Big Fat Taco Salad

Once the weather heats up, I pretty much only want to eat salads. With the hot and humid temps last week, the Big Fat Taco Salad from Appetite for Reduction hit the spot. You do need to make two other recipes--the Fresh Tomato Salsa Dressing and the Guacamame--but everything comes together pretty quickly, and it makes enough for a week of lunches.

The Guacamame itself is outstanding. It's made with avocado and edamame, which adds protein and makes it more filling plus lower in WeightWatchers points (only 2 points per serving!). I think it tastes nearly identical to regular guacamole, and I make it a lot in place of avocado-only guacamole.

The Fresh Tomato Salsa Dressing is also very good, though if you're tight on time you could likely subsitute a chunky-style salsa.

I found the salad overall to be delicious and filling, and it definitely works as a meal. Omnivores will have no problem substituting the black beans for another protein or adding another protein.

Find the recipes over on the Meatless Monday blog. 

Pad Thai Salad

Who said salads have to be boring? The Pad Thai Salad from Appetite for Reduction I made this week was a really different, spicy salad. The salad itself has romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, red onion, carrot, and peanuts. The Peanut Lime Dragon Dressing that goes with it is made from a puree of peanuts, lime juice, shallots, agave nectar, and hot sauce.

I really liked it. The book recommends beefing it up by adding some red thai tofu (another recipe from the book), so I'll add tofu next time. But just by itself, it was great. Here's the recipe.

Guacamame

Confession: I've never made guacamole before. I love it but fear if I made it home I would devour the entire recipe in about five minutes. So tonight I tried the Guacamame from Appetite for Reduction which is--you guessed it--a combination of avocado and edamame to reduce the fat. If I hadn't made it and someone served it to me, I'd have sworn it was regular guacamole. It was fantastic and is safe to serve guests who would normally thumb their noses at lower-fat versions of things.

I had it on the Veganomicon Black Bean Burgers I made this past weekend. Yum! I'll be baking corn tortilla chips to go with the rest.

I found the recipe here.

Cajun Beanballs & Spaghetti

Yesterday I made a spicy, Cajun version of spaghetti and meatballs from Appetite for Reduction that was fantastic.

First I made the Cajun Marinara Sauce, which was super simple and perfectly spicy. Isa is right: Why buy sauce when it's so easy to make? Her sauce starts out by sauteing minced garlic in olive oil (I added red pepper flakes for the Cajun variation), adding thyme and oregano, and then mixing in a can of crushed tomatoes. The Cajun variation called for Cajun seasoning and hot sauce. Mmm!

Next I made the Black-Eyed Pea & Tempeh Balls. My only other attempt at cooking with tempeh failed, but this seemed fool-proof: just steam the tempeh and mix it in to the mashed black-eyed peas, seasonings, and other ingredients.Roll them into balls, spritz with cooking spray, and bake for about 25 minutes. Last I tossed the beanballs with whole-wheat spaghetti, zucchini, and the Cajun Marinara Sauce and topped everything with scallions. The beanballs soak up the spicy sauce, and the end result is completely slurp-worthy. The recipe made a ton, so I'll be eating this for a while--lucky me!

Unfried Fried Tofu & Hoison-Mustard Sauce

I learned this technique for dry-frying tofu in Appetite for Reduction and have been using it a lot. It gives tofu the same great texture as frying but without any fat.

1. Press a block of tofu for at least a half-hour to get as much moisture out as possible. The more dry your tofu is, the better the results. Cut up the pressed tofu into half-inch cubes.
2. Heat a pan over medium heat and spray with a little bit of cooking spray. Add your cubed tofu and let it cook for 5 minutes, flipping with a thin spatula to keep the pieces intact, with the goal to get the tofu browned on all sides.
3. After 5 minutes, drizzle 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, toss to coat, and cook for another 5 minutes.

The result is chewy tofu with a great fried texture. Doesn't it look delicious?
It doesn't have a strong taste, so it would be best with flavorful sauces or gravies instead of on its own. My favorite sauce is the Hoison-Mustard Sauce from Appetite for Reduction, where this technique came from. I've said before that I don't like to post recipes from current cookbooks, but I think posting one or two is okay--I know I'm more likely to buy a cookbook after I've tried a few recipes first. Since I haven't posted any AFR recipes yet, I'm posting this--my all-time favorite tofu recipe!

