greek-style tomato-zucchini fritters with fresh herbs

From 06/29/2011 (by Eye-Fi)

I heart these. They were downright delicious. Iris didn't appreciate the texture, I don't think, so out they came, but the others did well with it. Even Mike admitted they were pretty good, for tofu. It was the first time I've used the food processor for tofu, so that was exciting. I got to use our first garden yield- zucchini, too.


Ingredients:

1 lb firm tofu, squeezed to remove extra water (place a heavy dinner plate on top for 10 minutes or so), then crumbled
1/4 cup ground walnuts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp tomato juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs, plus 1/3 cup for coating
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/2 lb zucchini, grated and squeezed to remove excess water
1 lb seeded, finely chopped tomatoes, drained to remove extra liquid
Olive oil


directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Blend the tofu, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, tomato paste, oregano, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you wish. Scrape into a large bowl and mix in the bread crumbs, dill, and mint — it should have the consistency of a thick cookie dough. (Add more breadcrumbs by the tablespoon if it’s not quite there). Fold in the zucchini and tomatoes.
Create golf-ball sized balls of the mixture, and drop into the bread crumbs and roll to coat. Flatten to about 1 inch thick.
Rub a large cookie sheet with olive oil, and as you complete each fritter, arrange so they do not touch. Spray with olive oil, then place in the oven and cook for 35 minutes, flipping once halfway through.


From Veganomicon.

sweet and sour tofu

From 04/12/2010 (by Eye-Fi)

The recipe looks kind of lengthy, but it was actually fairly simple. And it tasted like something off a restaurant menu- a lot of flavor. Recipe adapted from Laurel's Kitchen.

1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 blocks tofu
4 TBSP shoyu (soy sauce)
2 sherry or saki (I used some dark sesame oil- not really the same, but I was going from another recipe from Moosewood too)

1 large onion
1 large green pepper (I used orange)
1 stalk celery (I used 2)
1 large or two small carrots
2 tablespoons oil
1 heaped cup fresh pineapple chunks

1 1/2 TBSP honey
2 TBSP vinegar
1 1/4 cups veg. stock or water
1 1/2 TBSP cornstarch

Toast walnuts. Cut tofu into 1" cubes and marinate in 2 TBSP shoyu and sherry. Cut onion and pepper into wedges and celery and carrots into thin diagonal slices. Stir-fry in oil until crisy-tender, adding pineapple after first 2-3 minutes.
Combine honey, vinegar and 1 cup of veg. stock, and add vegetables, along with tofu. Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes to thoroughly heat tofu.
Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/4 cup veg. stock and the remaining soy sauce. Stir into vegetabeles. Heat, stirring while sauce thickens and clarifies somewhat.
Top with walnuts. Serve with brown rice.

Curried tofu with pineapples

Jack ate all of his, with minor protest, and Abigail kept asking for "Mo'"- of everything. Not bad.

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 (15-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu, and sprinkle with salt. Cook 8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add coconut milk and curry powder to pan, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add crushed red pepper, pineapple, and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in tofu. Sprinkle with basil.

sweet & sour tofu, turkey enchiladas and fruit smoothies

Tonight's dinner was sweet and sour tofu with orange and yellow peppers, onions and pineapple over brown rice, sugar snap peas and blueberries and blackberries. I love a colorful plate!
The tofu bake was a recipe from Moosewood Restuarant: Simple Suppers, and I added the sauté with basically the same marinade as the tofu-- honey, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Even Jack liked the tofu, though he's a pretty good eater for most of what I make.

Our favorite snack the past few nights has been fruit smoothies. Last night, we had strawberry banana and tonight we had strawberry, blackberry and blueberry. We just add frozen fruit, some lowfat vanilla yogurt, rice or soy milk (or reg. skim milk) and some flaxseed. They really hit the spot on a 2 degree night.

Last night's dinner- ground turkey breast enchiladas with corn, black and pinto beans, salsa, cheddar cheese and onions, Spanish rice, pineapple and grapes.