Tag Archives: Asian

Salad Dressing – gluten-free, vegan, made from tofu, rather addictive!

Posted on by April 8, 2016
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Creamy White Salad Dressing

Creamy White Salad DressingThis recipe is very loosely based on the Moosewood Restaurant house salad dressing — though I have changed it so much that the people at Moosewood might not recognize it.

It is creamy and high in protein and all-around delicious!

The texture is very thick, more like a pudding than like a salad dressing — though it tastes like a salad dressing or like sour cream. It is not sweet like a pudding. I think that pudding-thick salad dressing works really well — it sticks well to salad, even if the leaves are damp. But if pudding-y salad dressing is not your thing, you can add water or oil to thin it to a consistency that works for you.

Creamy White Salad DressingI like this dressing on salad, as a topping on on Golden Crispy Tofu, as an ingredient in Southwestern Twice Baked Potato casserole, as a topping mixed with roasted winter veggies, tossed with roasted eggplant from Riz Bi Har, and as a much healthier replacer for sour cream in other recipes. I find it so addictive that every time I make a batch, once it is out of the blender, I find myself going after every last dab that I can get out of the blender to eat it straight. It is that good!

The high protein content of this dressing means that you can put some on some fresh leafy greens and have a complete meal in minutes, especially if you buy prewashed salad that doesn’t need any rinsing or washing. Or you can dress up a salad by adding any of the following: beans, cubed cooked Creamy White Salad Dressingeggplant, protein items, other veggies, artichoke hearts, nuts, seeds, dried cherries — or whatever else you have handy that could be tossed into a salad.

Yum!

Salad Dressing - gluten-free, vegan, made from tofu, rather addictive!
 
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A creamy, thick, white, vegan, protein-rich, highly addictive salad dressing that goes well with practically everything! Tossed with some leafy greens it makes an awesomely quick meal. Also great in recipes, or as a replacer for sour cream.
Author:
Recipe type: salad dressing
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 block (14.3 ounces) silken tofu (I like Mori-Nu organic)
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2-4 tablespoons canola and/or olive oil
  • optional: a handful of fresh spinach or lettuce or other greens (makes dressing a gorgeous green!)
Instructions
  1. No need to measure ingredients -- guessing at quantities is fine. Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
  2. As written, the recipe makes a thick, creamy, pudding-like dressing. If you prefer a thinner dressing, add some water or oil and blend again.
  3. Serve over anything.
  4. Yum!
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This recipe has been shared at Gluten-Free Fridays.

Oriental Salad – My kids’ favorite pasta dish. May create tofu lovers!

Posted on by October 17, 2014
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Oriental Salad

This is an Asian-style noodle salad — with tofu so good that it has been known to convert a non-tofu-eater into a tofu lover.

This recipe is based on a recipe from The Horn of the Moon Cookbook by Ginny Callan. It has some of the most addictively delicious tofu I’ve ever eaten. The tofu from this recipe is excellent used as an ingredient in other recipes too.

Two of my kids specially ask for this recipe as their very favorite dinner.

I usually double this recipe when I cook it, for leftovers.

Oriental Salad - A pasta dish that may convert a tofu-hater into a tofu lover
 
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This is an Asian-style noodle salad -- with tofu so good that it has been known to convert a non-tofu-eater into a tofu lover.
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Vaguely Asian
Serves: serves 4
Ingredients
Marinade
  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons tamari (good soy sauce San-J has gluten-free options)
Salad
  • 1 pound of extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 tablespoon tamari
  • 12 ounces pasta (I like Field Day Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti)
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil (the brown “toasted” kind) (do not substitute any other oil)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approximately 1/2 lemon)
  • 6 scallions, chopped (optional)
  • 1 cup snow peas, sliced in half on an angle, or two stalks of celery, sliced
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, or 1/8 to 1/4 cup of dried parsley
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Cut the tofu into half-inch cubes. Place it in a watertight container with a lid that fits well. Add the marinade ingredients. Put the lid on the container. Gently turn it over, to mix the marinade with the tofu, then turn it right-side up again. Let it sit for a few minutes while you start the pasta, occasionally turning the container over to mix the marinade with the tofu (but leave the container standing right-side-up to prevent leaks).
  2. Start heating water to boil for the pasta.
  3. Use a slotted spoon to remove the tofu from the container and put it into a nonstick frying pan on the stove. Heat the tofu along with the ginger, stirring regularly to brown the different sides of the tofu. When the tofu is brown and crispy, pour 1 tablespoon of tamari over it and stir for 1 minute more.
  4. Cook the noodles in boiling water as directed on the package.
  5. Meanwhile, chop the vegetables and put them into a big serving bowl. Juice the lemon and set aside the lemon juice.
  6. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the bowl. Immediately stir in the sesame oil and lemon juice. Toss well and serve.
  7. Everything else tends to burrow beneath the noodles, so when you serve this you should dig down in the bowl to get some of everything.
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International Enchiladas