Hoison-Mustard Tofu
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into half-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (1/2 teaspoon if you want it spicier)
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons hoison sauce
• 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard

Instructions

1. Fry the tofu per the instructions above and set aside.
   
2. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in the sesame oil. Cook for about 10 minutes, using a little cooking spray if it becomes dry. Veggies should be soft and brown.
3. Add the mirin and let it cook for 3 minutes. Mirin is a thick, sweet Japanese wine. I think it's important to use it in this recipe to get the sweet and thick consistency of the sauce, so I don't think you should substitute anything for the mirin. It will look like this after you add the mirin.
4. Add the hoison and mustard and cook for another minute.
5. Add the tofu to the sauce and toss to coat.

This tofu and sauce is so amazing, it's hard for me to wait to even put it on a plate. I want to gobble it all up right out of the pan. I had it with the Unfried Fried Rice from Appetite for Reduction, which I first talked about here.I think this sauce would also make a good dipping sauce for spring rolls and other types of Asian appetizers.

Baked Tofu, Kale & Brown Rice Bowl with Chickpea Gravy

This was another bowl idea from Appetite for Reduction: Gravy Bowl with basic baked tofu (it called for tempeh, but I substituted tofu), steamed kale, brown rice, and the Silky Chickpea Gravy.

First things first: this chickpea gravy is amazing. You blend chickpeas with onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil, thyme, and rubbed sage; vegetable broth mixed with arrowroot powder; and soy sauce. It's thick and gravy-y and savory and just really yummy. I could eat a whole recipe by the spoonful without much problem. I made the omnivore husband taste it too, and he thought it was pretty good. I'll definitely make this gravy again and smother it over everything. I found the recipe on this blog, so try it!
So what happens when you combine this wonderful gravy with rice, my favorite baked tofu, and steamed kale? You get an absolutely scrumptious, filling, healthy meal...so good that, a half-hour after dinner, I'm looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow.

Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta & Spinach

I've had my eye on this tantalizing recipe from Appetite for Reduction since I first got the book. But because it's one of the most time intensive recipes, I didn't try it until this weekend.

There's a lot of prep. First (obviously) you roast the cauliflower. Then you mash it with a mixture of tofu, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper.Next you make the sauce, which is really just adding fresh thyme, minced garlic, and salt to a can of crushed tomatoes.Then you chop up some spinach and start building the lasagna layers.I topped it with thinly sliced tomatoes and baked it for 40 minutes.
And...it sucked. Really. It figures that the most time intensive recipe I've made from AFR so far was so bad. I made myself eat two of the six slices before I threw the rest out. For me, wasting food is an ultimate sin, so you know this was pretty bad.

The description said it had "so much flavor your head might burst." Instead, my head deflated with the lack of flavor. I love all the ingredients, especially roasted cauliflower, but to me it tasted really bland. The only thing I could taste really strongly was the fresh thyme in the sauce.

How disappointing...especially after I gave AFR such a glowing review! Oh well...I'll overlook a few flubs in an otherwise great cookbook.

Has anyone else made this? Is it something I did wrong???

Cookbook Club: Appetite for Reduction Review

I reviewed this book as part of Cook Vegan Lover's Cookbook Club. In a nutshell, this is probably my all-time favorite cookbook. I felt like it was written just for me. I give it 10 out of 5 stars; it's really that fantastic. The breakdown...

I Loved...

• The recipes. Usually there will be many recipes in a cookbook that appeal to me, but many others that don't. Of the 125 recipes in this book, there are maybe 5 that I don't want to try.
• The taste. Almost all of the 25 recipes I tried were delicious; others were just good. There were only two I didn't like.
• The low fat. All of the recipes were between 200 and 400 calories a serving. Because I'm maintaining a large weight loss, this was really important to me. (My biggest criticism of Veganomicon was that the recipes were definitely not low fat!)
  
