I previously wrote that I wanted to try and remove dairy and eggs from my diet by introducing one day a week where I would go without them and find alternatives. Well today marks my first attempt.
Tofu is something I've wanted to experiment with, whenever I've cooked it before I've dumped it in a wok and hoped for the best, but its always turned out to be a tastless blob. So today I used it in a couple of recipes to try and master the art of cooking it.
Oil
Red onion
Broccoli
Chesnut mushrooms
Firm Tofu
Nutmeg
Turmeric
Basil
Soy Milk
Nutritional Yeast
Salt and pepper
Method:
Heat oil in a pan and saute mushrooms and onion over a low heat.
Part boil broccoli then add to pan until cooked.
Blend the tofu, nutmeg, turmeric, basil, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and soy milk until smooth.
Mix tofu mixture and veggies and pop into your pastry lined flan tin.
Bake in the oven for around 30 mins.
Verdict:
I was suprised by just how easy this was to put together, I thought it would be much more challenging. I did have a bit of a fight with the pastry, I used jus-rol shortcust ready rolled and even though there enough, it was in a long rectangle shape so I had to squish it together and re-roll so it was round and covered the flan dish. I didnt have a rolling pin so I had to use a glass!
I was very excited about trying this, it looked great and I was hoping it tasted great too. I wasn't disappointed. The texture was just like normal quiche, you would never know this was tofu. It tasted great, although I found it was a touch bland, probably due to it lacking cheese. Next time I will season it a bit more and possibly add more nutritional yeast or a vegan cheese subsitute.
I served this with a baby leaf and watercress salad, dressed with cider vinegar, and basil crushed potatoes (boiled potatoes tossed with a fresh basil and olive oil dressing).
So far so good, I'm really pleased with all the meals I made today, if its this easy all the time then it won't be long before dairy and eggs are gone for good!
Tofu is something I've wanted to experiment with, whenever I've cooked it before I've dumped it in a wok and hoped for the best, but its always turned out to be a tastless blob. So today I used it in a couple of recipes to try and master the art of cooking it.
Brekkie: Marmite tofu scramble on toast
I picked up this idea from the Vegan Dad blog, and it is essentially the vegan, tofu version of scrambled eggs. My boyfriend always added marmite to scrambled eggs, so I decided this would be a great way to add a unique twist to this dish.
Ingredients:
Firm Tofu
Marmite
Turmeric
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Mustard
Salt and Pepper
Oil
Method:
Heat oil in pan, drain tofu and crumble into pan, cooking gently on a low heat for a couple of minutes.
Add rest of ingredients except marmite, stirring to prevent tofu from sticking.
When tofu has lost its watery content add marmite to taste.
Verdict:
Pretty simple and easy to cook, although I had fun attempting to get the tofu out the box, ending up with a mushy mess in my hands!
It tasted pretty much identical to actual marmite scrambled egg and its texture was spot on too. I tasted before the marmite went in too, and while not an exact match for scrambled eggs it tasted just as good. Yum Yum. I may cook this for my boyfriend and see if he even notices the difference!
Lunchies: Basic Italian pasta topped with Tesco's soya mild cheese
I've cooked this before, an easy basic italian tomato pasta, but this time I added vegan cheese on top.
Ingredients:
Onions
Peppers
Tinned Tomatoes
Oil
Garlic Granules
Fresh Basil
Dried Pasta
Vegan cheese (Tesco free from mild soya aka sheese by bute island)
Method:
Heat the oil in a pan, add chopped onions and peppers and saute slowly over a low heat.
After 20 mins when onions and peppers are caramelised add tinned tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and basil.
Cook pasta according to packet.
Mix pasta and sauce and top with grated soya cheese.
Verdict:
You can't really go wrong with a basic tomato pasta, its easy to cook, satisfying, tasty and fills a gap. The soya cheese was slightly unusual, it didnt quite taste the same as normal cheese but it was still very tasty and definitely similar. This dish would taste great with a soya cream added to the sauce.
Din Dins: Broccoli and mushroom tofu quiche, served with a side salad and basil crushed potatoes
Now this would be adventurous for me. I can barely cook, and considering I've never even cooked a normal quiche let alone a vegan version it seemed I would be doomed for disaster. The idea came from here, with the addition of nutritional yeast to help give a cheesy flavour.
Ingredients:
Shortcrust pastryOil
Red onion
Broccoli
Chesnut mushrooms
Firm Tofu
Nutmeg
Turmeric
Basil
Soy Milk
Nutritional Yeast
Salt and pepper
Method:
Heat oil in a pan and saute mushrooms and onion over a low heat.
Part boil broccoli then add to pan until cooked.
Blend the tofu, nutmeg, turmeric, basil, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and soy milk until smooth.
Mix tofu mixture and veggies and pop into your pastry lined flan tin.
Bake in the oven for around 30 mins.
Verdict:
I was suprised by just how easy this was to put together, I thought it would be much more challenging. I did have a bit of a fight with the pastry, I used jus-rol shortcust ready rolled and even though there enough, it was in a long rectangle shape so I had to squish it together and re-roll so it was round and covered the flan dish. I didnt have a rolling pin so I had to use a glass!
I was very excited about trying this, it looked great and I was hoping it tasted great too. I wasn't disappointed. The texture was just like normal quiche, you would never know this was tofu. It tasted great, although I found it was a touch bland, probably due to it lacking cheese. Next time I will season it a bit more and possibly add more nutritional yeast or a vegan cheese subsitute.
I served this with a baby leaf and watercress salad, dressed with cider vinegar, and basil crushed potatoes (boiled potatoes tossed with a fresh basil and olive oil dressing).
So far so good, I'm really pleased with all the meals I made today, if its this easy all the time then it won't be long before dairy and eggs are gone for good!
