Blackened Tofu Tacos

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Tom and I are finally moving to Cambridge and we're really excited to be living in an area so close to great restaurants and shops. One of our favorite places in Cambridge is called Christopher's. They have great organic beers and good veg food. The last time we went there the fish tacos caugth my eye and they were happy to make them for me with blackened tofu instead of fish-delicious! They also have a great chicken taco salad that they'll make for you with tofu instead of chicken and tofu fajitas. Definitely a great place for vegans who want to have real food! Note: They have a sister restaurant called Cambridge Commons which has a black bean burger that is vegan.

Last week I decided to make my own tofu tacos. Below I've included what I served these with but feel free to add your own additions.

Tofu: Wrap tofu in paper towels and clean dish towel and press with something heavy like a cast iron skillet for about 20min. Cut into 6 slices and then again in 2 to make squares. Press lightly in blackening seasoning on both sides. I used spicy steak seasoning (which I found pleasantly ironic) but you could use a mixture of black pepper, salt, garlic powder, chili powder or paprika, and red pepper flakes (HOT). Cook tofu on medium high heat for 5 min on each side in a non stick pan sprayed with PAM.Mango Slaw: Slice flesh of one mango into thin strips. Combine with 2 cups shredded cabbage, 1/4 thinly sliced red onion, 2 TBS fresh cilantro and 2 sliced scallions. When cutting mango cut over a bowl to collect any juice and squeeze leftover skins to get out any more juice. Combine this with the juice of 1/2 a lime and a 1/4 tsp cumin. Toss and let sit for 30min. I found this a perfect mix of sour and sweet but if it is not sweet enough for you add a little agave syrup.

Spicy Black Beans: Warm one can of black beans in a sauce pan. Add more blackening seasoning and finish with scallions and cilantro right before serving.

Serve on flour or whole wheat tortillas with tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, avocado, greens, or any of your favorite toppings.

Trail Mix Cookies

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This healthy cookie is a great afternoon pick me up or even an on the go breakfast! They taste like trail mix and really spicy oatmeal raisin cookies-yum!

Dry Ingredients:
1 Cup instant/quick cooking oats
2/3 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:
1/3 cup flax meal
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 TBS almond butter (or any nut butter)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS molasses
1 TBS canola oil
1/8 cup unsweetened coconut
3-4 TBS nuts (I used sliced almonds and sunflower seeds so they were small. Roughly chop if you use whole nuts)
1/3 cup mixed dry fruit soaked in rum for an hour or more (I used 1 TBS mango rum and 1 TBS regular and soaked a mixture of raisins, cranberries, and prunes for about 10 hours. I included the soaking rum in the mixture. If you can't or don't want to do this I do not think the recipe would suffer)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a seperate bowl or stand mixer. Slowly add dry ingredients. Make 10-12 golf ball sized cookies and slightly flatten on lightly sprayed cookie sheet. Bake 12 min. Transfer to plate and let cool.

Tofu BLT

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I used the technique here with a slightly different marinade to make a great sandwich filling. I think this baked tofu would be great in burritos or on salads, but I really like it on crusty bread!

First drain and press your tofu (directions in link) and preheat oven to 425. Slice tofu thinly and brush both sides with marinade and place on silpat on baking sheet. Let soak in for 10min and brush on any additional marinade. Bake for 20 min and flip slices to bake for 5 min more. Serve on bread with sliced tomato, greens, red onion and avocado as well as one of the below spreads.

Marinade:
2 TBS miso
2 TBS low sodium soy sauce
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 TBS saricha hot sauce
1/2 TBS agave syrup or honey
juice of half a lemon

Aioli:
Combine 2 TBS vegan mayonnaise and either a handful of cilantro and clove of crushed garlic OR handful of basil and 1 roasted red pepper in a blender with a squeeze of lemon.

Store tofu in a plastic container and eat every day =). This is honestly the best sandwich I've had since becoming vegan.

Crispy Chik'n Salad

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If I'm being truthful sometimes I miss salads with crispy chicken so I decided to make a really delicious salad and flavorful dressing to satisfy my craving for lunch the other day.

Apple and Almond Crispy Chicken Salad:
1 cup baby spinach
1 cup mixed greens
1/2 Green Apple sliced thin
1/2 red onion or 2 scallions sliced thin
1 TBS slivered almonds
1 TBS dried cranberries
3-4 vegan chik'n nuggets (I like Trader Joe' soy nuggets or Health is Wealth version) cooked until very crispy (cook a min or 2 longer than directions)

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette:
1 bulb of garlic roasted
1/4 cup balsamic
1/2 cup EVOO
Combine in blender or food processor
you could also use the dressing here

Combine all ingredients with dressing and place chopped chicken nuggets on top. Enjoy! Some other good additions to this salad would be: avocado, jicama, thinly sliced bell pepper, bacos, black olives

Pancakes!

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I really should call this recipe "The fastest and most versatile pancake recipe ever" because I've started making 1/2 this recipe during the week as a yummy treat in lots of different combinations of flavors. Below is the basic recipe as well as some fun flavors.

Pancakes
Makes 10-12
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup soy milk (vanilla flavor is good or you can just add a tsp of vanilla extract)
2 tablespoons canola oil
*1 cup applesauce

Mix dry ingredients together and add wet. Whisk together and set aside. Warm up non stick skillet to med heat. Spray with pam and scoop approx 1/4 cup batter. Cook for 2-3 min on each side. Serve with maple syrup and vegan butter.

*Sub one of the below
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup pureed berries

Also feel free to add in blueberries, coconut, chocolate chips or cinnamon with any of the above! My favorite so far is applesauce and cinnamon or banana chocolate chip. Update: I made banana chocolate pancakes by mashing two bananas adding 1 TBS coco powder and 2 TBS of soymilk ( you can add more or less till batter it is thinned out enough to scoop easily)