• The nutrition combinations. Perhaps what I liked most was that this cookbook taught me how to easily combine veggies, protein, and whole grains to make a complete, filling, satisfying meal, which is a key to weight loss and maintenance, as I explain here. I loved both the recipes that did this and the ideas for building bowls, sandwiches, and salads.
• The nutrition information. I'm maintaining my weight on WeightWatchers so continue to use their PointsPlus value system. It was really easy to calculate the Points of foods with the provided nutrition information.
• Ideas for other combinations. I really loved the sections on bowls and sandwiches, because although the cookbook contained 125 recipes, the options for new meals based on Isa's ideas are endless.
• The breakdown of sections. I loved how this book was broken down into salads, sides, veggies, beans, tofu & tempeh, pasta, soups, and curries, chili & stews. That's pretty much exactly how I think of meals, so the breakdown was intuitive.
• The lack of desserts. If there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that full-fat desserts are worth it. Low-fat desserts just don't taste as good and, on WeightWatchers, are only 1 or 2 points less than their full-fat cousins. I'd rather use the extra points to have a better dessert. I love that Isa didn't even go there in AFR.
• The time. I really, really loved how little time most of the recipes took. That was my other criticism of Veganomicon--that I'd spend all day one one dish. Most of these recipes were really easy to prepare on weeknights after work.
  
• The helpful intros, notes, and tips. The book is filled with helpful nuggets of wisdom. I loved that Isa would advise not to cook a dish to bring to a potluck but to make if you wanted to throw something quickly together. And notes like "the dressing may seem thin at first but thickens as it chills" were good guidelines to let me know my recipes were turning out right.
• The tone. As with Veganomicon, I loved the humor and wit and often laughed aloud.

I Didn't Love...
There's not much I didn't love. If I had to pick one thing, it would be that some of the nutrition information was missing, but I found it on Isa's website.

Who I Think Would Love This Book Too...
Everyone with an interest in eating healthy, good, filling meals. You don't have to be watching your weight to love this book. I think omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike would like the creative combinations of ingredients, the range of types of cuisines, the cooking techniques, and the ideas for building healthy meals. My omnivore husband doesn't like anything that tastes like diet food, and he liked nearly everything he tried from this book.

Review of Recipes I tried

• Chickpea Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Toasted Cumin Seeds
• Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon and Caesar Chavez Dressing (I made this dressing every week for four weeks since trying it the first time)
• Green Onion-Miso Vinaigrette
• Sundried Tomato Walnut Dressing
• Garlicky Mushrooms & Kale
• Jerk Asparagus
• Sweet & Salty Maple Baby Carrots
• Ye'abesha Gomen
• Mushroom Tibs
• Scallion Potato Pancakes and Hoison-Mustard Tofu
• Unfried Fried Rice
• Forty-Clove Broccoli & Chickpeas
• Hottie Black-Eyed Peas & Greens
• Basic Baked Tofu
• Spinach-Potato Curry and Masala Baked Tofu
• Curried Chickpeas & Greens
• Hummus
• Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup
• Mediterranean Bowl
• Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine
• Pasta con Broccoli (the only recipe I didn't like)
• Herb-Roasted Cauliflower (the 2nd recipe I didn't like)
• I also made the OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings before I got the book.
  

Other Reviews

• The layout. I said how I liked the breakdown of sections and the notes and tips. I also like the breakdown telling how much active versus total time each recipe took.
• Aesthetics. I would have liked to see more food pictures, but the ones that were included were helpful. And I loved the font for the recipe titles and the cover art.
  
• Ingredients. All of the recipes I tried called for basic ingredients I could easily find.

The Final Word
I will use Appetite for Reduction for life. Even though the official review is over, I'm still planning on trying so many more recipes and making most of my meals from this cookbook. I love that the recipes are easy, quick, delicious, filling, and helping me maintain my weight while being completely satisfied. LOVE this cookbook. Thanks, Isa! If you're playing an AFR sequel, I'll be the first person to buy it!

Appetite for Reduction: Creamy Mushroom Fettucine

If you love mushrooms, you'll love this dish. It's all creamy, mushroomy goodness. And so quick and easy to make!

The recipe starts with sauteeing five minced cloves of garlic in a little olive oil, then adding sliced mushrooms with salt, pepper, and thyme. After the shrooms cook down a little, you add some white wine and let everything cook together.The secret to this recipe (don't tell Isa I told you!) is storebought vegan creamy portobello mushroom soup mixed with some cornstarch.When you add it to the mushrooms and let it cook, it forms a luxuriously rich and creamy sauce.
At this point I tasted it and fell in love. But the recipe wasn't done. The last addition was two teaspoons of balsamic vinegar. I doubted this and, in the minute or so before the timer rang, ran through my head why Isa would possibly want to add the vinegar. To give the earthy flavor a bright note? To give the sauce more complexity? When the timer rang, I told myself, "Don't doubt Isa! How often is she wrong?"

