Burritos with Taco Tofu Meat

We love having these burritos on our menu plan. We usually make extra beans and/or extra tofu and eat those with other meals throughout the week. We really love leftover refried beans with fried potatoes for breakfast. For the toppings section we listed a bunch of options — we often go with what we have in the house. Feel free to just pick one or a couple that sound good to top off these delicious wraps.

Serves: 4-6

Time: 1 hr 30 minutes if using InstantPot

Ingredients

Tortillas (gluten-free option - we recommend the following three for gluten-free options that are burrito sized depending on what your store has: Siete Burrito, Raw Wraps, or Mission Gluten Free Wraps. Also our all-time favorite corn taco sized option if you want to eat this as tacos are Three Sisters Nixtamal)

For the beans:

3/4 cup dried pinto beans

salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 onion

4 garlic cloves

3 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp cayenne

For the tofu:

1 block of tofu

3 tbsp high heat oil (we like avocado)

3 tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 tsp bouillon (we like Rapunzel or Better than Bouillon)

1 tbsp mamma lil’s red pepper oil

1/4 cup boiling water

For the Fajitas Veggies:

high heat oil

1 big red onion

2 red bell peppers

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 lime

Toppings (we don’t use all of these, just whatever ones we have around or are calling to us, feel free to mix and match):

1 tomato

1 avocado

lettuce

shredded purple cabbage

green olives

hot sauce

mamma lil peppers

cilantro

vegan sour cream

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In the Instant Pot:

To cook the pinto beans in an Instant Pot, add 3/4 cup of dried pinto beans to the pot.  Cover the beans with water (in the small Instant pot this is about 6 cups of water), season with 1 tbsp kosher salt, 1 tsp chili powder, and 1 tsp cumin. Add half an onion and 4 cloves of garlic.  Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 18 minutes letting depressurize naturally. Drain and rinse.

On the stove:

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can easily cook pinto beans from scratch with a little planning. First you will need to soak the pinto beans which can be done one of two ways. 1. you can soak them overnight making sure they have enough water and space to double in size or 2. you can put them in a pot and bring to boil, then turn off the water and let soak for one hour. Again, make sure you have enough water and space that they can double in size.

Once you have soaked your beans, rinse them and then put in a pot with salty water. These will be cooking for about 2 hours so you don’t want as much salt as you would use for pasta, but you do want to add enough that you can taste the salt. The best way to get good at this is to practice. Each time you salt the water, taste it and when the beans are done taste them to see if they are well salted. A well salted bean should taste flavorful but not salty. If it tastes like you are eating salt, you added too much. If the bean lacks flavor then you didn’t have enough salt. For this recipe, also add half an onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp chili powder, and 1 tsp cumin to the pinto beans as they cook.

Cook the pinto beans until they are soft but not falling apart (this will take 1.5-2 hours).  We recommend checking the beans at about an hour and then every 20 minutes until they are soft but not disintegrating. Make sure your pot has enough water as I have definitely cooked all the water off before and burnt the beans! This may seem like a lot of work, however once you get the hang of it the work is almost all passive and the reward is high: pinto beans cooked from scratch taste much better and are much cheaper!

Press the tofu between two layers of kitchen towel with a weight (like a sheet pan with some cook books on top) for about 10 minutes.

While the beans are cooking and the tofu is pressing, slice the onions and peppers. Heat a frying pan with high heat oil such as avocado to medium high heat. Add the onions and salt. Cook for about 7 minutes stirring frequently. Once the onions are starting to get translucent, add the sliced peppers and cook until the peppers have some browning about 7 additional minutes. Once everything is cooked squeeze half a lime over the veggies and then remove them from the heat and set aside.

