian pasta e fagioli is developed from a classic recipe that almost always starts with bacon in the bottom of the pot. And while bacon is indeed delicious, I am sorry to say that it is not an ingredient included in vegetarian and vegan cuisine. So with that said, I offer you this vegetarian (if you leave out the parmesan cheese, even vegans can eat this) version of a delicious and easy Italian favorite.

Print Recipe
 Vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli
A vegetarian version of a classic Italian recipe for pasta and beans in tomato sauce.
Course Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 45 min
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 45 min
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, preferably with a heavy bottom, sauté on medium heat the olive oil the mushrooms, onion, and garlic for about 5-7 minutes or until the onions become soft and translucent.
  2. Add the other vegetables and the herbs to the pot and sauté for another 5 minutes on medium heat.
  3. Add the tomato puree and the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer.
  4. Add the beans and the pasta and simmer until the pasta is cooked through. I usually add a cup or two of water at this point to help the pasta cook.
  5. When the pasta is al dente the soup is finished. Serve in bowls with crusty bread and shaved parmesan unless you are vegan, then skip the cheese, obviously:-)