So I added the balsamic vinegar...and guess what? I think I was right! I didn't like the final sauce as much as the pre-vinegared sauce. The final sauce tasted really good, but I could taste the vinegar as a separate flavor, and I think the sauce would have been better without it. Next time, I'll omit.
I topped it with sliced green onions, and a hearty, yummy dinner was ready in under 30 minutes. And I marked my calendar that I think my way would have been better than Isa's!

Baked Tofu, Spinach & Brown Rice Bowl with Miso-Green Onion Dressing

I've been wanting to try the Appetite for Reduction Miso-Green Onion Salad Dressing, but I don't like sushi and didn't want to make the suggested sushi-like salad featured with the dressing. So I made the dressing by itself, which was as simple as pureeing these ingredients in a blender.I had it over simple salads of spinach, romaine, and spring mix greens, and it was great. The miso flavor really stands out but I couldn't taste the green onions too much; I think I'll use more next time. The dressing was so flavorful; it was wonderful paired with plain greens.

I wanted to use it in another dish, so last night I quickly put together the marinade for the Appetite for Reduction Basic Baked Tofu and let it marinate until I got home from work today.I said before how much I love this, but here it is again: I love this baked tofu! I preheated the oven as soon as I walked in the house and in a half-hour had perfectly baked, wonderful tasting, chewy tofu that, again, was hard for me to not devour right off the baking sheet.

I cut up the tofu, heated some brown rice I cooked last night, steamed some spinach, and combined it all in a bowl with the Miso-Green Onion Dressing.The dressing and baked tofu flavors didn't go together as nicely as I thought they would--each has such a distinctive flavor that they clashed a little. Lesson learned: pair this dressing with very simple flavors, liked simple salads or steamed veggies.

Still, I enjoyed it. For lunch tomorrow I might put the dressing over the rice and spinach and eat the tofu separately.

Appetite for Reduction: Sweet & Salty Maple Baby Carrots

With reluctance I tried the Sweet & Salty Maple Baby Carrots from Appetite for Reduction. I'm not a big carrot fan to begin with, and with only three ingredients (carrots, maple syrup, and sea salt), how good could this be? But I had carrots left over from the Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup, so I tried it. Imagine my dismay when this came out of the oven:Um, looks like plain carrots.

My first bite was a wonderful surprise. Sweet? Yep. Salty? Yes. Good? Yes!

I've had variations of maple syrup glazed carrots before, but in this recipe everything's roasted, so the sweet and salty flavors are baked into the carrots. Appetite for Reduction is proving time and again how simple, healthy meals can taste so good.

Appetite for Reduction: Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup

Don't be fooled by the boring looks of this soup--it's bursting with flavor! The smoky cumin is wonderfully enhanced by lemon zest and juice. Red lentils and brown basmati rice combine to make it almost creamy (so substituting another type of lentil probably won't get the same great results).

The prep work for this dish is minimal--about 10 or 15 minutes--followed by a fairly long cooking time, so it's done in about an hour. I made it last night and ate it for lunch today, which I think is the way to go so the flavors really have time to mesh. Omnivore husband tried it and liked it too. Try it for yourself--someone posted the recipe here.

Appetite for Reduction: Unfried Fried Rice & Hoison Mustard Tofu

My cooked brown basmati rice was begging to be used before it went bad. Appetite for Reduction to the rescue! Because the rice was already cooked, the Unfried Fried Rice took five whole minutes to make. It's simple--the rice is sauteed in a little sesame oil with minced shallot, garlic, fresh ginger, and soy sauce--but really delicious. I added steamed broccoli to it, tossed it with sliced green onions, and served it with the Appetite for Reduction Hoison Mustard Tofu, which is probably my all-time favorite tofu dish. Wonderful!

My husband omnivore-ized this dish by mixing in some grilled shrimp in a separate pan. He really liked it too.

Really Good Reduced-Fat Hummus (Really!)