Posted on by October 27, 2014
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International Enchiladas

international_enchiladasThis is a special occasion recipe. It takes time to prepare, but the results are very much worth it – it is a truly wonderful food, quite possibly the yummiest dinner recipe I’ve ever made.

I invented this recipe when I found a yummy-looking recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas on the Internet, back in the 1980s when nobody had heard of the Internet.  I converted the recipe to be vegetarian by replacing the chicken with an addictively delicious recipe for Fried Spiced Tofu, from the cookbook “Diet for a Small Planet“.  And I replaced the chili powder with curry powder, which blends harmoniously with the creamy white sauce for a fabulous taste combination.  This recipe was originally called Tofuladas.

I’ve been making this recipe for so long that it has a lot of variations included.  I usually make it corn-free, dairy-free, tomato-free, and it can be vegan.  Every one of these variations is delicious!

Serve this with a salad, or cooked broccoli.

Cooking time: 70 minutes + a few minutes of broiling — but worth the time it takes!

International Enchiladas
 
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My favorite special-occasion dinner! Salty, curried tofu, rolled up in tortillas, with a cheesey sauce that can be vegan, and a creamy curried white sauce on top. Yum!!!
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: International
Serves: serves 4-6
Ingredients
Tofu:
  • 2 pounds tofu
Red Sauce:
  • 1 can Campbell's tomato soup OR 1/2 of a little box of Imagine Organic Creamy Tomato Soup OR (1-2 tablespoons of pesto + 1 cup baby carrots, rinsed, 3 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1/4 cup water -- blended until smooth)
  • 1-2 tablespoons curry powder
White Sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 tablespoons potato starch or flour
  • 1/2 cup nondairy milk, or cow's milk, or homemade cashew milk, or water
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt, or more nondairy milk
  • salt
  • pepper
Cheese:
  • 6 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 cups), shredded OR 1 cup of "lasagna cheese"
Tortillas:
  • 20 corn tortillas OR two batches of crepes
Instructions
Tortillas:
  1. If you are making tortillas, start on that first.
Tofu:
  1. Cook 1 1/3 blocks of tofu according to the Golden Curried Tofu recipe. Do not wash out the pot; you'll be using it for the white sauce.
Cheese:
  1. While the other parts cook, grate the cheese, if you are using cheese, or use the remaining 2/3 of a pound of tofu in my vegan lasagna cheese recipe.
Red Sauce:
  1. If you are using tomato soup, mix the soup, curry powder, and about 1/4 soup can of water. If you are using the blended mixture with the pesto and carrots, also blend in the curry powder.
White Sauce:
  1. Put the oil in the pot you used for the fried spiced tofu. Add the potato starch or flour and stir to mix thoroughly.
  2. If you are using flour, stir and heat it until it is bubbly. (Potato starch does not need heating.)
  3. Stir in the milk and water.
  4. Simmer slowly until thickened.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Stir in either unsweetened yogurt or more milk.
  7. Simmer until heated through.
  8. Remove from heat.
To assemble:
  1. Set out a 9x13 inch baking pan and an 8x8 inch baking pan. Take a tortilla and spread a dinnertable tablespoon of red sauce on one side. Turn the tortilla over and repeat. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the tofu down the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the cheese over the tofu. Roll up the tortilla and place seam side down in the pan. Repeat for each tortilla.
  2. Pour the white sauce over the enchiladas, and sprinkle with any remaining cheese.
  3. Place under the broiler until hot and bubbly and the cheese is starting to brown. Serve immediately. This dish reheats nicely.
  4. Serves 4 to 6.
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