Another day, another vegan cooking experiment. Today's triumph was a Coconut Curry Soup.
My wife, Lisbeth, and I ate at Pita Jungle earlier in the week. They were offering a Coconut Curry Soup with Garbanzo Beans as a special. Normally I'm not a fan of the texture of whole garbanzo beans (or any whole beans for that matter - my veggie wrap had GIGANTIC lima-esque beans in it that I had to pick out... gross) but the garbanzos were pleasantly edible. I'm not sure if a long simmer in the broth made them more palatable but the coconut and chili in the soup definitely complimented the garbanzos well. I knew this was my next vegan attempt.
My version was kicked up a notch with more veggies and more heat.
Here is the ingredient list:
1 can (14 oz) of light coconut milk
8 oz extra firm tofu, sliced into 3/4' x 1/4' pieces
1 tbs tamari
1 tspn light agave nectar
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
green curry paste
1 red bell pepper
1 small leek
1 carrot
1 serrano chili pepper (or jalapeno)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (14 oz) garbanzo beans
I'm still new to tofu and thought the tofu's texture would be too soft once it went in the soup. To firm up the texture I sauteed the tofu pieces in a skillet lightly sprayed with grapeseed oil until they started to brown. Once browned, they were removed from the skillet and set aside until needed. This step is optional and wold depend on you preference.
To prep for the soup slice up the bell pepper, leek, and carrot to your liking. I kept the bell pepper and carrot pieces in a rather chunky dice but preferred the leeks thinly sliced. Mince the serrano (I used about half and the dish came out fiery, but not too fiery), mince the garlic, and grate the ginger.
Pour the coconut milk, tamari, agave nectar, and garbanzo beans in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and put in a couple tablespoons of green curry paste, the grated ginger, and the minced garlic. I put in about 4 tablespoons of curry paste because I prefer the heat but this will be to your preference. I recommend starting with a couple tablespoons and tasting as you go.
Once the pot has simmered for about 5 minutes add the remaining veggies to the pot. I added the serrano because I didn't think the curry paste was hot enough so use the additional chili at your own risk. I didn't let the veggies simmer for long, just a couple of minutes, so they would retain some of their crunch. Add the sauteed tofu and serve.
This soup packed a flavor punch and some serious HEAT! My intention was too add vegetable broth to the pot because I thought the coconut milk would be too intense but I didn't dilute it at all. I think I like my version of the soup better than Pita Jungle's, too.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Migas with Tofu
It's Day #3 of my 30 Day Vegan Journey. I had no intention of documenting my personal vegan challenge but I found inspiration today to do so. Inspiration came in the form of a vegan spin on one of my favorite Tex-Mex dishes, migas.
Holy cow! Or should I say, "Holy soy bean!"
Migas in its non-vegan form is nothing fancy; scrambled eggs and fried corn tortilla strips. Dressed up with diced onion and diced chile, a spoonful of salsa, and a side of beans migas becomes the perfect breakfast meal. Think of it as chilaquiles' simple cousin, no less fantastic just less fancy.
At this point, my decision to go vegan for 30 days is less important to me than today's discovery. I'll have to revisit the challenge, decision, factors, and mechanics on going vegan for 30 days at another time. Today it's all about Migas.
I am not familiar with vegetarian cooking nor vegan cooking so I believe creating variety will be one of my biggest challenges to maintaining vegan for 30 days. I picked up some tofu at the grocery last night planning to use it as substitute for animal protein in some new dishes. Unfortunately I had no idea what type of tofu to purchase nor what I would use it for. I had a few choices in tofu; soft,medium, firm, and extra firm. I decided on extra firm as I thought the texture would be the most palatable. I made the correct choice as the tofu crumbled like a finely scrambled egg. Here's how I did it:
Migas with Tofu
Start by dicing the onion, tomato, and serrano. For a single serving I would recommend about a 1/4 of an onion, half to whole tomato depending on the size, and enough chile to satisfy you but not enough to light your mouth on fire.
I lightly sprayed a skillet with grape seed oil and allowed the skillet to get hot before adding the onion. The onion needs to cook a few minutes until it's translucent and starts to brown. While the onion cooks dice the cut the tortilla in approximately 1/2" x 1/2" squares.
Once the onion is cooked add the diced tomato, diced chili, and tortilla squares to the skillet. Cook until the veggies are soft, the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated, and the tortilla squares get crispy. While the veggies cook I prepared the tofu. I used about 2 or ounces of tofu, wrapped it in a paper towel, and squeezed as much liquid as I could out of the tofu. Toss the tofu in a bowl and crumble it with your fingers. Once the veggies are ready toss in your garlic if you are using fresh garlic. If using garlic powder as I did it can be added later with the turmeric.