If you're looking for a fantastic hummus to impress your party guests, check out the recipe I posted here. If you, like me, have been searching for a really good reduced-fat version of hummus, read on.

I've tried Veganomicon's reduced-fat Cauliflower Hummus and Appetite for Reduction's reduced-fat hummus. I liked them, but there was something I couldn't put my finger on that I wasn't crazy about. When I went to make a variation of Appetite for Reduction's hummus this week, I realized what it was: oil. With so few ingredients in hummus, all the flavors really stand out, and I don't like the taste of oil in hummus. But, I do like the taste of tahini.

So I started out making Appetite for Reduction's Shabby Sheik Hummus but modified it to eliminate the oil and to include just a small amount of tahini, which gives enough flavor without too much fat. Note that the addition of the spices is the Shabby Sheik variation and can be left out for plain hummus.

My other modification is to cook your own chickpeas and use the reserved cooking liquid in place of oil to make it creamy. I noted here how that's the secret to really fantastic hummus. In a pinch you could use canned, but it won't taste as good. It's easy to cook your own, and you'll save money too. Read more: How and Why to Cook Your Own Chickpeas.Really Good Reduced-Fat Hummus
Makes 8 1/4-cup servings

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas, liquid reserved
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon tahini (more if you like tahini, but of course the more you add, the more fat will be in it)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or more if you want it really spicy)
• 3 to 6 tablespoons chickpea cooking liquid

Instructions

1. Pulse the chickpeas and garlic cloves in a food processor until no chickpeas remain.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the chickpea cooking liquid, tahini, and lemon juice and puree for a minute or two, scraping down the sides of the food processor so you get everything.
3. Add all the spices and 1 more tablespoon of the chickpea cooking liquid. Process until smooth, adding additional tablespoons of chickpea cooking liquid until it is as creamy as you'd like.
4. Taste for salt and lemon juice and add more if you want. Keeps in the fridge for about five days.

WeightWatchers PointsPlus Values: 2 (regular hummus is 4)

Appetite for Reduction: Ye'abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Collards)

For all you nutrition-loving folks, here's an interesting note from Appetite for Reduction: 1 cup of collards has the same amount of calcium as 1 cup of 2% cow's milk but has way more fiber (7 grams versus 0 in milk) and less saturated fat (0 grams versus 3 in milk). Clearly, collards are better! ;-)

Veganonicon started my love affair with collards, but this recipe for Ethiopian-style stewed and sauteed collards, Ye'abesha Gomen, made me fall in love all over again. How can something that tastes so good be so good for you? That's the magic of Appetite for Reduction!

This recipe starts out by stewing chopped collards in vegetable broth for a half-hour until they're nice and tender. Then you saute onion, garlic, fresh ginger, and red pepper flakes in a little bit of olive oil, then add the collards and cook everything for a few minutes. I loved it. My omnivore husband grudgingly tried it and even more grudgingly admitted it was "not bad," which, translated to my love of food, really means "very good!"

Appetite for Reduction: 40-Clove Broccoli & Chickpeas

This is one of my favorite kinds of recipes: simple, few ingredients, and just works. Garlic cloves (despite the title, it calls for 10 but I used 15), chickpeas, and broccoli spears are roasted with a little olive oil and a smattering of simple spices (salt, freshly ground pepper, lemon zest, and oregano). It's good, hearty vegan comfort food that I think omnivores would enjoy too. And it took all of five minutes to put together. I had a salad and toast and cleaned up the kitchen while it was cooking. What a bonus to have the kitchen cleaned before I'm done with dinner!

Next time I'll skip adding the chopped up broccoli stalks (too tough and not very flavorful) and add even more garlic.

Another love story from Appetite for Reduction!

Appetite for Reduction: Sundried Tomato Walnut Dressing

Maybe it's the warmer weather or maybe it's the amazingly delicious Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon, but something started my salad craving. I've been eating simple salads of spinach, romaine, and baby lettuces topped with some nuts and Appetite for Reduction dressing every day.

Tonight I decided to give the Caesar Chavez dressing a break. I've made it every week for about a month now. Instead I made the Sundried Tomato Walnut Dressing.
This dressing is made by processing sundried tomatoes, walnuts, fennel seeds, shallots, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and marjoram. I substituted the water it called for with the tomato soaking liquid (why waste it?). I didn't measure out my tomatoes; I just used what I had left. I think I used more than the 1/4 cup called for because it's so thick it doesn't really pour.