Add 3 tbsp of high heat oil to a pan over medium heat. Crumble the tofu into the hot pan and scramble about 10 minutes until it is starting to color. Add 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp chili powder, and 1/8 tsp cayenne to the tofu and turn the heat up slightly. Cook an additional 5 minutes until you get some crispy bits. Dissolve the bouillon and mamma lil oil in the hot water and add to the tofu. The water should boil immediately. Mix the tofu until the water has mostly boiled off, about 5 minutes.

Once the beans are cooked, put them in the food processor and add 3 tbsp of olive oil and 1/4 tsp cayenne and blend until smooth. Add salt to taste, and a squeeze of lime, and set aside.

Slice and dice any toppings you are using. We like to warm our tortillas before assembling. We do that by putting them over the burner on a gas stove, or toasting them lightly in the broiler or a toaster oven. Assemble and enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Tofu

This recipe is yet another adaptation on a strongly American-ized take on the sweet and sour flavor pairing found in some traditional Chinese cooking. We love the complementary nature of the sour and sweet pineapple and the umami and saltiness of the tamari. We like it as written, but for a saucier experience double the sauce.

Serves: 4-6

Time: 1 1/2 hrs

Ingredients

oil

medium onion

2 bell peppers

1 cup rice

water

For the tofu:

2 blocks tofu

cornstarch

salt

For the sauce (if you prefer your food to be very saucy consider doubling this section):

1 cup pineapple juice

3/4 cup water

3 tbsp tamari

1 1/2 tbsp agave

1 tbsp cornstarch

salt

Red pepper flakes

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If you are cooking brown rice, you want to start your rice first. If you are cooking white rice we would put this on to cook after frying the veggies but before frying the tofu. Cook rice according to instructions on the package.

Cut your blocks of tofu in half so that you have four, one inch thick rectangles. Press the tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can alternatly be done with a tofu press.

While the tofu is being pressed, slice the peppers and onions and heat a pan to medium high heat with some high heat oil. Add the onions and about 1/2 tsp of salt and cook until they start to soften about 7 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for another 7-10 minutes until the peppers are starting to brown. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Next slice the tofu into cubes or thick sticks. Combine the cornstarch and a generous pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately.

In a small saucepan combine all of the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch and bring to a low boil. Turn down to a simmer, add the cornstarch stirring consistently until it thickens and gets sticky. Taste and add salt as needed.

Once the tofu is finished cooking, add all tofu and the fried peppers and onions into the pan and cover with sauce. Toss until the tofu is completely coated, but not too long or the sauce will burn (about 1 minute).

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Harissa Tofu

We first posted about Harissa tofu in our Harissa Tofu Harvest Plate. Since then, we realized it would be nice to have this as a stand alone recipe since we use it in a lot of different plates and bowls. Delicious on it’s own or serve as part of a meal this tofu makes us happy every time!

Serves: 2

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

1 block tofu

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp harissa

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp agave (option to substitute coconut nectar, maple syrup, or other liquid sweeteners)

Pinch salt

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Cut your block of tofu in half so that you have two, one inch thick rectangles. Press tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Cut the tofu into sticks about 3 inches by one inch by one inch. Put the cornstarch and 1/2 tsp salt in a shallow bowl. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately. Mix the harissa, agave, pinch of salt, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Once the tofu is crispy, add harissa sauce to the pan, stir to coat the tofu, and remove from heat. Enjoy!

Orange Tofu and Rice Stir Fry

It’s nearing the end of citrus season where we live, and we are soaking up every last citrus filled recipe. We enjoyed adapting this deeply American-ized take on the sweet and sour flavor pairing found in some traditional Chinese cooking.

Serves: 4-6

Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

high heat oil such as avocado oil

green onions, finely chopped as garnish (optional)

For the tofu

2 firm blocks tofu

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tsp salt

For the veggies

3 bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 head of broccoli, chopped into small florets

For the Sauce

2 tbsp. mirin

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp. coconut aminos

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp. agave

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp siracha

Juice and zest from 1 large navel orange (1/2 cup of orange juice and 1 tbsp. of zest)

1 inch ginger, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced

1 tbsp. cornstarch

For the rice

2 cups jasmine rice

4 cups of water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bouillon cube or paste (vegan & gluten-free option)

1/4 tsp mirin

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Note: when we were creating this recipe, we only had one large fry pan. If you have two, you can fry the veggies and the tofu at the same time.

