the older i have gotten, the more my eating habits have changed. gone are the days where i ate meat almost everyday of the week like everyone else i knew. i guess i could say i have become a part time meat eater, indulging maybe 2 or 3 times a month, at most. do i miss it? i think the answer to that is .... only when i'm eating it ;) admittedly, trying to come up with decent non-meat dishes to take the place of what i used to eat is sometimes a pain in the assparagus :o — many of the things i make requiring a a fair amount of preparation and cooking time, since most of the foods i exist on do not fall into the "throw pasta in water and boil" plan.
while i enjoy cooking and making things, i HATE all the prep work, especially when it comes to vegetables. as i am standing there busy cutting, trimming, peeling, coring vegetables, i start to understand why people are paying double the price for pre-prepared vegetables at the grocery stores!
the following tofu dish is a very simple dish to make for lunch or dinner which requires little work on your part. it is low in fat and high in protein and very flavourful due to the ingredients used. the best part is there is no vegetable chopping involved except for some ginger and garlic!
if you keep kosher, mitoku sells a variety of kosher asian products. check the links ... and even if you don't, they have a wide variety of interesting products which are both organic and macrobiotic.
sweet and spicy ginger baked tofu
ingredients:
1 lb (454 g) extra firm or firm tofu
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
4 tbsp japanese soy sauce (shoyu)
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp honey or brown rice syrup
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes
chopped green onion ('shallots') for garnish
method:
preheat oven to 350 F.
cut tofu into 1/2 inch slices. place them flat in a pyrex.
make marinade — chop garlic and ginger finely and place them in a bowl with the oil.
add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
pour the marinade over the tofu slices.
bake everything for 1 hour.
serve either hot or room temperature with rice.
while i enjoy cooking and making things, i HATE all the prep work, especially when it comes to vegetables. as i am standing there busy cutting, trimming, peeling, coring vegetables, i start to understand why people are paying double the price for pre-prepared vegetables at the grocery stores!
the following tofu dish is a very simple dish to make for lunch or dinner which requires little work on your part. it is low in fat and high in protein and very flavourful due to the ingredients used. the best part is there is no vegetable chopping involved except for some ginger and garlic!
if you keep kosher, mitoku sells a variety of kosher asian products. check the links ... and even if you don't, they have a wide variety of interesting products which are both organic and macrobiotic.
sweet and spicy ginger baked tofu
ingredients:
1 lb (454 g) extra firm or firm tofu
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
4 tbsp japanese soy sauce (shoyu)
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp honey or brown rice syrup
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes
chopped green onion ('shallots') for garnish
method:
preheat oven to 350 F.
cut tofu into 1/2 inch slices. place them flat in a pyrex.
make marinade — chop garlic and ginger finely and place them in a bowl with the oil.
add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
pour the marinade over the tofu slices.
bake everything for 1 hour.
serve either hot or room temperature with rice.enjoy!
I love this recipe!
ReplyDeleteI know what you're saying about chainging eating habits. I'm sort of going in the same direction as you, i.e. away from meat.
As for thinking of quick non-meat dishes, stir-fries are always a good idea, but they take a bit of prep.
I posted a lovely stew on my blog that you may want to try - Nigerian Red Kidney Bean and Peanut Butter Stew: http://maninas.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/nigerian-red-kidney-bean-stew-with-a-peanut-sauce/. It's aboslutely delicious, and it takes very little prep and 30 min to make. Do try it!
I love chopping vegetables - it's like therapy - so I'll come and chop for you anytime!
ReplyDeleteI only rarely eat meat, although I love that kind of food! I mostly eat vegetarian meals during the week and indulge in meat on weekends...
ReplyDeleteRegarding the preparation work, I hate it too! If I could find a kitchen assistant ("slave") who would do all the dirty work for me, I'd be very happy ;-P!!!
That's a great way of preparing tofu and it's not fussy at all! Tasty...
Cheers,
Rosa
hi maninas - love stir-fries but hate all the cutting/chopping veggies work! LOL. guess i'm just lazy.... it's a good idea though; i need to start making them again.
ReplyDeletethat sounds like a very interesting stew; i will give it a look :) thanks for telling me about it. i've never used peanuts that way before but seen many (african) recipes for such soups/stews.
emily - well, you have the address. therapy??!!
rosa - LOL, and i thought you were a big meat eater!! ;) i still love eating it when i do but not enough to make it as much as i used to in the past. i think it's also habit and what you grew up with.
too bad we can't enlist the cats to chop the vegetables up for us ;))
the tofu comes out great this way and goes well with jasmine rice.
I love tasty soy options like this because I'm trying to really limit my meat intake. This week I tried Seitan in a stew and it was great. The only thing I'll say about tofu is that it is most often from genetically modified soybeans. It's up to you whether or not that bothers you, but if it does, look for non-GMO brands like Eden or SoyBoy.
ReplyDeletehttp://doesabodygood.blogspot.com
hi michelle - welcome and thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeletelove seitan, as well as tofu, as a meat replacement even though it's not exactly the same :((.
can't say i've been too diligent about seeking out the non-GMO brands because i don't exactly always believe the industry. i do, however, use both those brands you've mentioned.
thanks for the visit ;)