Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

I have a similar recipe that uses almonds and oats with tofu to create little vegan protein filets.  While those were really tasty, I wanted to try using lentils in place of the nuts and the oats for a few reasons.  One, nuts can be expensive. Two, lentils are bursting with nutrition and are very inexpensive. Three, most everyone thinks they need to boil lentils to use them. That just isn't so.  Ingredients . One 14 oz pkg firm tofu 1/2 cup dry lentils 3 cloves garlic 1 jalapeno 3 tbls canola oil 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp cayenne 2 tbls sriracha 1 tbl soy sauce 1 tbl salt 1/2 tsp black pepper Instructions Drain the tofu overnight. Remove from the package. Discard the liquid. Wrap in a kitchen towel and leave in the fridge.  Grind the lentils to dust in a spice grinder.  Pulse all the ingredients in your food processor until a dense paste is achieved. Cover the chute of the food processor and stash the mixture in the fridge for 30 minu...

It's sweet and spicy thanks to the combination of tomatoes and chiles. As with a traditional gazpacho, it's a little thicker than a traditional soup. So it's a wonderful base for a plethora of creative additions, in order to make it a complete and satisfying meal.  It also makes a wonderful sauce, condiment or salad dressing.  We'll simply extract the maximum flavor from only a handful of simple ingredients.  Less time cooking it... more time enjoying it.  And, as always, it's vegan.  Ingredients 2 plum tomatoes, chunked 2 jalapenos, chunked 1 serrano, chunked 3 cloves garlic 2 cups water 2 tbls sriracha 1 tbl spicy mustard 1 tbl canola oil 2 tsps dry rosemary 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions Add the tomatoes, jalapenos, serranoes, garlic and salt to a medium sauce pot. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer uncovered until reduced by 1/3.  Puree in a blender. Chill overnight. 

  If you're like me, you've sometimes forgotten to dry your tofu overnight and are wondering what you can make with moist tofu that will have both a pleasing texture and taste. Sure, there are many dessert applications for undried tofu, but savory is a little tricker.  This is one way you can turn still soggy tofu into something scrumptious with minimal effort.  It also incorporates dried lentils for even more protein and nutrition.  It's a slightly chewy, mock meat like texture that you'll be surprised you can get from tofu. Try it. You'll see.  Ingredients One 14 oz pkg firm tofu 1 1/2 cups dry lentils 1 1/2 tbls salt 1 tsp black pepper 2 tsps paprika 2 tsps turmeric 1/2 tsp cumin 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp crushed pepper flakes 2 tsps dry basil 2 tsps canola oil The secret is that the dry lentils absorb the moisture in the tofu as everything is cooking in the pan. It's a a quick and easy way to get great texture from tofu when you don't have time to wait f...

One of the best new cooking tools I've recently acquired is the spring-loaded scoop. It makes quick work of dispatching both sweet and savory concoctions. It's so much easier than rolling and shaping by hand. Thank you Alton Brown for convincing me I need this.  In this case I used a small one to create little balls of italian sausage style goodness using tofu and oats. The textural magic happens when the oats absorb the excess moisture in the tofu. Even when you drain it overnight, it still has a lot of liquid inside it. The oats soak that up and help to create a pleasing texture.   Ingredients One 14 oz pkg firm tofu, dried overnight * 3/4 cup old fashioned oats 2 tbls canola oil 2 tsps fennel seeds 2 tsps Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp crushed pepper flakes 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper This is an easy recipe. It's minimal effort for maximum flavor.  When I was a kid, I loved sausage. I loved the combination of spices that were typical...