Cut your blocks of tofu in half so that you have four, one inch thick rectangles. Press the tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Slice the tofu into cubes or thick sticks.

While the tofu is being pressed, slice the onions, peppers, and broccoli. Dice the ginger and the garlic and finely chop the green onion if using.

Heat up a pan with oil and stir fry the onions, peppers, and broccoli until golden brown (about 20 minutes). Remove these from the pan and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the rice. Put the rice, water, salt, bouillon paste, and mirin in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir well (making sure the bouillon is broken down fully) and lower to a simmer. Cook with lid on for about 15 minutes or until rice is done. One way to tell if the rice is done is by watching the steam coming out of the pot, once the steam stops, your rice is most likely cooked. After 15 minutes let sit off the heat for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Combine the cornstarch and a generous pinch of salt in a shallow bowl or on a small plate. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately.

Put the finished tofu and veggies in a large bowl.

To make the sauce combine mirin, rice vinegar, water, sesame oil, coconut aminos, salt, red pepper flakes, siracha, agave orange juice and zest all in a small bowl and whisk until fully incorporated. Once you’ve finished cooking all the veggies and tofu, put a small amount of oil in your pan. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the bowl of sauce ingredients and cornstarch. Stir for 1 minute to thicken.

Pour the sauce over the large bowl of veggies and tofu and stir until everything is coated with sauce. Spoon the mixture over rice and garnish with green onions (optional). Enjoy!

Popcorn Tofu

We love this fried chicken style of tofu! It tastes best fresh, so we recommend you only make as much as you plan to eat. Extra tofu can sit in the marinade for a day or so if you want to fry in two batches or feel free to halve the recipe if you don’t want to eat everything at once.

One delicious way to serve it is with cholula, roasted broccoli, and rice; it’s nice to pour the remaining marinade over the broccoli and rice. Another great way to serve it is with roasted broccoli and pea-tatoes. Most recently, we ate it with a simple salad and a lot of cholula and that was delicious too!

Serves: 2

Time: 1 hr + marinating time

Ingredients

1 block of tofu

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 tbsp sweet paprika

generous sprinkle of salt

For the marinade:

1/3 cup of lime juice

1/3 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

1/4 cup water

generous 1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

Cholula (for dipping)

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Cut your block of tofu in half so you have two, one inch thick rectangles. Press the tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can alternatively be done with a tofu press. While in some of our recipes you can get away with not pressing the tofu, in this recipe we found pressing the tofu is essential for it to come out well.

After pressing the tofu, tear each rectangle in half along the width. This will now resemble a tofu cutlet. Next, tear each of these 4 pieces into 5 smaller pieces leaving you with a total of 20 bite sized pieces. We tear the tofu instead of cutting so that there are more edges to get floured and fried.

Mix all the ‘for the marinade’ ingredients in a shallow dish. Add the tofu to the marinade, making sure all the tofu gets submerged, for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Remove the tofu and pat dry (if the towel used to press the tofu is still handy you can use this to pat the tofu dry). Again, it is important to pat the tofu dry. If you skip this step it will probably come out weird.

Combine the cornstarch, salt, and paprika and stir. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time, in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. If you are unable to get color on your tofu, turn up the heat a little at a time until it browns after a few minutes. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately. It can be a bit harder to tell when this tofu is done, since the paprika makes it look slightly golden brown. If you are unsure taste one and if the breading is crisp, they are ready. When the paprika burns it doesn’t taste great so do some tests to establish a baseline.

Serve with cholula and enjoy!