Add the crumbled tofu to the skillet, add a little bit of turmeric and garlic powder to taste. The turmeric's main purpose in this dish is not necessarily for flavor but for its coloring. The turmeric will turn the tofu from a scary white to a familiar scrambled egg yellow. Stir it and let the tofu get hot. I added the salsa at this time, probably about 2 - 3 tablespoons, and removed the skillet from the heat once the liquid from the salsa evaporated.
Migas with tofu is done! Eat and enjoy.
The extra firm tofu had a consistency and texture similar to scrambled eggs. Also it visually resembled scrambled eggs because of the yellow from the turmeric. The serrano and salsa gave the migas a great spicy kick. I was afraid I added too much serrano but the tofu helped soften the heat. The different textures of the scrambled eggs and fried tortillas mixing together is what makes traditional migas so appealing to me. I was surprised to find I didn't lose that in the vegan version of migas. The crispy tortilla squares and "scrambled" tofu worked well together and provided the same textures.
That's it for a simple vegan version of Tex-Mex migas.
Holy cow! Or should I say, "Holy soy bean!"
Migas in its non-vegan form is nothing fancy; scrambled eggs and fried corn tortilla strips. Dressed up with diced onion and diced chile, a spoonful of salsa, and a side of beans migas becomes the perfect breakfast meal. Think of it as chilaquiles' simple cousin, no less fantastic just less fancy.
At this point, my decision to go vegan for 30 days is less important to me than today's discovery. I'll have to revisit the challenge, decision, factors, and mechanics on going vegan for 30 days at another time. Today it's all about Migas.
I am not familiar with vegetarian cooking nor vegan cooking so I believe creating variety will be one of my biggest challenges to maintaining vegan for 30 days. I picked up some tofu at the grocery last night planning to use it as substitute for animal protein in some new dishes. Unfortunately I had no idea what type of tofu to purchase nor what I would use it for. I had a few choices in tofu; soft,medium, firm, and extra firm. I decided on extra firm as I thought the texture would be the most palatable. I made the correct choice as the tofu crumbled like a finely scrambled egg. Here's how I did it:
Migas with Tofu
- white onion
- tomato (I used a roma tomato)
- serrano or jalapeno chile (I used a serrano)
- garlic (I used garlic powder)
- extra firm tofu
- salsa (I used a fire-roasted tomatillo salsa)
- corn tortilla (I used an ancient grains tortilla)
- turmeric
Start by dicing the onion, tomato, and serrano. For a single serving I would recommend about a 1/4 of an onion, half to whole tomato depending on the size, and enough chile to satisfy you but not enough to light your mouth on fire.
I lightly sprayed a skillet with grape seed oil and allowed the skillet to get hot before adding the onion. The onion needs to cook a few minutes until it's translucent and starts to brown. While the onion cooks dice the cut the tortilla in approximately 1/2" x 1/2" squares.
Once the onion is cooked add the diced tomato, diced chili, and tortilla squares to the skillet. Cook until the veggies are soft, the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated, and the tortilla squares get crispy. While the veggies cook I prepared the tofu. I used about 2 or ounces of tofu, wrapped it in a paper towel, and squeezed as much liquid as I could out of the tofu. Toss the tofu in a bowl and crumble it with your fingers. Once the veggies are ready toss in your garlic if you are using fresh garlic. If using garlic powder as I did it can be added later with the turmeric.
Add the crumbled tofu to the skillet, add a little bit of turmeric and garlic powder to taste. The turmeric's main purpose in this dish is not necessarily for flavor but for its coloring. The turmeric will turn the tofu from a scary white to a familiar scrambled egg yellow. Stir it and let the tofu get hot. I added the salsa at this time, probably about 2 - 3 tablespoons, and removed the skillet from the heat once the liquid from the salsa evaporated.
Migas with tofu is done! Eat and enjoy.
The extra firm tofu had a consistency and texture similar to scrambled eggs. Also it visually resembled scrambled eggs because of the yellow from the turmeric. The serrano and salsa gave the migas a great spicy kick. I was afraid I added too much serrano but the tofu helped soften the heat. The different textures of the scrambled eggs and fried tortillas mixing together is what makes traditional migas so appealing to me. I was surprised to find I didn't lose that in the vegan version of migas. The crispy tortilla squares and "scrambled" tofu worked well together and provided the same textures.
That's it for a simple vegan version of Tex-Mex migas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)