Vegan Peanut Tofu with Baby Bok Choy

This super yummy recipe came from my friend and colleague, Elise, and she originally got the recipe from This Can't Be Tofu! by Deborah Madison. I modified the recipe just slightly and served it with steamed baby bok choy; my recipe for that can be found here.

Ingredients (makes 3-4 servings)
-1 pkg firm tofu (pressed)
-2 T canola or peanut oil
-2 scallions, sliced diagonally

~1/4 C chopped cashew

-Rice (I used the 10 minute boil in bag kind) or noodles

Peanut Sauce
-1/4 Cup soy sauce
-1/4 Cup peanut putter (I often use a little more)
-2 T rice wine vinegar
-2 T sugar
-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

-1 clove garlic, minced
-2 scallions, chopped (I forgot these)
-1/3 Cup water

Steps
1. Press your tofu for about 30 minutes. I do this by cutting it into about 6 slices and then sandwiching the slices in between a dish towel. Next I place something heavy (like a stack of books) on the tofu to press out the water. Once drained, cut the tofu into bite-size pieces.
2. While tofu is draining, make the peanut sauce. To make sauce, put all sauce ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend.
3. Heat oil in skillet. Fry until golden, then flip over and fry until golden on other side
4. Pour peanut sauce over tofu. Simmer until the sauce thickens to desired consistency. Don't let it get too thick because it will thicken a little after you take it off the burner.

5. Scatter scallions and cashews over top. Serve over noodles or rice and with a side of baby bok choy.

Zucchini Boats

I have to thank a friend from work, Pam, for this quick, easy, and delicious recipe. It works great as a side dish; we've served it with pasta or burgers, or even just a salad if you wanted a light meal.

Ingredients
-4 zucchini
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-1/2 C mozzarella (any kind of cheese that melts will work)
~1/3 C bread crumbs
~20 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
~2 T EVOO
-salt and pepper to taste

(Preheat oven to 350)
Steps
1. Cut your zucchinis in half, lengthwise; scoop out seeds with a spoon.
2. Lightly grease a large pan. Lay out your zucchinis and lightly baste them with EVOO and the minced garlic.
3. Add the tomatoes, then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Salt and pepper everything.

4. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, then remove and top everything with cheese and cook for broil until cheesy is browned and bubbly.

The ODB Grilled Cheese

Little known fact: I used to be a big Wu-Tang fan---in fact, my 21st birthday was spent at a Wu-Tang Clan concert---hence the inspiration for the name of this sandwich. However, in the case of this sandwich, ODB stands for Onion-Dill-Bacon. This sandwich was incredibly flavorful, thanks to the caramelized onions (cooked in bacon grease :), and it was great paired with a bow of tomato soup.

Ingredients (makes 3 sandwiches)
-6 slices good bread (I recommend oatmeal)
-15 slices Dill Havarti cheese (5 per sandwich)
-6 slices bacon
-1 red onion
-Tomato soup (optional)
-3 T butter
-3 T mozzarella

Steps
1. Cook your bacon until crispy. Remove bacon slices and set aside, reserving bacon grease.

2. Thinly slice your red onion. Using your bacon pan with reserved bacon grease, saute the red onion for about 6 minutes on medium. Once the slices start to brown, turn down the heat to low-medium and cook onion slices for about 20 minutes or until caramelized. You'll want to watch them and stir them about every 30 seconds.

3. Butter the outsides of your bread. Layer the sandwich with the dill Havarti, bacon, caramelized onions, and 1 T mozzarella.

 4. Grill in a panini press, George Foreman, or large skillet until golden brown.

5. Enjoy with a bowl of tomato soup.

Lemon Dill Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup

I've always liked the idea of chicken noodle soup, but I hate overcooked celery and carrots. Given these two mushy culprits generally prominently feature in chicken noodle soup I typically stay away from it. However, a friend was under the weather, and I do think there is something comforting about chicken noodle soup, so I decided to reinvent it with ingredients I like (leeks, shiitakes, and dill). The lemons and dill really brightened the flavors and resulted in one of the most flavorful (and celery free!) chicken noodle soups I've ever had. Blog win!

