Tofu Salad: Surprisingly Incredible

I bought a few blocks of tofu a couple of weeks ago, saw this recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook, felt skeptical, but decided to go for it anyway since I already had nearly every ingredient. Good choice.

Tofu Salad

1 cake firm tofu
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp light or white miso
3 Tbsp prepared tahini
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots
1 1/2 cups diced red bell peppers (red were too expensive; got green instead)
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1/3 cup chopped scallions
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, basil, or dill (used the basil right off the plant! yes!)

Crumble the tofu. Heat the oil in a non-stick or heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Add the tofu and cook, stirring constantly, until the tofu becomes dry and shrinks slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and fresh lemon juice and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cook for at least 10 minutes.



Meanwhile, whisk together the miso, tahini, mayonnaise, and mustard in a mixing bowl.



Add the carrots, bell peppers, celery, scallions, fresh herbs, and cooled tofu. Allow the flavors to meld for 15 minutes or more and then add salt and pepper to taste.



This salad is fantastic. I can't wait to try it as a sandwich very soon. Also good straight up, right out of the bowl. It took a while to put it all together, and the sauce was a little hard to integrate (honestly, I ended up mushing it all together with my hands to get the sauce to spread evenly between the tofu and veggies), but definitely one I'll make again.

Also, the incredible view from my kitchen today:



What a beautiful, relaxing, cooking-filled weekend.

Saturday of a 3 day weekend = lots of cooking

First, the weekend's market purchases!

Some standard fare (though still always exciting): 2 bags of basil, and a lovely batch of green onions. The basil is from a wonderful nice man who only sells two or three kinds of lettuce and basil. He just sets up a little table with cardboard boxes and puts one head of lettuce on top of each, and then a box for the basil. And the green onions come from an older, very Southern couple that I think is adorable. The wife likes to talk to folks, and the husband likes to make change. As well as a delectable cinnamon bun! This man sells herbs and cinnamon buns out of the back of his pickup. Yum.



And a very exciting, semi-splurge from the market today: a patio tomato plant!



It's blooming now and tomatoes should grow in 70 days. Look out, mid-June! I've never grown tomatoes (or any veggie) before, but the fellow selling them gave me some (hopefully) helpful hints. And check out my basil plant from a few weeks ago! Already repotted and doing just dandy.


For lunch, I wanted to use one of the hunks of tofu I've had in the fridge for a few weeks. This recipe I picked out a while ago and hadn't gotten around to making it. It's described as tasting "just like fried chicken" which I found hard to believe.



"Fried Chicken" Tofu and Gravy from Cookin' Southern Vegetarian Style

Enough olive oil to cover the bottom of your skillet
2 to 3 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 pound tofu, sliced
1/2 cup good-tasting nutritional yeast flakes
2 Tbsp tamari

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the sesame seeds.



While these are heating, dredge each slice of tofu in the nutritional yeast until both sides are generously coated.



When the seeds start to sizzle, arrange the tofu in the skillet. Drizzle the tamari over the top.

Turn the slices and fry on both sides until crispy and brown. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour depending on how you like it.



In my delight to try this dish and my separate focus on sauteeing some spinach and corn and one of today's green onions as a side dish, I completely forgot to make the gravy. Ooops. No wonder there was a ton of sesame seed-oil mixture left in my pan at the end of frying the tofu.



Nonetheless, this fried chicken tofu is seriously good. I mean, it's good in the way that tofu that is fried in oil for several long minutes is always pretty good, but it also has a sharp, southern tang to it that really does resemble fried chicken. I'm impressed. I'll make it again with the gravy, for sure.


I had a craving to do a baking project today (sorry, I know I'm a Jew sinning during Passover, but it had to be done) and had two sweet potatoes on sale from the co-op. Sweet potato muffins it is! I had two recipes to choose from, a Deborah Madison recipe that used molasses (no thanks) and this one, from a cookbook I rarely use though I've had it longer than most of my others.

Sweet Potato Muffins from the 12 Best Foods Cookbook (one of which, no surprise, is sweet potatoes)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil or light olive oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup low-fat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup mashed roasted sweet potato
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds (I left these out)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Place paper liners in the cups of a 6 cup muffin pan. (I buttered by pan and it worked out fine.)

