Baked Tofu with Spicy Soy Dressing

Yields: A pint or so
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

Simple tofu prep with a simple Asian dressing. Like revenge, this is a dish best served cold.

Get this:

Dressing

• 1/2 cup  onions or scallions, minced
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T lime juice
• A squirt or two of Sriracha

Tofu
A brick of tofu, cubed and baked (Baked Tofu)

Do This:

• Whisk it up.
• Pour over some Baked Tofu.

Eat more plants. Eat more tofu. Eat more Asian-ey.
Be well,
Veg VA

No pictures of this recipe, so instead, enjoy these pictures of Aaron dancing with a pig at the 2014 DC Veg Fest.

Go pig.

Go Aaron.

Dance party.

Baked Tofu

Yield: 2 meals for 2 people
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 40-50 mins

If you struggle with frying your tofu, try baking it. It’s super simple. If you love the texture of tofu at the Whole Foods salad bar or at most restaurants, it’s because they bake it, refrigerate it, and then cook it to order. So take 3-4 bricks on a Sunday and bake them for the week.

Get This:

• A cookie sheet, lightly oiled
• 2 bricks of drained tofu, cubed (How to Cook Tofu)
• S&P

Do This:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Place the cubed tofu on the sheet and season with S&P.
• Bake for 20 mins, flip, and then 20 more mins.
• Let the tofu cool before putting it in the fridge.

Baked tofu demands that you make it because it’s so easy. Don’t be proud. Bake your fu.
Be well,
Veg VA

Here’s your fu.

Slice it like bread.

Make carrot sticks

Turn.

Chop into cubes.

Spicy Sriracha Baked Tofu w/ Tangy Kale

We Three Kings be Stealing the Fu.

Foil or oil to keep it from sticking.

Space the tofu so it cooks quicker.

Black Bean Burgers

Yield: 6-8 Burger Patties
Prep:10 mins
Cook: 8 mins

These burgers satisfy that sandwich craving that we all have. Nothing screams America like a cheeseburger, and veg-heads shouldn’t be left out of the mix.

Get This:

• 3 medium sized potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium carrot, cubed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• ¼ C of Daiya (optional)
• Some slices of Daiya cheese (optional)
• ½ C of frozen peas
• ½ C shrooms, rough chop
• 1 C bread crumbs
• ½ t thyme
• ½ t garlic powder
• ¼ t sage
• 1 t curry powder
• A few fistfuls of flour (We’ll coat the burgers with flour before frying them.)

Do this:

• Rinse, drain and put the black beans in a bowl. Then walk away.
• Fry up all the veggies until a fork can pass through the taters easily.
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, except for the flour.
• Mash it up.
• Make patties, and then cover them with flour and set aside.
• Heat (medium-high) a pan with 3 T of coconut oil.
• Fry the patties for 3 mins on each side.
• Add a slice of Daiya cheese to the top of each patty for the last minute of cooking.

Try This:

A scoop of Guac on top.
Pickle, Mayo and Sriracha
Slices from a Fried Avocado

Do your burger thing, and do it without the beef. Or ham.
Be well,
Veg VA

 

Fried Avocado

If you miss bacon—don’t worry, we’ll get through this together—then a fried avocado will give you that greasy, fatty, salty flavor that you’re missing at your vegan breakfast. We’re not going to waste your time with a long recipe because it’s super simple.

Get This:

• A couple of ripe avocados, sliced in half and pitted
• 3-4 T of coconut oil
• 1 T of Vegenaise for each avocado half
• Sea salt (Use the good stuff. You deserve it.)

Do This:

Heat (medium-high) up the coconut oil in a nonstick pan.
Gingerly place the avocados skin side up in the oil. Don’t be a tool; use some tongs.
Do nothing for 3 minutes.
Remove the avocados and set on a plate skin side down.
Scoop a spoonful of Vegenaise in each avocado half and then sprinkle with salt.

This recipe doesn’t seem to be healthy, so don’t do it every day. But on a Sunday brunch with friends, this side will make your tofu scramble that much better.

Save a pig. Fry some cados.
Be well,
Veg VA

Mmmm…Steamy…

Fried Avocado, turmeric taters and tofu scramble.

Liquid Aminos

It’s like soy sauce, but beefier. If you’re gluten free, and you miss soy sauce, get your mitts on this stuff.

Liquid Aminos has essential and non-essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, so when people are concerned that you don’t get complete protein, show them this list.