Ingredients (makes 8-10 servings)
-1.5 package meatless "chicken" tenders, such as Quorn 
-8-10 C vegetable broth (I used a mixture of vegetable broth and water + vegetarian bullion cubes to save $)
-1 red onion, diced
-1 sweet yellow onion, diced
-2 leeks, chopped into thin rounds up to the light green part of the leek
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1 package (about 4 oz) fresh shiitake mushrooms, diced
-1 head of fresh dill, finely diced
-juice of two lemons
~8 oz of noodles (I like rotini)
-1 C chopped carrots (optional)
-2 T EVOO

-1/4 C white wine (optional)
-2 bay leaves
-salt and pepper

Steps
1. In a large pot or dutch oven, saute your red onion with EVOO for about 3 minutes. Then add your garlic and saute for another 30 seconds.
2. Add your leeks and saute another few minutes.
3. If you have some white wine, you can add about 1/4 C to deglaze the pan.
4. Add the shiitakes, and saute a couple more minutes. If you're using carrots you can add them in here.

5. Slowly add in 8 C of water and 8 bullion cubes. Add in your bay leaves (don't forget to take them out at the end).
6. Add in your meatless chicken and bring pot to a boil.
7. Add in noodles and cook for about 8 minutes or until al dente.
8. Add in lots of dill (I put in over 1 C), the juice from your two lemons, and salt and pepper to taste.

9. Let simmer for a few more minutes, tasting and adjusting spices as you go.
10. Enjoy (this is great with some crusty, buttered bread)!

Note 1: This will make a lot of leftovers, but the soup seems to get better the next day. However, the noodles will soak up most of the broth so you will probably have to add some water when you reheat. If you want extra flavor you can add in another bullion cube when reheating.

Note 2: My eyes have become increasingly sensitive to raw onion the older I've gotten. I've found that wearing swimming goggles while chopping onions is not only a style statement ;-), but also an eye-saver. 

Grilled Pork Chops and Baby Bok Choy

This was my first time grilling either of these, but the meal turned out great. If you have another person to help you cook, have that person be in charge of the rice. If you don't want to use a grill, I'm sure you could cook the pork chops in a skillet and then you can follow these instructions for sauteed bok choy.

Ingredients
Pork chops
4 boneless pork loin chops
1/4 cup olive oil
3 T soy sauce
1 T steak seasoning
1 clove minced garlic

Baby Bok Choy
-6 heads of baby bok choy
-1.5 T sesame oil, divided
-3 T soy sauce
-3 T mirin (you could sub 2 T sugar and 1 T wine or water if you don't have mirin)
-1 clove minced garlic

Cashew Rice
-1 bag instant brown rice, cooked as directed (I used the 10 minute boil in bag kind)
-1 T butter
-4 T chopped cashews

Steps
1. Mix olive oil, soy sauce, steak seasoning, and garlic in a small bowl and pour into a one-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork chops and set the bag in a baking dish. Marinate in the refrigerator for 3-8 hours (no more than 8). Flip the bag half-way through marinating.

2. Light your coals (I put enough down to get the temp up to 400).
3. Slice the bok choy heads in half vertically, from leaf to stem. Chop the leafy tops off (so they don't char on the grill). Chiffonade the leafy tops and set aside. Put the bok choy in water in a large bowl for about 10 minutes, to get any dirt off and also to help them steam on the grill. Pat dry. Drizzle with about 1 T sesame oil.

4. Put a pot of water on to boil for the rice.
5. Once coals are ready, put the pork directly over the coals and cover. Cook for about 5-6 minutes (more for thicker chops...mine were about 1/3 inch thick).
6. Flip your chops and put the bok choy on the grill, cut side down. Cover grill.

7. Let chops and bok choy cook another 5-7 minutes.
8. Take chops and bok choy off. Place chops in tented foil and let chops rest 5 minutes. Place bok choy in a serving dish.
9. Go back inside. Your rice should be done now. Put rice in small sauce pot on low; stir in the chopped bok choy leaves, butter, and cashews. Stir until melted.
10. Make bok choy dressing by mixing 3 T mirin, 3 T soy sauce, 1/2 T sesame oil, garlic. Pour bok choy dressing over bok choy.
11. Serve chops and bok choy over rice.

Vegan sweet potato burgers

Someone posted about making these on Facebook and they sounded so good I thought I'd give them a try. When I made them I used 2 sweet potatoes and 2 cans of white beans and added a bit more peanut butter and maple syrup...however, that made about 8 burgers so I reduced the recipe below, which I think will make 4-5 burgers. However, if you want a lot of left-overs you could make the amount I originally did. I froze my left-overs, but have yet to eat them so I can't say how they held up.