Ginger Lime Tofu

Serves: 4-6

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

2 blocks firm tofu

1/2-1 cup cornstarch

salt

high heat oil for cooking tofu (e.g. avocado)

1 package rice noodles

1 tsp tamari

1/2 tsp sriracha

1 tsp sesame oil

1 bunch of chard or kale

For the sauce:

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp agave

1 tbsp tamari

3 tbsp sesame oil

1 1/2 tbsp minced ginger

loosely packed 1/2 cup mint leaves

1/2 tsp salt

pinch cayenne

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Cut your blocks of tofu in half so that you have four, one inch thick rectangles. Press the tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press.

While the tofu is being pressed, thinly slice the mint and chard into ribbons. Cook the rice pasta according to the instructions (remember to add enough salt to the pasta water that it tastes like the ocean). Once the pasta is cooked drain and rinse with cool water to keep it from getting gluey. Add the teaspoon of sesame oil, the sriracha and the teaspoon of tamari to the noodles and toss to coat.

Combine the cornstarch and a generous pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. Cut the pressed tofu into sticks about 3 inches by one inch by one inch. Toss the tofu a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Start with 1/2 cup cornstarch, if you run out mix up some more cornstarch and salt. If you forget to add salt to the cornstarch you can optionally sprinkle salt on the tofu while it is frying or right when it is removed from the heat and still glistening with oil. Heat 2 tbsp of high heat oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. If you are unable to get color on your tofu, turn up the heat a little at a time until it browns after a few minutes. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately.

To make the sauce heat the 3 tbsp sesame oil in a small pan with ginger just until the ginger starts to become fragrant. Add the ginger and oil into a bowl with the rest of the ‘for the sauce’ ingredients except for the mint leaves. Once the tofu is cooked, put them back into the pan and pour the sauce into the pan and stir until it starts to bubble. Sprinkle mint leaves over this and fold them in, cook for a short time longer (less than 1 minute). Remove the tofu and place over the noodles. Next, wilt the chard with any remaining tofu sauce and add this to the noodle dish as well. Stir and enjoy!

Harissa Tofu Harvest Plate

This dish was inspired by a Purple Carrot recipe. We love how fast it is to prepare and how the harissa tofu pairs with sweet potato fries. Here we’ve given the recipe to make your own sweet potato fries, however we equally love frozen sweet potato fries and cooking them for this meal. If you go that route, the meal takes about 30 minutes instead of 1 hr. Feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have in your fridge. When we cooked this we happened to have some tomatoes and greens from the garden, but it tastes equally good without these.

serves: 4

cooking time: 1hr 5min (15min is active)

Ingredients

for the tofu:

1 block tofu

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp harissa

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp agave (option to substitute coconut nectar, maple syrup, or other liquid sweeteners)

Pinch salt

for the sweet potatoes:

2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), cut into wedges (we used white sweet potatoes)

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

for the sides:

1 bunch swiss chard, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 batch of roasted Brussels sprouts

fresh sliced tomato (optional)

salt

pepper

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Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Roast brussels sprouts according to recipe. Cut sweet potato into wedges. In a large bowl, toss wedges with olive oil, salt, and cumin. Lay out on a lined baking pan (we use Silpat liners) and roast sweet potato wedges about one hour flipping them over after half an hour. They should be soft on the inside and have a little bit of browning on the outside. If you don’t know how hot your oven runs, check on the wedges more frequently to make sure they don’t burn.

Cut your block of tofu in half so that you have two, one inch thick rectangles. Press tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Cut the tofu into sticks about 3 inches by one inch by one inch. Put the cornstarch and 1/2 tsp salt in a shallow bowl. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately. Mix the harissa, agave, pinch of salt, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Once the tofu is crispy, add harissa sauce to the pan, stir to coat the tofu, and remove from heat.

To cook the chard, add one tablespoon oil to a shallow pan. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about one minute. You do not want the garlic to brown. Add the thinly sliced chard and toss with the oil until wilted, about two or three minutes.