16 Amino Acids
Alanine Arginine Aspartic Acid Glutamic Acid Glycine Histidine Isoleucine Leucine	Methionine Phenylalanine Proline Serine Threonine Tyrosine Valine Lysine

 

Do This

Substitute it for soy sauce
Make Tangy Raw Kale
Add it to salads or salad dressing

Eat more plants.

Be well,
Veg VA

Nutritional Yeast

Yeast is your friend. A fully vegan diet can be lacking in Vitamin B12. The good news is that nutritional yeast is a good source of B vitamins. It’s also a complete protein free of any animal products, sugar or gluten.

Nutritional yeast gives food a rich, cheesy flavor. It looks like fish food, but it’s delicious and full of important vegan nutrition.

Do This

Make Tangy Raw Kale
Sprinkle it on salad
Add it to stir fry

Eat more plants.

Be well,
Veg VA

 

Coleslaw

It’s super easy. It’s a side, a condiment and salad. Eat slaw. Eat it because you’re a winner. And winners eat slaw.

You don’t need awesome knife skills to make great slaw. It helps, but if you have a food processor, a chopped slaw is sometimes better than a shredded one.

Get this

1. 1 head of cabbage (purple is prettier)
2. 2 big carrots
3. 1 Cup of Vegenaise (mayo if you’re not plant-based)
4. 1 Teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

Do this

1. Break the carrots into thumb sized pieces.
2. Pulse the carrots in your food processor until they look like rice.
3. Cut the core out of the cabbage. See pictures.
4. Add the cabbage and pulse until everything is about the same size.
5. Add the Vegenaise, vinegar and S&P to taste.
6. Pulse until mixed.
   

Don’t Do This

• Process the cabbage before the carrots—You’ll end up with pureed cabbage and chunky carrots.
• Use a blender—Use a food processor or a knife. Blenders won’t give you the texture you want.

Put it on

Veggie dogs—veggie burgers—tempeh tacos—fried potatoes—beans and rice

Coleslaw impresses people. Nobody knows why, but it does. It only gets better in the fridge, so make a bunch on Sunday and enjoy it through the week. It’s an easy way to get people to eat more plants. So make it and show off your new kitchen skills.

Eat more plants. Eat less flesh.

Be well,
Veg VA

How To Cook Tofu

Sometimes tofu is gross. It’s not the fu’s fault. The blame lies with the cook. Here are 3 steps to guarantee that you don’t end up with mush.

Dry your tofu.
Remove it from the package, drain the water and then wrap it in a clean towel. Put a dinner plate on top to gently force water out of the fu faster. Do this at least 30 minutes before you start cooking.

Tip: Cut the tofu into bread-like slices, and wrap each piece in its own towel. This will cut drying time in half.

Cut tofu into cubes.
The cubes give you more surface area to brown. Follow the pictures.

Here’s your fu.

Slice it like bread.

Make carrot sticks

Turn.

Chop into cubes.

Books

Use a HOT pan.
If you have a normal stove top, crank it to 7-8. If your burners run hot, go for 5-6. The key is to cook the tofu at a high temperature to avoid mushy fu. An iron skillet will get super hot and give you a nice crispiness.

Do This:

Use a few tablespoons of oil.
Season with salt & pepper while cooking.
Stir occasionally.

Don’t Do This:

Use a stainless steel pan.
Skip the drying process.

It may take a few times before you get it right, but keep working. Tofu is a finicky mistress. Treat her well, and she’ll take care of you.

Eat more plants. Eat more tofu.
Be well,
Veg VA

 

 

Vegan Guacamole

It’s raw. It’s delicious. It’s fatty, creamy and goes on anything. Guac is a king, and we’re all loyalists.

Get this:

1)    A knife
2)    A bowl
3)    A spoon
4)    3 ripe avocados
5)    3 cloves of chopped garlic
6)    A few pinches of salt

Do This:

1)    Cut avocados in half.
2)    Remove their pits.
3)    Scoop the meat out with a spoon.
4)    Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
5)    Mash it up.

Tip: A food processor will mash it faster. The longer you process the guac, the creamier it will be.

All hail guacamole.

Be well,
Veg VA

Bananaberry | Post-Run Smoothie

After a hard run or workout, your body needs carbohydrates. The carbs replenish glycogen you burned as fuel during your run. This is a favorite of ours because it’s antioxidant rich, anti-inflammatory and delicious. Super simple. Here we go.

Blend This:

2 frozen bananas
1 handful blueberries
1 handful strawberries
1 spoonful of ground flaxseeds
1 cup almond milk

Do this:

1) Blend everything.
2) Drink everything.

We hope you enjoy.

Be well,
Veg VA