summertime

Tofu Nuggets With Fries & Black Bean Gravy

I decided to create my own, somewhat healthy, vegan version of chicken nuggets and fries with gravy. I think the black bean gravy is my new favourite thing to eat right now. So tasty!



Ingredients

tofu nuggets
pressed tofu
bread crumbs
margarine
bragg/maggi seasoning
salt and pepper
vegetable stock
onion powder
chopped parsely

seasoned fries
potatoes (1 per person)
seasoned salt
cracked pepper
cooking oil

black bean gravy
half can black beans
2 cups vegetable stock
bragg/maggi seasoning
corn starch
salt and pepper
onion powder

How to Prepare Tofu Nuggets:
1. Cut the tofu into medium sized squares. Mix the maggi or bragg, salt and pepper, vegetable stock, parsley and onion powder in a bowl. Place the tofu in the mixture and let soak for at least two hours.

2. Once the tofu is marinated, dip each piece into a bowl of bread crumbs with salt and pepper. Cook them on a pan with margarine on medium heat until each side is golden brown.




How To Prepare Seasoned Fries:
1. Wash and cut potatoes into long, thin, fry-shaped pieces. Lightly sprinkle with seasoned salt and pepper.

2. Coat a baking pan with cooking oil. Place the fries on evenly and bake in the oven at 350 degrees. Flip and/or shake fries every five minutes or so and cook until golden brown.




How To Prepare Black Bean Gravy
1. Cook vegetable stock, bragg seasoning, onion powder, and salt and pepper in a saucepan under medium heat.

2. Blend the vegetable stock mixture and the black beans in a blender until well mixed and smooth.

3. Place mixture back in saucepan and simmer under medium-low heat. Add cornstarch if necessary to achieve the consistency you want.

Pesto & Artichoke Pasta

Here is the pasta version of the pesto pizza I posted in my previous post. I created this using the leftovers and some extra ingredients. Needless to say, it turned out quite delicious! I could have sworn I could almost taste parmesan cheese in it.

Ingredients
Pesto (click here for recipe)
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tbsp melted margarine
pasta noodles
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic
artichokes
tofu "chicken" pieces

Basically mix the soy milk, margarine, salt, pepper, garlic and pesto together in a saucepan until well heated/mixed. Pour over boiled pasta noodles. Add artichokes and tofu chicken. Voila!

Pesto Pizza

I've been craving pizza lately, so I decided to attempt to make my own vegan version. I was nervous at first because I was completely experimenting with something I've never really tried before, but it actually turned out to be really yummy!

ingredients
1 cup fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup & a tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tbsp pine nuts
thin pita shells
artichoke hearts
asparagus
tofu "chicken" slices
bragg seasoning
cumin
tumeric
brown sugar
1 cup chopped spinach

1. To make the pesto sauce, simply throw the basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and pine nuts into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.

2. Cook the "chicken" lightly in a frying pan with the bragg seasoning, cumin, tumeric and brown sugar.

3. Spread the pesto sauce evenly over the pita shells. Add the "chicken", asparagus, and artichoke. Sprinkle the spinach on top as if it were cheese.

4. Bake in the oven at 350 until the pita's are crispy and brown, around ten minutes.

sunny days

This is what summertime is to me.