Still: This dressing is perfect! The mix of flavors is just right--very sundried-tomato-y, with just enough tang from the vinegar and mustard. I had it tonight on a big salad with some chickpeas and walnuts. Great!

I'll make it again using the right amount of tomatoes so it has the right consistency, but I might also make it this same, thick way again to serve on toasted baguettes with cashew cheese (or even just as a bread dipping sauce).

Appetite for Reduction: Spinach-Potato Curry & Masala Baked Tofu

This weekend I made another fabulous dish from Appetite for Reduction: Spinach-Potato Curry and Masala Baked Tofu. For the curry, I used four ounces more spinach than the recipe called for (but what was I supposed to do with the leftover frozen spinach?). Consequently, near the end of the cooking time, I worried that my extra spinach would diffuse the spices and reduce the flavor, so I frantically started adding more curry powder and cumin.

It turned out not quite as spicy and flavorful as I wanted, so next time I'd probably double all the spices, including the red pepper flakes. But the spinach was velvety as promised. What made this dish fantastic was the Masala Baked Tofu I had with it.

I'm not sure why I didn't like the baked curried tofu from Veganomicon (I'm thinking I didn't press the tofu long enough so it didn't absorb the marinade well) because I LOVED both the Basic Baked Tofu and this Masala Baked Tofu. I could have eaten all the tofu right off the baking sheet.
Paired with the curry and brown basmati rice, it was really great. I had leftovers for lunch today, and it may have been even better.I've been loving Appetite for Reduction so much that I'm not going to do the next cookbook in Cook Vegan Lover's Cookbook Club so that I can spend more time with Appetite.

Appetite for Reduction: Basic Baked Tofu & Mushroom Tibs Bowl

WeightWatchers' program in a nutshell is pretty simple: fill up on whole, healthy foods, especially those with fiber and protein, and you'll stay satisfied. The majority of these power foods, as WeightWatchers calls them, are vegan: fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu, and other whole soy. Not only does this strategy make you less likely to reach the point where you're so starved you chow down with abandon (so you eat less and lose weight), but whole, healthy foods are exactly what our bodies need for optimal health. (Don't take my word for it. The largest group of nutrition experts in the world says that vegetarian and vegan diets prevent and treat many diseases.)

I lost more than 30 pounds on WeightWatchers and have maintained it since September. I continue to use their strategy, and it continues to work. So I'm always looking for meals that combine a vegetable, a protein, and a whole grain--power foods that will fill me up.

I love Appetite for Reduction because it gives so many of these filling meal recipes and ideas. I'd made Mushroom Tibs before and thought it would be great combined with tofu and rice in a bowl. Tonight I tried it.

First, I whipped up the marinade for the Basic Baked Tofu, pressed the tofu, and put it in the marinade before leaving for work. When I got home, all I had to do was heat the oven and bake the tofu. I didn't have high hopes for this tofu because I'd made the Curried Tofu from Veganomicon, which had even more spices, and it wasn't too flavorful (maybe I didn't press my tofu enough, though). I was pleasantly surprised! The Basic Baked Tofu was so full of flavor, I ate a bunch right off the baking sheet. Loved it--a definite keeper. While the tofu was baking I chopped up my mushrooms.Then I made the sauce for the Mushroom Tibs. It's loaded with herbs and spices!
When you mix it together, it forms a thick paste that you coat the mushrooms with. I doubled the sauce so I could have more for my bowl.
By this time the tofu was done (and I was nibbling on slices of it), so I put the coated mushrooms in the oven to bake. While they were baking, I steamed some kale to add to the bowl (adding greens to any meal is always a good idea).My kitty Rasputin insists on trying everything I make. He didn't like the baked tofu (and moved away right as I took this.)I cut up some of the tofu slices, and when the mushrooms and kale were done, I mixed them together with some brown basmati rice. The bowl was really delicious with everything covered in the spicy, intensely flavored Ethiopian Mushroom Tibs sauce. Plus, I got two veggies, a protein, and whole grain, and the whole thing was so low in WeightWatchers Points, I was able to eat the last of the Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Buttercream Frosting I made last weekend. Perfect!