Posts tagged tofu
The other grean bean – Curry Mung beans galettes and tofu-garlic dipping sauce
Jul 19th
L’autre haricot vert – Galettes de haricots mung au curry, et sauce tofu à l’ail
I don’t often cook with mung beans, but once in a while I like to eat them, they’re so cute and round and tiny with a little white eye staring at you.
Of course, I didn’t grow up eating those beans since they’re mainly used in Asian cuisine, and growing up Asian cuisine was not part of my diet.
I remember in Nancy, the first time I ate Asian food, was in a Vietnamese restaurant, the only one in town, I must have been 13 year old (so it’s been a long time!), it was located in a gallery (and still is).
Then I used crab mushrooms, as an accompaniment, those look like beech mushrooms to me, but they seem to be different. I saw a box of crab mushroom at the Asian store, next to a box of beech mushrooms so I came to the conclusion that they’re two different kinds of mushrooms. If I am wrong, please let me know. I would love to know.
The exciting part of this dish is that it’s vegan…and absolutely delicious. The tofu dipping sauce is so creamy and fragrant that the non-tofu friendly crowd will forget it’s tofu. I used regular tofu but silken tofu would be even better. Do not be intimidated by tofu, it’s such a versatile little ingredients and due to its neutral flavor, you can create so many dipping sauces an have a tofu makeover session! it’s so much fun to play with it!
Ingredients for about 10-12 galettes
For the galettes
- 170 g dried mung beans
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, finely diced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 leek, finely chopped
- 1 tsp curry powder
- a dash of soy sauce
- 2 tsp roasted sesame seeds
- 2 tbs mint, chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
For the mushrooms
- 1 box of crab mushrooms
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
For the tofu dipping sauce
- 1/4 lb tofu
- 2 tbs soy yogurt
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Preparation
For the galettes
Cook mung beans in water until tender. Drain well and let cool. Mash with a potato masher or with your hands.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add peppers, and leeks and cook until tender. Add carrots and stir for a few minutes. Add curry powder, stir well and cook for a few more minutes until all the vegetables are coated with the curry powder. Add soy sauce and stir.
Add the vegetables to the mashed mung beans and mix well to obtain a homogenous mixture. Add sesame seeds and mint. Form patties usig your hands. Coat each patty with panko crumbs.
Heat olive oil in a pan, place each galette in the pan and cook both sides until golden brown. remove from pan and serve hot with crab mushrooms and tofu sauce.
For the crab mushrooms
Was mushroom and disassemble them. In a pan, heat olive oil, add onion, ginger and cook the mixture until fragrant, then add garlic and cook for a few extra minutes. Add mushrooms, stir well, then add mirin. Cook until the mushrooms are cooked but still moist. Add cilantro.
For the tofu dipping sauce
Place tofu and other ingredients in a blender, and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Old soups are back – Roasted vegetable soup and oregano with tofu croutons…and 300th post!
Jun 10th
Les anciennes soupes sont de retour – Soupe de légumes grillés et croutons de tofu…et 300 ème post!
Yes time flies and I just realized that this is my 300th post! I completely forgot the 100th and 200th…
I knew when I ordered a new washing machine and dryer that something was going to happen and something did happen…today’s delivery has been canceled because they were in back order. So I have to keep running the dryer six cycles to have the clothes dry. I bet PG&E are thrilled and my mom to lift me up, told me “you don’t need a dryer, it ruins all the clothes”. Very few people have a dryer in Europe, so for most Europeans it’s an unnecessary item…let’s not put all Europeans in the same basket, let’s just say for my mom…but I don’t know anyone who has a dryer among my friends and family.
I was somehow disappointed and bummed, and not in the mood for cooking long and complicated meals…and since I had all the ingredients without rushing to my Greek grocery store, there was no question, I was going to make this soup. I used to make it quite often, then for whatever unexplained reason, it stopped appearing on my table…let’s go back to old recipes, sometimes you forget how great they are. This soup is filled with vegetables and is absolutely a, and 100% vegan. The tofu croutons do add this chewy/crunchy texture that blends beautifully with a spoonful of fragrant creamy soup. You can serve this with a tapenade tartine, so the leftover tapenade from yesterday came in handy. The olives complement the flavors of the soup to perfection. For the broth quantities, you will have to adjust it to your tastes, some people like their soup thicker, some people prefer it thinner, so you will have to play around with it.
Ingredients for 4
- 1 eggplant, sliced crosswise
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 zucchini, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and sliced
- 4 tomatoes, peeled and seedless
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbs oregano
- 1 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- extra firm tofu
- flour
- fleur de sel
- pepper
Preparation
Grill bell pepper under broiler until the skin get charred. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in slices.
Place all the remaining vegetables in a tray, sprinkle with fleur de sel, pepper and olive oil and broil under broiler. Turn the vegetables both sides to grill them.
Mix bell peppers with the rest of the vegetables, add broth garlic, oregano and using a hand blender, mix to obtain a smooth purée.
For the tofu croutons, cut tofu in small cubes, coat them with flour, remove excess flour. Heat olive oil in a pan saute tofu at high temperature until both sides turn golden brown. Serve in bowls, add tofu croutons in the middle and drizzle with olive oil and extra oregano.
This soup can be eaten lukewarm or hot. If you like it hot, just heat it up on the stove for a few minutes before adding tofu.
Yes more bites – Cod-tofu bites with light harissa sauce
May 8th
Si, si encore des bouchées – Bouchées de cabillaud-tofu, sauce harissa légère
I know that some of you might think that woman at Citron et Vanille doesn’t make real food, those bites and tiny little things cannot satisfy a hunger, and does not seem like “food”. Real people want real food. I will have to somehow disagree un petit peu!