If you have a tomato, slice it and sprinkle with salt. Plate and enjoy!

Swiss chard, mushroom, & tofu bowl with toasted cashews

This dish was inspired by the food that Camille had in her fridge. At the time, she had 4 mushrooms, so that is what she used. If you have more, it’s really good with about 2 cups of sliced mushrooms and I’m sure it would be good with anywhere in between. We’ve enjoyed it with both cremini and oyster mushrooms and would bet it would also taste good with shiitake mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms.

Also, we realize that yesterday was Indigenous People’s Day. If you’re interested in why we feel so called ‘Columbus Day’ should be changed federally to Indigenous People’s Day check out this beautiful episode from the All My Relations Podcast.

Serves: 4

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the greens:

1 bunch Swiss chard, de-stemmed and thinly sliced

some mushrooms (see intro)

salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tsp pomegranate molasses (optional)

For the tofu:

1 block tofu

1/4 cup sesame oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

For the rice:

1 cup sushi rice

2 cups slightly salted water

1 tsp rice or champagne vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar

For the garnish:

1/4 cup cashews, toasted

1/2 bunch thinly sliced green onion

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Slice the mushrooms and sautee until golden brown with salt and pepper. Taste to make sure these are seasoned to your preference. While they are cooking, de-stem the chard and slice into small ribbons. When the mushrooms are fully cooked, add the swiss chard, pomegranate molasses, a bit of salt, and coconut aminos. Cook 1 minute until the chard is shiny and soft but not yet browning.

Cook the sushi rice in salted water until done. You want to add some salt, but since you won’t be draining the rice it shouldn’t be as salty as sea water. We used about 1/2 tsp salt, but this will depend on the type of salt you are using. Once it is cooked, add all the other ingredients to the rice and fluff with a fork.

Slice the tofu into 1 inch squares. Heat the sesame oil in a pan, once hot add the tofu. Cook undisturbed on one side until golden brown. Salt and flip. Cook until crispy on the second side and then pour all the nutritional yeast in the pan and stir to coat.

Toast the cashews if they are raw and slice the green onions.

To serve, assemble rice on the bottom, then tofu, then greens. Top with toasted cashews and green onion and enjoy!

Eggplant Lasagna

Celebration of eggplant season continues with this delicious lasagna. Layers of delicious cheesiness, soft perfectly salted eggplant, and beautiful ribbons of chard make this a summer delight. This makes 8-10 servings making it perfect for a family dinner or just for one if you love lasagna. We also love to freeze the leftovers of this meal. What’s better when you have nothing left to eat than looking into your freezer and seeing some home-made lasagna all ready for you to bake?

Serves: 8-10

Time: 2hr 15min; 1.5 hours is inactive

Ingredients:

2 eggplants (1.5lb)

Salt

Olive oil

1 block of firm tofu, pressed

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp veggie bouillon (We like Better than Bouillon)

1/2 cup hot water

1 bunch chard

26 oz jar tomato sauce (Feel free to use homemade or store-bought)

1 batch cashew cheese

1 box of lasagna noodles (gluten-free option)

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Cut eggplant into 3/4 inch cubes. Salt them generously and leave to drain in a strainer over the sink for at least half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Wrap the eggplant in a kitchen towel and squeeze to remove any surface moisture and some of the salt. Toss the eggplant in olive oil on a cookie sheet and roast about 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes. The eggplant should be soft but not disintegration.

Put a 4-6 quart pot of water on the stove to boil. Add salt generously, it should be similar to seawater.

Press the tofu between two layers of kitchen towel with a weight (like a cast iron pan) for about 10 minutes. Add 3 tbsp olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Crumble the tofu into the hot pan and scramble about 10 minutes until it is starting to color. Add 1/2 tsp salt and the cornstarch to the tofu and cook an additional 5 minutes until you get some crispy bits. Dissolve the bouillon in the hot water and add to the tofu. The water should boil immediately. Mix the tofu until the water has mostly boiled off, about 3 minutes.