Ingredients
-1.5 sweet potatoes
-1 can of white beans
~1-4 to 1/2 C flour
-1.5 T tahini or peanut butter
-1 T maple syrup
-salt & pepper, to taste
~2 C panko
-buns
-2 T EVOO
-avocado (optional)

Steps

1. Cook sweet potatoes. I first poked holes in mine with a fork and then baked them in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes (I turned them half-way through).2. Remove the skins from the sweet potato (being careful not to burn yourself from the steam).

3. Mash together 1 sweet potato, 1 can of white beans, 1/4 C flour, 2 T of tahini or peanut butter, 1 T maple syrup, and seasonings. Add more flour and/or sweet potato as needed to get a slightly firm consistency. Note: the mixture will be pretty goopy.

4. Form patties and coat with panko. Put the patties on foil/wax paper and let firm up in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
5. Add EVOO to a medium-hot pan and fry patties for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and heated through. Top with avocado and serve with a toasted bun.

Stay Tuned!!

Well a lot has been going on the past few months! I wrapped up my internship and accepted a faculty position at a university in the Midwest. I think I'll continue to call the blog "Grad Gastronomy," but I'm technically faculty and no longer a grad student :). Given all this I haven't had much time to post, but I have continued to cook and will be getting some new recipes up in the next week.

Some things to look forward to: We got an awesome new grill as a house warming gift from my mom (thanks, Mom!), and we've already made beer marinated brats with grilled corn and red onion, and blue cheese burgers (recipes coming soon). Also forthcoming are a few new vegan recipes, like sweet potato burgers, which were awesome!

Beet and Quinoa Salad

I used to think I hated beets...turns out I love them! This was a really quick salad to make (though I cheated by using pre-cooked beets) with a lot of great flavor. Big thanks to my friend, Liz, for the recipe.

Ingredients
-1 C dry quinoa (cooked according to package instructions)
-3 beets (or 2 packages precooked baby beets from Trader Joe's)
-1 medium-large cucumber
-8 oz feta cheese crumbles
-1 can white beans
-1/8 C EVOO + 1/4 C red wine vinegar (I used some blood orange EVOO and white pear vinegar I got from this store)
-1 shallot, diced
-fresh pepper (to taste)

Steps

1. If cooking your beets...Wash beats, place on pan (foil lined), with oil/salt/pepper. Roast beets in the oven, 45 mins at 375 degrees.
2. Once beets are cooked and have cooled for about 10 minutes, peel them and dice them.
4. In large bowl, toss cooked quinoa, beets, cucumber, shallot, beans, and feta.
5. Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, and pepper in separate bowl. Pour over the quinoa salad and toss to combine.

Steamed Baby Bok Choy and Grilled Tofu

Wow, it's been way too long since I've posted! I actually have a number of new simple recipes I've made and just need to find the time to write them up. I decided to try this recipe after going to the Wing Lei and in Las Vegas and having some outstanding baby bok choy there.

Ingredients (makes enough for two)
-2 packages of baby bok choy (about 5-6 bunches)
-1 package tofu, pressed and drained (see this link for directions on prepping tofu)
-1 red or orange pepper, Julienned
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 T soy sauce, divided
-2 T water
-2 T sesame oil, divided
-2 T canola oil

Steps

1. About an 30 minutes before you're going to start, press your tofu by wrapping the tofu quarters in a towel or paper towels and setting something heavy on top of it.
2. After 30 minutes, put your tofu slices in a shallow dish and pierce on both sides with a fork. Drizzle 1 T soy and 1 T sesame oil on top and brush slices to completely coat. Let marinate while you continue to prep.

3. Chop your garlic, bell pepper, and baby bok choy. To prep baby bok choy just trim off the ends.

4. Once your tofu is ready, put it on to a grill pan (like a George Foreman) for about 4-5 minutes.
5. In a large sauté pan with a lid, heat 2 T canola oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add garlic and pepper, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
6. Add bok choy and stir carefully to cover with oil, then cook for approximately 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and water, then cover pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes more, until steam begins to escape from beneath the lid of the pan.

7. Uncover and continue to cook until liquid is close to evaporated and stalks are soft to the touch, approximately 3 minutes more.
8. Serve with your grilled tofu and drizzle with sesame oil.

Coconut shrimp salad with grapefruit dressing

(This is an adapted recipe from Cooking Light.) This salad is super refreshing! The creamy avocado, tart grapefruit, and sweet coconut all went really well together. I'll definitely be making this again.