I love to serve LOTS of small bites, full of flavors when I entertain. Now for example if this will sound more real to you, you can take a regular size plate, place some sprouts, spinach leaves and place with 3 or 4 bites, and top it off with the sauce. Does it sound more real? If you do actually present it that way, it will look not only very real, but incredibly flavorful as well.
I don’t know about you, but my favorite dishes to prepare are appetizers and hors d’oeuvres. I never liked gigantic plates of food in front of me, I find this overwhelming to look at, never knowing where to start.
I rarely use tofu and fish, probably because in my mind tofu is vegan and mixing it with fish defeats its purpose, well the combination of those two ingredients made the bites very moist and soft. For the harissa sauce, there are a few different versions but I like this one. You can decrease the degree of the heat by adding more or less chili peppers. You can make extra harissa and use it with grilled meats or fish, or even spread it on sandwiches or just on toasted bread. The proportions I list here will give you extra, so if you want less, decrease proportions. You can keep the sauce in an air-tight container for about one week.
I just realized that this weekend is Mother’s day in the US, in France is the last Sunday of May, so I imagine many celebration dishes will be all over the web. This could be a nice way to start the celebration of motherhood, thinking about it, my mom would like it, it is somehow like her, soft inside, with a touch of fire on the outside. So happy mother’s day to American moms!
Ingredients for about 10 bites
For the bouchées
- 4.23 oz (or 120 g) extra firm tofu
- 4.23 oz (or 120 g) cod or any dense white fish
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 2 tbs cilantro, chopped
- paprika
- cumin
- salt and pepper
- spinach leaves for decoration
- alfalfa sprouts for decoration
For the harissa sauce
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 red chili peppers
- 1/4 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 3 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the fish-tofu bites
Blend all ingredients in a mixer and grind to a fine consistency but not too fine, you still want to see the “green” inside. Form small balls the size of a walnut. Place in a sheet and broil under broiler. Broil until golden brown on all sides.
For the harissa
Char broil, red bell peppers and red chili pepper under broiler, until the skin has grilled and starts detaching from the peppers. Remove from the oven, let them cool. Peel and remove the seeds from peppers.
Blend all ingredients in a blender into a smooth purée-type of consistency.
Serve in ceramic spoons or in small dishes. Place one spinach leaf, some alfalfa sprouts and one fish-tofu bite topped with harissa sauce.
The "Three Tries" theory – Tofu "polpette" with curry, leeks, carrots and sesame – Avocado and tomato salad
Sep 23rd
La teoria delle “Tre Prove” – Polpette di tofu al curry con porri, carote, e grani di sesamo, insalatina di pomodori e avocado
I heard so many terrible tofu complaints from so many people that I need to defend this poor little white thingy. I don’t want tofu to be the “forgotten” ingredient, and it tends to be, of course except among vegetarians or vegans and maybe Asia. I think tofu is a very pleasant product to use and also versatile that people should include more often in their diet. Even for the ones who want “real” food (I heard that before) or something tasty, they should try this recipe. I don’t make it very often but once in a while, when well spiced up, I really like it.
I made this for a birthday buffet party with all French/Italians, who are big meat eaters (my friends are) and just the thought of tofu makes them cringe, “ah non! pas de tofu!!” or “c’est quoi ce truc?”, “ma chi te lo mangia il tofu?”. Surprisingly, those polpette went quicker than I had expected, which made me laugh deep inside. I have some of the most traditional friends when it comes to food, they are so basic in their eating habits, that you would not believe it. The traditional Friday night “steak-frites” (steak and fries) in the same restaurant has been a must for years. I do not like habits in the kitchen and especially in my diet, but some people do, I think it gives them a sense of security and comfort. It gives me anxiety.
My theory is the “three tries” or “three chance” theory, I use it to almost everything…If I don’t like something once, I will try it again, and I think after three times, I somehow have a good idea of what it is. It’s the same thing when dealing with people, restaurants, etc… If I have a bad experience once or twice it doesn’t mean that’s the way it usually is. So people deserve more than one chance and food too!
These polpette are on the tender side and quite fragile since they don’t contain any eggs nor bread crumbs (you can add one egg and some breadcrumbs if you wish) because I wanted to keep them vegan, so when turning them make sure you use a small size spatula, or they might break.
Ingredients for 6 polpette
- 1/2 lb (or 220 g) extra firm tofu
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 leek, chopped crosswise
- 1 shallot
- 1 inch ginger root, grated
- 1 tsp mild curry
- chili powder (to your taste)
- 1 tbs light soy sauce
- 1 tbs white sesame seeds
- 2 tbs cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil (or more)
- salt and pepper
For the salad
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 tbs avocado oil
- Juice of one meyer lemon
- 2 chives, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the polpette
First in a container, crumble tofu with your hands, it needs to be a crumbly mixture.
In a small pan, brown sesame seeds and set aside.
Cook leeks in olive oil, until soft and tender and set aside.
In another pan, heat olive oil, add shallot and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add curry and chili powder and stir well for a few minutes (but do not burn it), add soy sauce, and mix well. Add leeks and carrots and stir well so the curry is well blended. Add sesame seeds and add this mixture to the crumbled tofu. Add cilantro. Using your hands, mix it very well so that the curry has penetrated all the ingredients and the mixture has a yellowish color.
Form patties and cook in a pan with olive oil. Carefully turn them to brown them on both sides.
Make the salad combining all the ingredients and serve with polpette.
