Quake for tofu steak!

TOFU STEAKS...

Okay, I had a blog or two in the past regarding tofu.  It is what you make it.  I make it a variety of ways. I want to show folks how to make tofu the star of the show.  Usually it complements a recipe as an ingredient. Today, it is the main ingredient.  Just recently I had an overgrowth of mint in my container garden and had to find something to do it with and I discovered a recipe on mint pesto and decided to veganize it.  Though that pesto recipe was paired with meat, I decided to make a mildly tangy tofu steak for it to complement.

As I said before in another blog post, I love mint.  I think it's simply refreshing, especially in hot summers.   It is full of vitamins (A and C), minerals (copper, iron magnesium, potassium, and calcium).  It is good for both cardiovascular and intestinal health.  Google its tremendous health properties for yourself!

Tofu is also pretty good for you.  It is full of vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, Vitamin E), minerals (copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, and zinc).  Only four ounces of tofu has over 9 grams of protein.  Tofu is also a low cholesterol and low fat food.  It has fatty acids.  It's health benefits include lowering LDL and trigycercide  levels, helping to alleviate the side of effects of menopause fending off prostate cancer, and strengthening bones.  Here again, google for more information!

Now, I had to start making my tofu steaks yesterday.  First, I pressed the water out of the tofu for about 40 minutes.  Here's how I do it.  You can use a book, but I like to use 5 pound weights.  If you have a tofu press, that also works great!  I haven't decided to invest in a tofu press yet.  This way works so well!

Pressing water out of tofu.

Tofu sitting in water pressed from it
40 minutes later.

Then I cut the block of tofu into five or six steaks.  I wanted two large steaks, so the picture below shows five steaks.   

Cut tofu block in half, then cut steaks
out desired thickness of steaks.

Before I place my steaks into the marinade, I grind black pepper all over them.  Then place them into the marinating dish and I let them marinate overnight so that I could make sure that flavor is in there!

Tofu with ground pepper and marinade

Tofu placed into marinade to sit overnight.

Once they marinate overnight, they appear nice and brown.  You could drain the marinade off of them and keep the marinated tofu in the dish until you're ready to grill, or you can let them stay in the marinade in hopes that they soak up more flavor.  I almost always drain the marinade.

Tofu is nice and marinated the next morning.  After marinade
is drained off.

When I use a grill pan (cast iron), I have to make sure my vent is on and my windows are open.  It gets smokey in the kitchen.  You may want to grill on an outdoor grill if your indoor grilling experience is the same as mine.

Grilling tofu steaks with Earth Balance margarine.

HERB CRUSTED TOFU STEAKS with Mint Pesto (or any pesto)

Fresh lemon thyme, rosemary, and
oregano ready for chopping.

Tofu and Marinade

• 1  block plain extra firm tofu, sliced into 5/6 steaks
• 1/4 cup grape juice 
• 1/2 cup no-chicken broth or veggie broth 
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar 
• 1/8 cup water 
• 1 cup liquid aminos (or half of this if you want less sodium) 
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 8 cloves fresh garlic, pressed/minced 
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon thyme, chopped 
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped 
• 1 teaspoon (about 1 inch) fresh grated ginger, optional 
• fresh ground Monk's pepper

Mint Pesto (optional)

• 3/4 cup packed mint leaves 
• 1/4 cup raw spinach or  flat-leaf parsley leaves 
• 2 green onions, cut in fourths 
• 5 medium garlic cloves, pressed/minced 
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice 
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
• 3/4 teaspoon liquid aminos
• Salt to taste

Instructions:
Press in tofu press to get the water out for about 30-45 minutes.Slice the tofu into even sized slices across the block-you should get 5 or 6 steaks.  I cut my tofu in half and evenly slice two or three steaks depending upon my desired thickness. 

Meanwhile, mix all the rest of the ingredients together and marinate the tofu slices in this for at least four hours or overnight. Cook on a cast iron grill on a medium heat, spooning the marinade over the tofu steaks when you turn them, for 3-5 minutes each side until a crust develops. Flip tofu steaks over until crust forms. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place in oven for about 8 minutes, if desired for a less moist steak.  I usually skip this oven because I like mine straight off the grill.

For the pesto, combine all ingredients in a food processor and let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Spelt and Durham wheat elbow pasta with herb crusted tofu
steak with mint pesto ready to eat!

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I also had a side salad with this.  Some of you may have wanted to know what the tofu looked like inside once it was grilled.  I decided to take a picture of the second steak I consumed today to show you.

Yep, tofu really takes on the flavor of the seasonings.  This
steak was good!

So, if you try this steak, or if you've even used a different marinade, let me know.  I'm definitely a fan of this recipe with or without the pesto.  I hope you are a fan too!  Enjoy!

Carrots have merit!

CARROTS ...