Ingredients (makes enough for 3 large salads)
-18 frozen coconut shrimp
-Head of Romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
-1 avocado, cut into cubes
-1 grapefruit
-1 shallot, finely diced
-2 T EVOO
-1 T sugar
-salt & pepper

Steps
1. Cook shrimp as directed
2. While shrimp is cooking, make dressing. Peel and section grapefruit. (To peel the grapefruit, I cut it in half and then just cut the peel off in pieces with a knife.) Juice 1/3-1/4 of the grapefruit (you want about 1/3 C of juice). Chop the rest of the grapefruit up into small pieces. Add scallion, EVOO, sugar, salt, and pepper to juice and whisk.
3. Make salad by topping lettuce with avocado, grapefruit pieces, shrimp and topping with dressing.

Grilled Tofu and Sauteed Veggies

This recipe takes a little bit of prep time, but once you get everything ready the actual meal comes together in 10 minutes. This is the second time I've made this and the sauce was better than I remembered.

Ingredients
Rice
-Enough brown rice for 3-4 servings (I use Trader Joe's precooked vacuum sealed rice)
-large handful of cashews, roughly chopped
-3 pats of butter (sub oil if vegan)
-1/4 C veggie or chicken broth

-1.5 package of tofu, cut into fourths and pressed
-1/2 C veggie or chicken broth
-1 red bell pepper, julienned
-one red onion, julienned
~10 oz shiitake mushrooms (I did half shiitake, half cremini to save on cost)

-5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
-3 T of soy sauce, divided
-3 T of sesame oil, divided
-1 T honey or brown sugar
-1 T red or white vinegar
-crushed red pepper
-green onion (optional)

To prep
-About an 30 minutes before you're going to start, press your tofu by wrapping the tofu quarters in a towel or paper towels and setting something heavy on top of it.
-After 30 minutes, put your tofu slices in a shallow dish and pierce on both sides with a fork. Drizzle 1 T soy and 1 T sesame oil on top and brush slices completely coat. Let marinate while you continue to prep.

-Chop all your veggies and garlic

Steps
1. Put your rice, butter, 1/4 C broth, and cashews in a small pan and heat covered on low, stirring occasionally.

2. Heat a large pan or wok to medium high and add 1 T sesame oil. Saute onion for about 2-3 minutes, then add the bell pepper and saute for another 3 minutes.
3. Remove onion and pepper from pan and cover to keep warm.

4. Remove tofu from marinade and add to a grill pan or George Foreman. If you don't have either, you can just add it to another pan. You want it to grill for about 3 minutes on each side (or about 6 minutes total if you're using a Foreman).
5. Add another T sesame oil and then saute your mushrooms and garlic for about 3 minutes.
6. Add 1/2 C broth, 1 T honey, 1 T vinegar, 2 T soy, couple dashes of crushed red pepper to pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes or until sauce thickens.

7. Turn off everything and assemble your plates with rice, tofu, veggies, and top with mushroom sauce. Garnish with green onions if desired.

Adult Grilled Cheese

Super easy and nothing really new about this, but this sandwich, paired with a bowl of soup, has been my go to as it gets colder.

Ingredients
-4 pieces of good bread (I recommend Trader Joe's Tuscan Pane)
-2 big handfuls of arugala
-2 roma tomatoes, sliced very thin
-2 pieces of cheese (I've been using reduced fat havarti)
-2 T of balsamic vinegar
-2 T butter

Steps
1. Lightly butter the outsides of the bread.
2. Lightly drizzle a little balsamic on the insides of two pieces of bread.
3. Assemble your sandwiches with a piece of cheese, a handful of arugala, and several tomato slices.

4. Grill sandwich in a large pan or on something like a George Foreman/panini press.

The Dillbeani

My aunt Gail came up with the idea for this drink after trying some of my Dill Beans and I have to say, it made for the best martini ever!

Ingredients
-Tito's vodka
-dry vermouth
-Dill bean pickling juice
-dill beans (click link for recipe)
-pickled pearl onions (optional...I added peal onions in with my dill beans the last time I made them so I could have them for a garnish)

Steps
1. Mix 2 parts vodka with 1/2 part vermouth and 1 part dill bean juice. Garnish with dill beans and pickled onions.

And as my neighbor Ken would say, "Martinis are a like a woman's breasts: 1 is not enough and 3 is too many."