Kale and Mushroom Manicotti

There's nothing quite like the smell of a great marinara. This vegetable-packed sauce creates a beautiful topping for a creamy and satisfying tofu ricotta filling. Feel free to sub gluten free noodles or even roll the filling into cabbage leaves for an even more nutritious meal. Vegans and non-vegans alike will be coming back for more.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 package manicotti noodles
• a handful of fresh basil
• nonstick cooking spray or olive oil

 Filling:

• 1 pound firm tofu, pressed
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
• pinch of fresh black pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• approx 4 large leaves of kale
• a few tablespoons sundried tomatoes (the kind packed in oil), minced

Sauce:

• 1 28oz can of whole plum tomatoes in juice with basil (roughly chop the tomatoes)
• 4oz sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1/4 small white onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• a pinch or two each of dry basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to package directions, then remove the noodles from the boiling water and set aside to cool. Then blanch the kale leaves for 1-2 minutes, just until they turn bright green. Set the kale aside to cool.

While the pasta is cooking, start the sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan with the red pepper flakes. When the oil is hot add the onions, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until the onions are almost translucent. Add the garlic and the rest of the spices and let it cook for a minute or two, but be careful the garlic doesn't burn. Then add the whole can of tomatoes and juice and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until you're ready to use it.

Make the ricotta while the sauce is simmering. In a large bowl, mush the tofu with your hands until it's crumbly. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mash it up with your hands again for 2-5 minutes until it's the texture of ricotta. Squeeze it through your fingers and act like a little kid; it helps! Add the olive oil, stir with a fork. Add the nutritional yeast, chopped kale, and sundried tomatoes and mix them in. Taste for salt and adjust if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with a little olive oil and coat the bottom of the pan in a thin layer of marinara. Gently stuff the noodles with the ricotta and arrange them in the baking dish. I was able to fit 9 stuffed noodles in my dish. Cover the noodles in just enough sauce to coat the top, but not drown them and make them mushy. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling. Allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving.

I served this with garlic bread and fresh basil on top. I think this is the best manicotti I've made yet!

Credit where credit is due: The ricotta recipe is adapted from the Basil-Tofu Ricotta recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance. If you don't have a copy of this book, you should pick one up. It changed the way I cook!

Fettucini and Asparagus in White Wine Sauce

 This was another meal inspired by my delivery from Full Circle. For some reason I rarely buy asparagus, but I feel like whenever I do I just end up leaving it whole and eating it as a side dish. Not this time! I decided to switch it up and I'll definitely be making this again. This recipe serves 2-3 as a main dish.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package whole wheat fettucini
• 3/4 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/3 of a red onion, diced
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp Earth Balance or other butter substitute
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like spice)
• a few pinches of salt
• a pinch or two of black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup pasta water, reserved when pasta is drained
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• a few tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to package directions (probably around 12 minutes). While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil, butter, and red pepper flakes in a skillet over med-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the onion & a pinch of salt and cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until slightly tender. Add the garlic, asparagus, another pinch of salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 4-5 minutes. You don't want this to brown, you just want the onions to become translucent and the asparagus to start cooking. Add the wine, turn up the heat, and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and let it simmer for about 6-8 minutes. It's ready when the wine has reduced and the asparagus is tender, but not soggy.

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet along with the lemon juice, pasta water, and parsley. Turn off the heat and toss everything together. Taste for salt and adjust if necessary. For some reason, we ended up drinking Tecate w/lime while eating this, but I would highly recommend a little white wine instead.

Wish Tacos

I wish I had been able to get a picture that did these justice!

Yes, I'm calling these Wish Tacos; not because I wish they were actually fish (which is obviously where I got the inspiration for these), but because I wish someone was serving these to me on a tropical beach with a Corona.


Ingredients (for 12 tacos in small corn tortillas):

• 1lb firm tofu, pressed
• 2 recipes Taco Slaw (see previous post)
• 12 small corn tortillas
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp chopped Nori (dry seaweed)
• black pepper
• cumin
• fine sea salt

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 and prep a baking sheet with a little nonstick spray. Mix the bread crumbs, chopped Nori, and a couple pinches of black pepper, cumin, and sea salt in a shallow dish. Cut the tofu into 12 thin rectangles (lay the tofu down on its wide side and cut short rectangles). Brush the tofu slices with oil, then lay them in the bread crumb mixture and coat all sides. Place them on the baking sheet and bake for approx 15-20 minutes on each side, until they are firm and the bread crumbs are golden.

When the tofu is almost done, heat a skillet on low (or med-low if you don't have a crazy hot stove like I do). Remove the tofu from the oven and start heating the tortillas in the skillet. I used one slice of tofu in each tortilla and then heaped on the taco slaw.