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. In another bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and egg. mix in the yogurt and vanilla. Stir in the carrot and sweet potato. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of the dry ingredients, and mix just until blended. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them to the top. Sprinkle 1 tsp sesame seeds and a few pumpkin seeds over the top of each muffin. (I wasn't sure if I'd like the sesame seeds, so I did some with and some without.)



3. Make 22 to 27 minutes, until the muffins are lightly colored and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then unmold and cool completely on a wire rack.



Um. Yum.



The description of the muffins says they are "almost creamy in the middle" and that is sure true. They are dense but have some give, not too sweet, and feel relatively hearty given all the veggies. Nice!

Carrot-Yogurt Salad

Straight out of The New Moosewood Cookbook:

Carrot-Yogurt Salad

1 lb. carrots, peeled and coarsley grated
2 medium-sized tart apples, grated
1-2 Tbs. lemon juice
1-2 Tbs. honey
Pinch of celery seed (I omitted this)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup firm yogurt

Optional additions:
1 Tbs. poppy seeds or toasted sesame seeds (sesame seeds: check)
1/4 cup minced almonds or cashews, lightly toasted (almonds: check)
1/2 cup very finely minced celery (check)
a handful of raisins or currants (raisins: check)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (check)
1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped pineapple (no go)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill.



This recipe definitely makes you appreciate the delight of the food processor grating option. Hallelujah. I love this for breakfast or snack. And with the optional additions, it's a little more interesting than my old standard carrots-yogurt-raisins-pineapple salad. Crunchy, nutty, good.

Paneer Makhani: At Attempt

Paneer is perhaps my favorite food. It is the tart Indian cheese that magically does not melt when fried, and resembles a hearty, chewy tofu, but packed with delicious dairy flavor. At Banjara, my preferred Indian establishment just off Curry Row in Manhattan, they make an absolutely incredible dish called Paneer Makhani, a deep, beautiful red saffron sauce that I am always trying and always failing to replicate. At Haveli in Middletown, CT, the same dish was called Shaahi Paneer.

I buy paneer whenever it is available from the lesbian cheese farmers from Chapel Hill Creamery. It keeps a long time, slices well, and most importantly, fries up great.





Here's my most recent attempt at Paneer Makhani. I had recently bought some paneer from the market and found this recipe online with the help of Google.

Paneer Makhani from Archana's Kitchen

2 cups paneer cubes/ 250 grams ready paneer packet or Home Made Paneer
2 cups freshly pureed tomatoes (choose red tomatoes)
¼ cup thick cream (can substitute with low fat milk)
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon garam masala powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon kasuri methi (fenugreek)
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon Vegetable/Sunflower oil
Salt to taste

Grind the onions, garlic and ginger into a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan; sauté the onion paste. Once they turn mild golden color, turmeric powder, cumin powder, cardamom powder and sauté for a few seconds.



Add the tomato puree and simmer until the tomato puree thickens. (I put mine all in the food processor at this point, just to make it as smooth as possible.)

Add cream, honey and salt and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Add the paneer (I always fry mine up first) to the above makhani. Add kasuri methi and simmer for few minutes.



This version of the dish was good, though of course never as amazing as my Banjara and Haveli counterparts seem to make it. I think I would cut back a bit on the cardamom next time -- it was easy to pick it out as a stronger spice above all the others when eating it.



But really, could fried cheese ever be bad?

Crunchy Peanut Slaw

Yum. I've never been a big coleslaw fan, given their typical overly mayonnaise sweetness, but saw this recipe with the Asian-y style dressing (shout out to toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar) and cilantro and knew it would be a big hit. Cabbage-based slaws and salads are totally growing on me, thanks to Smitten Kitchen's apple cabbage walnut salad.

Crunchy Peanut Slaw from The Kitchn

Crunchy Peanut Slaw
1 big bowl of slaw, serves at least 8

1 medium head green cabbage, outer leaves removed
1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts
1 bunch green onions
1 cup chopped cilantro (about two big handfuls unchopped)
Salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/2 cup light oil, like canola
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce (or more, to taste)

Shred the cabbage very finely. The fineness of the shredded cabbage is really what makes this salad; you want it in in threads, almost, and with the threads chopped into bite-size lengths.