Make cashew cheese if you have not already done so.

Boil the pasta in the salted water according to the instructions on the box.

Cut the chard into ribbons.

To layer the lasagna, start with tomato sauce on the bottom, then layer noodles, eggplant, cheese, chard, tomato sauce, noodles, tofu, cheese, chard, tomato sauce, and repeat until you have used all the ingredients. I like to end with a layer of tomato and cheese on top of the final layer of noodles. Bake in the preheated oven 45 minutes or as long as the box of noodles says.

If you plan to freeze, wait until it has cooled completely. Freeze within 24 hours of baking, good for about 5 days after thawing.

Chickpea Crepe with Tofu Scramble and harissa veggies

Do Better Consulting re-posted a tweet from MerQueenJude’s instagram… and we love it. Here’s the tweet:

It’s okay to be fat. Fat is simply a size and people come in different sizes. People often ask us what we blog about, and for us it’s simple: we share recipes of the food that we like to eat. This blog is about our creativity and joy in the kitchen. Because we often share recipes full of vegetables and because we use ingredients that are often expensive, people label our food as ‘healthy’ or morally superior. These ideas are a manifestation of diet culture which ties superiority and ‘health‘ to thinness. If you haven’t seen the Poodle Science video we highly recommend watching it.

Now that we’re clear that our food is not ‘better’, ‘the right thing to eat’, or somehow going to make you the perfect tool of capitalism or object of beauty, let us share with you a delicious chickpea crepe recipe!

Note that you can cook all the crepes at once, but when we aren’t planning to eat them all at once we will often only cook a couple of crepes for that night and then cook off more crepes during the week so that we can eat this for multiple meals. If you decide to do that, it will shorten the cooking time on the recipe below by at least 30 minutes.

Serves: 6-8

Time: 2 hrs

For the Chickpea Crepe

3 cups chickpea flour

2 1/2 tsp sea salt

3 1/2 cups water

3/8 cup or 6 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp coriander

2 tsp cumin

For the Carrot Top Pesto

small handful of carrot tops

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup almonds or nut milk pulp from making milk

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

For the Tofu Scramble

carrot top pesto

1 block tofu

1 tbsp corn starch

2 tbsp cooking oil

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp bouillon

1/4 cup of hot water

For the Roasted Harissa Carrots

4 medium carrots

olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp spicy harissa

1 tbsp agave

1 tbsp lemon juice

For the Roasted Cumin Cauliflower

2 small heads of cauliflower, romanesco, or a combination

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne

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Preheat the oven to 375 F. Mix the chickpea flour, salt, water, olive oil, and spices. Whisk until smooth and let sit for 30 minutes.

Cut the cauliflower into florets and the carrots into sticks. Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil and spices. Spread on a baking sheet and put in the preheated oven. Cook these until they are golden brown in places and soft when you stick a fork in them, which takes about 40 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes. Toss the carrots with olive oil and salt, and spread on a separate baking sheet. Roast in the preheated oven about one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Stir together the remaining ingredients for the harissa carrots and set aside. Stir this mixture into the carrots when there are 15 minutes remaining. It will reduce and stick to the carrots.

To prepare the pesto, add the carrot tops, garlic, almonds or pulp, olive oil, vinegar, and salt to a food processor or blender. Blend, stopping to scrape down the sides regularly, until the ingredients combine in a chunky pesto. In a blender you may require some additional water to allow this to easily blend.

In a large frying pan, heat a small amount of oil. Once the oil is hot, add about 1/3 cup of chickpea batter to the hot pan. Tilt the pan to spread out the batter, and cook until golden brown and crispy on one side. Be patient, when the bottom is golden brown and crispy, the edges of the top will start to show color. Flip the crepe over and cook until speckled with golden brown on the second side. Cooking crepes to have a crisp but flexible texture takes some practice. Some tips are make sure your oil is hot before you add the batter. Don’t add too much batter. Allow the first side to cook until an even color is achieved before flipping. Remember, the first pancake rule applies to crepes as well. Your first crepe might come out under cooked and crumbly. Don’t be discouraged, keep cooking, be patient, and future crepes will be better.