I thought these were great with just those simple ingredients but there are lots of other things you could do:
You could garnish these with a little cilantro or be really wild and add some mango salsa. If you like things spicy, you could add a little paprika to the bread crumb mixture, or even mix a little Sriracha with the canola oil and brush it on the tofu. How do you like them? I'd love to hear about other variations!

Taco Slaw So Good You Might Cry

This was one of those times that the stars aligned and the angels sang etc, and everything I threw in the bowl just worked. This is a perfect topping for tacos...of course that's assuming you don't eat it before the tacos are ready.

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 head green cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 medium-sized red onion (cut the whole onion into quarters, then take two quarters and slice them very thinly)
• juice of 1/2 lime
• approx 1/4 cup vegan sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeño juice
• pinch of salt (be stingy with the salt at first since the jalapeño juice is salty too)

 Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl. That's it! This is very easy and fresh. This recipe will make at least enough to top 7-8 small tacos.

Stuffed Grilled Tofu

 I'll admit that this recipe is going to be more of a guideline than a strict recipe. Basically, I remember what I put into this, but I don't think I measured a single thing. I just kept tasting as I went and stopped adding things when in tasted good. Easy enough, right?

Marinade Ingredients:

• sesame oil
• olive oil
• hot chile oil
• salt & pepper
• 1-2 cloves chopped garlic
• lemon juice

Basic Guidelines: Use the olive oil as a base and add sesame oil and hot chile oil just to give it a little kick. Mix in the chopped garlic and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste.

Stuffing Ingredients:

• pineapple
• marinated sweet cherry peppers
• white onion

Directions: Use approximately 1:1 ratios for all ingredients. Dice together as finely as possible.

Put it all together: Use a 1lb block of pressed extra firm tofu and cut it into quarters. Slice a rectangular pocket into the side of each quarter and keep a piece of the removed tofu to act as a lid. Fill each pocket with the stuffing, push the tofu "lid" on top, and then place in the marinade. Marinate the tofu for at least one hour and rotate regularly to make sure all sides have absorbed some flavor. If you have a grill I would highly recommend grilling this, but you could also cook this in a cast iron pan on the stove as well. The main thing is to make sure it's heated through (because it tastes better, of course) and that there's some nice browning on all sides.

Serve this with some nice grilled corn and salad with pineapple vinaigrette.

Teriyaki Tofu & Mango Salad

This salad is quick and easy, and hearty enough to be a meal on its own. The tofu could even be made in advance and eaten cold.

Ingredients:

• butter lettuce
• white onion
• mango
• button mushrooms
• teriyaki sauce
• peanut oil
• vegenaise (or preferred vegan mayo)
• extra firm tofu, pressed and sliced into triangles 
• sesame seeds

 Once the tofu has been pressed, let it marinate in the teriyaki sauce for at least 30 minutes. In the mean time, the rest of the salad can be prepped. Chop the butter lettuce, thinly slice the mushrooms and white onion and cut the mango into 1-inch chunks. The dressing is very simple: mix 1 part teriyaki sauce with 1 part Vegenaise and add a bit of peanut oil or olive oil if desired. 

Heat a little peanut oil in a cast iron skillet and add the marinated tofu. Brown the tofu on all sides, remove from the pan, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Assemble the veggies and mango on the plate and drizzle with some of the creamy teriyaki dressing. Arrange slices of tofu on top, and you're ready to eat.

The firm, meaty texture of the tofu mixed with the saltiness of the teriyaki sauce and the sweetness of the mango is really satisfying. I loved the butter lettuce with this, but romaine would work well also. If you have an aversion to raw white onions, sliced green onions would be a great substitute.

Memorial Day Weekend = Grilling

You may not believe it, but grilling isn't just for steaks. I don't normally have access to a grill, but when I do, I can't get enough grilled veggies. Drew was the grill master and made the perfect vegetables that inspired this easy and delicious sandwich.

Thanks to my Full Circle delivery (http://www.fullcircle.com/), I had some amazing organic zucchini and yellow onions to work with, but I added several other tasty things as well.

Ingredients (for 1 sandwich):

•  Two slices toasted bread
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion (you won't need this much, but it's easier to grill this way)
• 1 small zucchini
• red leaf lettuce
• 1 radish, sliced thin
• vegan cream cheese 
• artichoke hummus

Directions:

First, prep your veggies for grilling. The bell pepper should be seeded and cut in half from top to bottom. Slice the zucchini lengthwise so you have long, flat strips and slice the onion in half. Then brush all the veggies with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

The onion will take the longest to grill, so I suggest starting it first. Drew placed it directly over the hot coals and got all sides nice and dark. When the onion has had a few minutes on the grill, add the bell pepper. Last, add the zucchini and rotate the vegetables so they get some nice dark spots and feel soft.

All that's left is to assemble the sandwich! Spread a generous amount of artichoke hummus on one slice of toast and vegan cream cheese on the other. Layer all the grilled veggies, red leaf lettuce, and radish slices on your toast, and dig in!