Well, they're not just for Bugs Bunny!  Yes, humans should consume them too.  When I was little, I really loved carrots.  I especially loved the crunch!  My mom was the "Junk Food Nazi" and she never bought potato chips (though we found ways to sneak them at times).  However, it was probably a good thing because as a child raw carrots, not potato chips, ruled for crunchy foods.   Now, I HATED with a passion cooked carrots.  It was a great irony.  I could not understand why I loved raw carrots so much and cooked carrots so little.

As an adult, you'll still only find cooked carrots in stews and broths that I make to add to a flavor blend.  Yes, I still prefer the raw carrot.  I love to eat raw carrots with hummus.  I also love to drink raw carrots when I'm juicing.  However, about 12 years ago, I went on a date to a Japanese restaurant and had carrot-ginger salad dressing on an iceberg lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salad, which changed my world!  He had to take me back again and again!  I was definitely hooked on that dressing.  It became so costly, he found a recipe and made it himself for me.  Desperation to hold onto a dollar can do that to men. In truth, he first found a store brand, which was awful; however, his homemade version tasted very close to the restaurant's version.  I've since tweaked that recipe and I've been making it ever since.

Organic carrots are a great source of beta-carotene.

Yes, it turns out that carrots, especially raw ones, are so nutritious and good for us! They are rich in antioxidants, vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin C,  Vitamin B-Complex), minerals (copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, and phosphorus),  and dietary fiber.  They are also very low in calories and fat.  A scientific research study conducted  at the University of Newcastle on lab animals has found that an antioxidant abundant in carrots, the poly-acetylene antioxidant falcarinol,  may destroy pre-cancerous cells in tumors.   For those of who like to cook your carrots, another recent study found that the absorption of beta-carotenes are five times better when the carrot is cooked....just make sure to cook this root vegetable whole.  Carrots are also great for vision and reproduction. As always, I urge you to google the health benefits of carrots for more information!

Now, without further ado, let's make some salad dressing...carrot-ginger that is! 

CARROT-GINGER DRESSING  

 Ingredients

• 2 medium carrots, peeled, ends trimmed and sliced
• 2 -inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 shallots, peeled and sliced (or one garlic clove and ½ onion)
• 3 tablespoons liquid aminos
• 1/8 cup rice vinegar
• 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon honey (or cane sugar, 2 teaspoons)
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or more salt to taste

Instructions:

Puree all ingredients in a heavy duty blender (Vitamix) until smooth. Refrigerate.  I like this dressing cold!  Serve over a simple organic iceberg salad (with tomatoes and cucumbers) or add sprouts and shredded carrots as well.  That is it!  

Fresh iceberg salad with carrot-ginger dressing.

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If you love this salad as much as I do, let me know!  Enjoy this recipe!!!

A berry medley smoothie is also berry nice!

BERRIES...

I adore berries.  The word berries makes me giddy.  I'm smiling right now as I type this!  They are like nature's candy.  You can eat them while picking them.  They color your fingers and face with their berry colors.  I call berries my cheery fruit.  I hope I'm not alone in thinking this.

Fresh berries are always the best, but if that's not an option then frozen berries are great too.  Even when I go to the farm and pick my own berries, I still freeze the majority of them.  You can also preserve them by canning (glass jars) them, especially as jam or jellies.  Fresh, frozen, or canned (and even freeze dried in the supermarket), there are a bunch of ways to enjoy them.  My favorites are in smoothies, fruit salads, pies, jams, and jellos.

Now, what can I say about berries?  Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries are all delicious and full of antioxidants, which means that they have immune-boosting properties.  They are often high in vitamin C and potassium.  Berries, like strawberries and raspberries, are also high in fiber.  Berries are low-calorie foods and have colorful skins, which provide phytonutrients that help fight diseases, such as cancer, heart disease. Various berries have been known to lower blood pressure, improve vision, and aid in brain development.  Google this for yourself!  Eating berries just is not a hard sell because they are so delicious and so very good for you.  No wonder so many artificial flavors try to mimic them; however, NOTHING beats the real thing!

Today, I'll share the berry medley that I had for breakfast the last Monday of May, Memorial Day.  It's an antioxidant dream to drink!  It's a very cold berry breakfast smoothie.  It is my original recipe and involves a handful of this and a handful of that, but I tried to use approximations to get the recipe down to one, or two, servings.  I usually eat or drink nothing else with this smoothie, and so the superfood powder allows me to not be hungry in a couple of hours, but can be left out.  The honey may not be necessary depending upon the sweetness of the berries.  Also, the mint leaves provides that cool addition that you really only need on a hot summer day.  If I'm  making this smoothie in the winter, I usually leave out the mint.