We often cook as many crepes as we want to eat when we first make this dish. We then refrigerate the batter and fry fresh crepes for leftovers. When cooking batter that has been refrigerated, make sure to stir thoroughly before frying and, if it is too thick, you can add a little water to thin it out.

If you have two frying pans, you can make the tofu scramble at the same time as the chickpea crepes. Add oil to the frying pan and heat to medium low. Drain the tofu and crumble it into the hot pan. Add the corn starch and stir to coat. Fry, turning every 5 minutes, until parts are starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the turmeric, garlic powder, and salt. Cook about 5 more minutes stirring regularly until the tofu is coated. While it is cooking, dissolve the bouillon in hot water. Add the bouillon liquid to the tofu, and cook until there is no longer any liquid, but before the tofu gets dry again. Stir the pesto into the tofu scramble.

To serve, top chickpea crepes with the tofu mixture, roasted cauliflower, and harissa carrots. Enjoy!

Lettuce Wraps

We love how the crunchy, sweet lettuce pairs with this soft and savory tofu in these wraps. The combination of textures and flavors is as satisfying as the dish is pleasing. Camille’s favorite lettuce varietal is black seeded simpson lettuce and that is what we recommend, however these taste delicious with any lettuce varietal.

Serves: 2

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 package of firm tofu

1 tbsp corn starch

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 very small onion, diced

1 cup minced mushrooms

1 cup finely cut cabbage

1 cup grated carrot

2 green onions, sliced

1 head lettuce

salt and pepper

for the sauce:

1/4 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 inch ginger, peeled and minced

1/2 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp almond butter

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Whisk the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl until the almond butter is broken up. Mince garlic and ginger, and dice onions and stir into the sauce until coated. Set aside.

Heat a pan to medium high heat with sesame oil. Once hot, crumble the tofu into the hot oil. Sprinkle with corn starch and stir to coat. Let cook about 7 minutes, until the bottom of the tofu has started to brown. While tofu is cooking, cut the cabbage and mushrooms and grate the carrots. Add the mushrooms and cabbage and cook with the tofu, stirring regularly until the cabbage softens about 7 minutes. Then stir in garlic, onions, ginger and sauce mixture. Cook until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in carrots and green onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Wash the lettuce and pull apart into individual leaves. Scoop tofu mixture into lettuce leaves and enjoy!

Green Goddex Fried Tofu

Introductions are something we struggle with. Often we just want to share a recipe with y’all, but we realize that it’s socially normal to also say things about the recipe or the world in the intro. Additionally we love using our platform to speak up and share what we’re learning and hearing as we do anti-oppression work. This week our big yes is a short intro, so here it is:

This is one of our favorite game snacks. We imagine it would be good to eat while watching a sports ball game, we eat it when having board game or D&D nights. Paired with our Pea-tatoes from last week it makes a delicious dinner.

Serves: 4 as a side

Time: 1 1/2 hrs (1 hour active time)

Ingredients

for the marinade:

2/3 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp balsamic

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp garlic powder

pinch of cayenne

for the tofu:

2 blocks of tofu

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tsp salt

for the sauce:

3/4 cup soaked cashews

1 clove garlic

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup packed basil leaves

2 cups loosely packed cilantro with stems

1/2 cup water

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Cut your blocks of tofu in half so that you have four, one inch thick rectangles. Press tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. While the tofu is draining, combine all the marinade ingredients and whisk until smooth. Slice the tofu into cubes or thick sticks toss in the marinade mixture. Allow tofu to sit in mixture for 30 minute, making sure to gently turn the tofu after 15 minutes so that everything receives marination.

