Red Bell Pepper Tofu

This was an experiment that occurred when I was cutting up a red pepper and it was really juicy. I thought "You know what would be good? Red pepper sauce with my tofu." So this recipe was born.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces medium or firm tofu
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into small pieces
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• olive oil for frying
• rice vermicelli

Ingredients for the sauce

• The other half of the red bell pepper (kept whole)
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons ketchup

Directions

1. Put a pot of water on to boil (for the rice noodles). Cook as directed on the package.
2. Heat up a pan on high with about half an inch of oil on the bottom.
3. Drain the tofu and cut it into cubes
4. Once the oil is hot, fry the tofu until golden brown (2 to 4 minutes on each side). Let drain on a paper towel.
5. Pour the oil into a jar and set aside.
6. Saute the bell pepper, onion, and garlic in the same pan. Set aside.
7. In a small pot, boil the other half of the bell pepper. 
8. Once boiling, add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir until incorporated.
9. Turn the heat back on under the bell peppers and onions. Add the tofu to heat it up (it'll most likely be cold).
10. Once hot, add half of the sauce to the pan.
11. Pour the other half of the sauce onto the vermicelli.
12. Serve with the tofu/veggies on top of the noodles.
13. Enjoy.

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Veganized New Joe's Special (Tofu, Mushrooms, Spinach)

Have you guys ever heard of New Joe's Special? It comes from a restaurant in California called Joe's.  Joe's became New Joe's after it burned down. The special at New Joe's was a dish with lots of spinach and ground beef and egg. My mom figured out the recipe, and made it all the time. I grew up eating it. But ever since I've gone vegan I've craved it. Not in the OH I NEED MEAT kind of way but in the "this is a comforting food from my childhood" kind of way. So I decided to veganize it. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 16 ounces tofu
• 6 cups of baby spinach
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 2 cups water
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Mix the flax seed and 6 tablespoons water in a bowl. Put in the fridge to gel.
2. Drain the tofu by putting it between two paper towels and pressing out the water. 
3. Chop the tofu into cubes. 
4. Fry the tofu in the oil in a large pan on high heat.
5. Once it has browned, add the mushrooms and garlic.
6. Stir until brown. 
7. Add spinach and stir.
8. Take the bowl of flax seed water out of the fridge and add the nutritional yeast. Stir in the rest of the water slowly until the nutritional yeast/flax is dissolved. 
9. Move the spinach/tofu/mushrooms mixture to one side of the pan and add the nutritional yeast to the other side.
10. Slowly incorporate the two sides of the pan. 
11. Stir until the nutritional yeast is no longer sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add salt and pepper and serve!

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Tofu Scramble on Toast with Avocado

This recipe is a result of having soft tofu and not knowing what to do with it. I normally cook with firm, so when my mom came back from the grocery store with soft, I had to make the most of it!

Ingredients:

• 8-10 ounces soft tofu (you can use firm, but soft tends to "scramble" better
• handful spinach
• handful broccoli
• handful, yellow squash
• small tomato
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 pieces of bread, toasted
• half an avocado
• olive oil

Directions

1. Prepare tofu by draining it of any excess water. Break into small pieces. They don't have to be even. 
2. Chop broccoli, squash, and tomato.
3. Combine cumin, thyme, salt, and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Slice avocado, set aside.
5. Preheat a pan over high heat. Add a little oil to the pan once heated.
6. Place tofu in pan and begin "scrambling:" Stir the tofu with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure it doesn't stick to the pan.
7. Once the tofu is golden brown, add broccoli, squash and tomato.
8. Stir until broccoli is bright green, but not brown.
9. Add spinach and mix well. It will drastically decrease in size.
10. Pour water, cumin, thyme mixture over the tofu and vegetables.
11. Pour the nutritional yeast evenly over tofu and vegetables. Stir until coated.
12. Toast the bread.
13. Once the bread has toasted and the tofu mixture is sufficiently coated with spices and nutritional yeast, prepare your plate by putting the tofu mixture onto one slice of bread. Add sliced avocado. 
14. Can be eaten as a sandwich or with a fork.
15. Bon appétit! 

