Glory Bowl (Vegan)

One day I was lamenting about not having any fast and healthy recipes for weeknight dinners.  We always resort to mac n cheese... anyone else?  My friend of mine offered up this recipe.  I was a little wary and only because I feared it would taste too... hippy-dippy healthy.  I was pleasantly surprised!

There is a bit of prep work, but it's very easy, and once you have everything ready you can throw together a meal in record time.  I was in luck that the Husband was cooking up some tofu for a favorite - Tofu & Veggie Stir Fry.  So I batted my eyelashes and asked that he cook up another package.  Cooking the brown rice was a snap because we have a rice maker.  That only left the dressing.

When I set out all of the ingredients for the dressing, I thought it seemed like an odd collection of things.  Tossed it in the blender and bam, done.  I dipped in a spoon to taste it, like a good chef, and nearly fell over from the strength of flavors.  Did I do something wrong?  I only forgot the water.  Oops.  Needless to say, a little goes a long way with this dressing.  Tread carefully!

It seems very unassuming, but the combination of the ingredients and the dressing come together wonderfully.  It was tasty, healthy, very satisfying, and as I hoped - easy.  It's also very flexible in your preference of veggies, so you can adjust it to your tastes.  In fact, next time I think I'll also add some chopped apple, for a bit of added sweetness.  This has earned a place in my lunch/dinner rotation!

Glory Bowl
(from Whitewater Cooks)
Serves 4

1 cup dry brown rice
Baby spinach
Shredded carrots
1 can julienned beets (or you could shred raw carrots)
Mini sweet peppers (Not in original recipe, but I love them and it tasted great)
1 pkg extra firm tofu
Toasted almonds (or your favorite nut)

Dressing:
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil (original recipes calls for 1 1/2 cups, which seems extreme!)
2 Tbsp almond butter or tahini paste (I used tahini, since I had it)

Cook brown rice in your preferred method.
Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in wok over medium-high heat.  Add tofu, and cook until golden brown.  Transfer to a plate (and set on paper towels to drain if you're concerned about excess oil).

Put all dressing ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  Store in airtight container in the fridge.

To serve, place 1/2 cup cooked brown rice in bowl.  Top with 1/4 cooked tofu (warmed), and layer with veggies and toasted almonds.  Pour dressing on top just before serving.

Enjoy!

Tofu & Veggie Stir Fry

I've been posting a lot of sweets lately, whoops... How about a healthy meal?  This recipe has been a great go-to meal for us this past year.  We've tweaked a few things here and there and it just keeps getting better.  A solid, healthy, tasty choice!

The husband found the perfect use for law books - pressing tofu!

The original recipe calls for coating the tofu in cornstarch and then pan frying it.  That worked, and tasted good, but we prefer pan frying it with no coating.  You still get a great crispy and golden brown outside without the mess and hassle of cornstarch.

We had a supervisor during the cooking of this meal.  I don't think tofu is the protein of choice with felines, however.

This recipe would easily be made vegetarian/vegan if you used veggie broth instead of chicken broth.  And it reheats well for lunch the next day, which is preferable in all of my recipes as I'm a huge fan of leftovers!  I've also induced lunch envy among coworkers with this dish, muahahaha.

Tofu & Veggie Stir Fry
(adapted from Eating Well)
Makes 4 servings

Sauce
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. rice wine
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch, divided
2 Tbsp & 1 tsp. sugar
Crushed red pepper to taste

Stir Fry
1 14 oz. pkg extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
6 c. veggie mix of broccoli, carrots, onion
3 Tbsp. water

1 c. uncooked red quinoa
1 1/4 c. water or chicken broth

Drain tofu and cut into cubes.  Sprinkle with salt and set aside.

Combine broth, rice wine, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar & crushed red pepper and set aside.

Rinse quinoa thoroughly.  Put quinoa and water (or chicken broth) in pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 30-35 minutes.  Fluff with a fork when done.  For more tips on how to cook quinoa perfectly, click HERE.

While the quinoa is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp. oil in wok over medium-high heat.  Add tofu, and cook until golden brown.  Transfer to a plate (and set on paper towels to drain if you're concerned about excess oil).

Reduce heat to medium.  Add remaining oil, garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant (30 sec.)  Add veggies and water.  Cover and cook, until tender crisp.  Stir in broth mixture.  Cook until sauce has thickened.  Return tofu to pan.  Serve over red quinoa.

Enjoy!