Combine the cornstarch and a generous pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. Drain the marinade (you can save this in a jar and use if for a different dish). Toss the tofu a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately.

To make the sauce, drain the cashews from the water they were soaking in and add them and the remaining sauce ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth. Serve the tofu in a bowl with sauce on the side. Dip and enjoy!

Sesame Tofu

During this global pandemic we are experiencing collective trauma and this will show up differently for everyone. It’s normal if the pandemic is triggering your disordered eating. It is normal to want to eat a lot of food. It is normal to feel the urge to restrict your food. All of these feelings are real and valid. We want to remind everyone that there is no wrong way to eat, there is no “good” food and “bad” food. It’s okay to eat all day. It’s okay to eat past being full. It’s okay to eat the food your body desires. It’s okay if you are experiencing lack of access to food and are eating what’s available to you. Today we are sharing one of our favorite dishes with the knowledge that, at least in Portland and Seattle, finding tofu has become a real challenge. If you can find tofu, you won’t regret having this delicious food around!

We are obsessed with this sweet, sticky, salty delightful dish! It makes a nice appetizer, can be eaten alone as a delicious snack, or goes great with many meals. Some of our favorite ways to eat this are with millet and stir fried broccoli and cabbage or with a rutabaga bake and fried garlic collard greens.

Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4 as a side

Ingredients

2 blocks firm or extra firm tofu

1/2 cup of cornstarch

1 tsp salt

for the sauce:

6 tbsp coconut aminos

2 tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)

2 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp sriracha

2 tsp sesame seeds, white, black, or mixed

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Cut your blocks of tofu in half so that you have four, one inch thick rectangles. Press the tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Slice the tofu into cubes or thick sticks. Combine the cornstarch and a generous pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately.

To make the sauce, mix the coconut aminos, tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), maple syrup, lime juice, sriracha, and sesame seeds in a small bowl. When the tofu looks done, put all your finished batches of tofu back into the pan and pour the sauce over the tofu. Cook the tofu and sauce, stirring constantly until it becomes sticky and coats the tofu, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Quick Stir Fry

We all have nights when we have not planned for dinner and have not shopped for a particular meal. One of the benefits of cooking regularly is that there are often some veggies or a block of tofu in the fridge. This recipe was cooked on such a night and used various left-over veggies. For this reason, any of the ingredients can be subbed out for whatever is in your refrigerator.

Serves: 4

Time: 30min

Ingredients

1 cup rice

1 block tofu

1/4 cup corn starch

1 tsp salt, divided

1/2 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, minced

1 bell pepper, sliced

3 carrots, thick julienned

1/4 purple cabbage, sliced

1 small head broccoli and stem, broken into florets and slice the stem

5 tbsp, divided neutral oil like avocado, sunflower, or canola

1 tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) or coconut aminos

For the sauce:

2 tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) or coconut aminos

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp agave

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Cook rice with 1 tsp of salt, for a more flavorful rice, add 1 tsp veggie bouillon to the water. While rice is cooking, put the cornstarch and 1 tsp salt in a small bowl.

Cut your block of tofu in half so that you have two, one inch thick rectangles. Press tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Slice the tofu into cubes or thick sticks. Toss tofu in cornstarch salt mixture. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides.

To make the sauce, mix tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), hot sauce, and agave in a small bowl. When the tofu looks done, pour this sauce over the tofu and toss until coated and then remove from heat and set tofu aside.

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp of oil and sautee the onion for 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, and sautee for another minute. Add bell peppers. Cook until onions are soft and starting to caramelize and the peppers are tender with some color. Set aside.

In the same pan (or you can use 2 pans and do this at the same time as the onions) fry the carrot, cabbage, and broccoli at a med-low heat with 2 tbsp of oil. Cook until carrots and broccoli are bright and cabbage is soft, stirring frequently. Combine all the vegetables and stir in the last 1 tbsp of tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) and serve over rice with tofu.