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Cashew Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe is perfect if you're craving Kraft mac n' cheese. Kids and adults alike, will love it. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews (I soaked them for 12 hours but it isn’t necessary, just use more almond milk)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 to 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, depending on the consistency of the cashews
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt, to taste
• Steamed veggies of your choice (I used carrots and zucchini but I’ve used broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms before. They’re all good)
• Pasta of your choice. It really doesn’t matter what kind. I’ve used elbow, spaghetti, and the curly kind. Gluten free works too, but is optional.
• 4 to 8 ounces tofu (optional)

Procedure:

1. Start the water boiling for the pasta.
2. Start the vegetables steaming.
3. Blend cashews in a blender until smooth, adding almond milk, vinegar, and lemon juice as you go. (if you have an awesome blender this should be easy. If not—like me—you might have to only put in a few cashews at first, and add a few at a time. I have a crappy blender).
4. Add garlic, blend
5. Blend in mustard, nutritional yeast, and salt.
6. The water will probably have boiled at this point. Put in the pasta.
7. Cook tofu however you want. I fried it in a little bit of olive oil. You can bake or grill it if you’d like. 
8. Once the pasta is done, drain. Put the pasta in a large bowl (or back in the pot you cooked it in. Add the cheese sauce, veggies and tofu to the pasta, mix well.

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Tofu Scramble

Have you ever missed scrambled eggs? I know I have. I don't miss causing suffering of hens or the killing of male chicks anything, but I miss the quickness of just whipping something up that only takes a few minutes. Miss it no more, for I bring you tofu scramble! This stuff is addicting. Whenever I make it, I wish I had made more. The great thing about it is that it is so versatile. You can add veggies to it, use different spices, eat it plain, put it in a wrap. You can eat it for any meal, or just a snack. I can't promote tofu scramble enough!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces soft tofu
• 2 tbs nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tsps cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• Olive oil

Procedure:

1. Drain and press tofu. Because it is soft, it will most likely crumble and be squishy but that doesn't matter. 
2. Cut up tofu in whatever size pieces you feel like. They can be all the same size, or different sizes. They'll break apart when you cook them anyway.
3. Fry the tofu with a little bit of oil in a frying pan. Stir often.
4. Once tofu starts to brown, add seasonings and nutritional yeast. Stir to incorporate. 
5. It's ready to eat as is, or put it on a sandwich or something! 

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Chinese-Style Tofu Noodle Soup

This was ridiculously simple to make. It only took a few minutes. And Kate, my six-year-old cousin (who is rebelling against me by refusing all vegan food all the time) loved it. She kept going "Christy this is so good. Can you teach me how to make it? It's so good! Put it on your blog!" 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• 16 ounces firm or extra firm tofu
• 8 ounces rice vermicelli
• 3 cups broccoli, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• Olive oil

Procedure:

1. Drain tofu and press between two paper towels to eliminate water.
2. Fry over high heat in a little bit of olive oil until gold brown.
3. Add garlic and ginger to the tofu. Set aside.
4. In a medium sized pot, combine broth, water, soy sauce, and vinegar.
5. Add tofu/garlic/ginger, broccoli and vermicelli to the pot.
6. Cook on high heat until vermicelli is soft, and broccoli is cooked. 

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Tofu Black Bean Wrap

Today's lunch was so delicious, I wanted seconds!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tortilla 
• 1 Red bell pepper
• 1 small onion
• 2 small mushrooms
• 1/4 cup canned black beans, drained
• Cayenne pepper
• 1 Tomato
• Hummus or your spread of choice
• Tofu 
• A couple pieces of lettuce or kale
• Olive oil

Procedure:

1. Drain for slices of tofu about the size of dominoes. Press between two paper towels to get all the water out.
2. In a frying pan, fry tofu until golden-brown with a little bit of olive oil. Set aside.
3. Cut up red pepper, mushroom, and onion. 
4. In a frying pan, heat some olive oil on medium to high heat. Once hot, add onions and fry until translucent. 
5. Add peppers and mushrooms to the frying pan, stirring until cooked (mushrooms will have turned dark brown and peppers won't have the raw crunch anymore, and be slightly translucent). 
6. Add beans and stir. Add cayenne pepper and other spices according to taste.
7. Spread hummus in the middle of the tortilla.  Cut up tomato and put on top of hummus. Pile the tofu, lettuce, and black bean mixture on top.
8. Roll up and serve! 

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