World Wide Vegan

Tonight my husband, who generally avoids tofu, swallowed his pride and admitted to me that he loved dinner. In fact he added that if tofu tasted that good all the time he would even request it periodically. The dish I made was Thai Peanut sauce with fried tofu on whole grain noodles.

To tell you the truth I nearly didn't make it because I was out of fettuccine and I didn't want to make it with wide noodles. As you can see I cooked it anyway, however I really don't recommend it with wide noodles. Even though my husband loved it, I suggest that you make it with fettuccine or spaghetti. The wide noodles just couldn't hold onto enough sauce to make it perfect.

So, in spite of the tofu, I'm adding this to my list of man-friendly recipes. I used a medium spicy picante sauce which my husband prefers, but if you prefer a mild, more boring flavor you may want to use a mild picante sauce (or spicy picante sauce if you really like the heat). I'm not a fan of hot spices but I do prefer this recipe with the medium picante sauce. It really isn't spicy at all and the flavors blend so nicely with a little heat added.

I make the sauce first and set it aside, heating it just before pouring it onto the pasta.

Sauce:
1 cup picante sauce
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

Mix all items together in small saucepan and heat through. Set aside.

Fried Sesame Tofu
1 block of firm, water packed tofu.
2 Tablespoons fine, whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes.
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
canola oil
peanut oil


First press some of the water out of the tofu by placing tofu block on two folded paper towels. Place on a plate or on a dish cloth and top with two more paper towels and a small heavy bowl or a cast iron bacon press. Turn tofu every five minutes for 15 minutes.

Slice tofu block in half through the center creating to thinner blocks. Then cut each block into 3/4 inch cubes.


In a small bowl stir together flour, nutritional yeast and sesame seeds. roll each cube of tofu in flour mixture to coat, pressing sesame seeds into tofu.

This is about the time that I start cooking the whole grain fettuccine and simmering the peanut sauce.

Pour 1 part peanut oil and 3 parts canola oil in a skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Heat to 350 degrees. Carefully drop in cubes of coated tofu. Allow them to cook, turning occasionally until cubes are light brown and crispy on the outside - about 4 minutes. Lift them out of oil and drain on paper towels.



When fettuccine is cooked, drain it and place it in a bowl. Add heated peanut sauce and stir to coat. Top with fried tofu. Sprinkle on chopped peanuts and additional peanut sauce if desired.

Serve hot with broccoli and fresh pineapple.

Labels: fettuccine, peanut butter, peanuts, picante, Thai, tofu

In June I spent three and a half weeks with my daughter-in-law and granddaughters while she recovered from surgery. After 2 weeks she was feeling well enough to do some cooking and she decided to make vegan cupcakes. I don't do much baking so I suppose she and my granddaughters were feeling deprived of some down-home sugar confections.

She came up with just the right recipe, Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting. The cakes were fluffy and light while providing just the right amount of peanut butter flavor. The chocolate frosting was the perfect compliment creating a blissful blending of classic flavors. Our whole family enjoyed the summer treat - even our non-vegan family members. Before the week was out we made 2 more batches just to keep up with the demand.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Cupcakes:
3/4 c. vanilla soy milk
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup raw sugar
2 Tbs. pure maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir vinegar into soy milk and set aside. In mixing bowl, mix together peanut butter, oil, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Add milk-vinegar mixture and blend it in. Sift in the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir together until just combined. Don't over blend.

Fill lined muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool on racks before frosting.

Frosting:
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbs. vanilla soy milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend together margarine and cocoa powder until creamy. Add soy milk. Add powdered sugar in small batches and blend well until you reach desired consistency. Add vanilla and beat about three minutes until light and fluffy.

For fun you can clip the corner of a plastic, zip-lock bag, filled with frosting and swirl frosting onto cupcakes.

Labels: chocolate, frosting, peanut butter, vegan cupcakes, Vegetarian