A good opportunity to practice thinly shredding the cabbage.

Toss with the peanuts in a large bowl. Chop the scallions, including the green and white parts. Toss the scallions and chopped cilantro with the cabbage, seasoning very lightly with salt and pepper.

Whisk the dressing until emulsified, then taste and adjust to your own preferences of sweetness and saltiness.

Toss with the cabbage. Garnish with a few more peanuts and serve.



So easy. So good. And this recipe seriously makes a ton of slaw.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The farmer's market is in full bloom, and I absolutely love it. I look forward to waking up early on Saturday morning, walking down to the end of Fidelity Street, and entering the green, green, Carrboro greenmarket with its tents and hippies and kids on the playground and plants and baked goods and glorious veggies.

My bounty from this week: a bunch of hardy spinach and a cute little basil plant for the kitchen window.



And from last week: kale, radishes, tomatoes, basil, and paneer cheese.





I'll make my first batch of pesto this season (exciting!) from the basil later today -- I ran out of garlic this week and need to get some more from the co-op today.

I made an easy little salad from that first spring tomato, with olive oil and balsamic and whatever dried Italian herbs I had in the spice cabinet. They sure taste a million times better than any grocery store tomato ever sold.




I followed a Deborah Madison recipe for radishes that turned out fine, but not sure that I'd make it again. Radishes always look so unbelievably beautiful that I buy them, but sometimes am not sure how to prepare them best. I don't think this recipe was the answer. I think I should stick to sauteeing them until crispy, then roasting them a bit. Or maybe its the reverse? Clarification to come.

Deborah Madison's Braised Red Radishes, from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone"

20 plump radishes, red or multicolored
1 to 2 tablespoons of butter
1 shallot, diced
1 teaspoon chopped thyme or several pinches dried
Salt and pepper

Trim the leaves from the radishes, leaving a bit of the green stems, and scrub them. If the leaves are tender, wash them and set aside. Leave smaller radishes whole and halve or quarter larger ones.

Melt 2 to 3 teaspoons butter in a small saute pan. Add the shallot and thyme and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the radishes, a little salt and pepper, and water just to cover. Simmer until the radishes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the leaves if using and cook one minute more. Remove the radishes to a serving dish. Boil the liquid, adding a teaspoon or more butter if you like, until only 1/4 cup remains. Pour it over radishes and serve.



To me this recipe called out for a grain, so I cooked some quinoa and served the radishes on top.



I'm very much looking forward to next week when the Wednesday afternoon market opens as well; getting to go to the market twice in one week is my idea of foodie heaven.

Red Beans and Rice

I'd promised this recipe for Hilary several weeks ago, and finally got around to making it last week. I used veggie sausage instead of the ham hocks and used simple canola oil instead of bacon grease, but it all was flavorful and spicy and good. It takes forever to cook; I actually started simmering around 3:30pm at my house and then transported the pot to Hilary's so it could keep cooking while we watched basketball. It was ready by halftime.

Red Beans and Rice from Homesick Texan

16 oz. red beans, soaked
1 tablespoon of bacon grease (can substitute canola or olive oil if you prefer)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 pound of andouille sausage, cubed
1/2 cup of parsley, minced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of dried thyme or 1 sprig fresh
1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
Cayenne, salt and black pepper to taste
2 smoked ham hocks
8 cups of chicken broth or water
4 green onions, green part chopped (save the white for another use)
6 cups of cooked rice

Method:
After cleaning and sorting, soak your beans in water overnight.



In a large pot on medium heat, sauté in bacon grease the onion, celery and bell pepper for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sausage to the pot and cook for two minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot except for the green onions.



Turn up the heat to high and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 20 minutes and then turn the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, take off the lid, stir the pot and continue to let it simmer for two hours. You might check back on it every once in a while to make sure there’s still enough liquid in the pot.



At this time, test your beans—they should be soft, but if not, continue to cook on low until they are.

When the beans are ready, with a wooden spoon smash a few of them against the side of the pot—this will make your beans extra creamy.

Pour the beans over rice, and garnish with the green onions. A few shakes of some Louisiana hot sauce such as Tabasco or Crystal is a good addition as well.