A BERRY MEDLEY SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup strawberries, fresh
• 1/4 cup cherries, frozen
• 1/4 cup blueberries, frozen
• 1/4 cup raspberries, frozen
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice, or fresh pineapples
• 1 cup almond vanilla milk
• 1 tablespoon raw honey, optional
• 5 large mint leaves, optional
• 1 tablespoon superfood powder, optional

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend just until foamy.  Serve immediately.
Makes 1 servings, about 16 ounces... or half of that if you want to share.  Enjoy!

My berry medley breakfast smoothie ready
to consume!

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I hope you like it as much as I do.  Do you choose other berries for your berry medley, such as blackberries, boysenberries, cranberries, gooseberries, or any other berry?  

Vegan Debates: Honey ... My perspective!

HONEY...

Yes, I'm talking about that golden, sticky substance that is manufactured by bees.  Honey is the first of the vegan debates I want to tackle. Yes, there are at least two others that I know are being debated among vegans, which include the wearing clothes or shoes from animals, especially leather, instead of buying only cotton, hemp, or synthetic products, and the other debate is regarding green living, which is reducing our carbon footprint instead of consuming gas, paper, etc. and leaving a cleaner world.

To me, this is the best raw honey around, but it's pricey!
Remember that a little honey goes a long way.

Honey has been a debate among vegan and plant-based diet advocates for years.  Some believe that honey should not be a part of these diets because it is manufactured by bees.  Some believe that honey promotes cruelty to bees because some bees are killed during the process of honey making.  Others believe that honey is unsanitary because they think it is "bee vomit" or even "bee poo."  Vegans, who share my belief regarding honey, believe that honey is very beneficial to humankind and is not cruelty to bees to consume or unsanitary.  In fact, I'll argue that honey is more sanitary than not!

Let me begin by stating that regarding bee or insect cruelty, Dr. Gregor gives an impassioned plea to vegans concerning their arguments of insect-killing in relation to honey production.  I've included the article below for you to read for yourself (See: http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/olive-oil-nutrition-facts.htm). Whether nor not you choose to eat honey, the fact is that far more insects are killed every day in other ways that promote plant-based diets and our daily living.  Instead of honey, many vegans instead turn to sugar (refined and unrefined), agave nectar, maple syrup, rice syrup, dates, xylitol, stevia, and other forms of sweeteners that may kill many more insects in their production than the bees being killed in the production of honey.  It's also very clear to me that some bees will naturally die while producing honey out in Timbuktu, without any human interference.  Bees naturally manufacture honey.  That's what bees do.  Therefore, my belief is that honey does not promote bee cruelty.

Well, what do I think about honey as bee poop or vomit?  Well, a site called Honey Bee Suite explains it like I see it.  Bees are doing what bees do.  In fact the way this site explains it in "Monday morning myths: honey is bee poop" (See: http://www.honeybeesuite.com/monday-morning-myth-honey-is-bee-poop/) is proof that honey is stored in a specialized sac in the bee's anatomy designed for honey making.

Yes, I love raw honey, not just because of its sweetness, but because of its nutritional and health benefits.  Honey has a host of vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin B-complex, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and folic acid) and minerals (calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc).  Honey also has an array of antioxidants (pinocembrin, pinobanksin, chrysin and galagin). The antioxidant pinocembrin, which is prevalent in Manuka honey, a very dark and powerfully strong honey often used medicinally, is unique to honey and found in the highest amount relative to other antioxidants. Raw honey contains many micronutrients, including all the pollen and digestive enzymes, which are usually filtered or destroyed during the heating process to liquefy honey instead of keeping it in its crystalized state.

Honey is a known antibiotic (extremely sanitary) that fights infections, aids in healing wounds, and has a plethora of other medicinal uses (See:  http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/health-benefits-of-honey.html).  During an application of honey to wound, it slowly releases hydrogen peroxide (an antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antiseptic compound) to  disinfect, kill germs, and heal ruptured skin. In fact, there is scientific evidence that most strains of harmful bacteria cannot live in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, which is naturally released from honey (See: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/antibiotic.html).

Now, this is simply my vegan beliefs.  You may emphatically have your own beliefs that are opposite mine and I still respect that because I know that at least you stand for something.  I know mine goes against the grain of many vegans, but I have my foundation for believing what I do, which is outlined above.  If you have not made up your mind on the subject, I always suggest that you do your own research.  Google the subject beyond the mainstream links.  Dare to find both sides of the argument.  Find books on the subject.  Please just don't be lazy about it and take what mainstream vegan sites say about it, especially if it causes you to question it.

Today, this vegan will eat something that contains raw honey!  I will especially enjoy the benefits it has to offer me nutritionally with a "sanitary" conscience that I have not slaughtered a host of bees.  In fact, I'll share exactly what I'm having in the recipe below.  It is a very summery light lemon and honey salad dressing.

Lemon honey dressing in the making.

ZESTY LEMON HONEY DRESSING

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest, organic 
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, organic 
• 3 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
• 1/3 cup olive oil

• Instructions: 
• Chop parsley and zest and squeeze one organic lemon and whisk with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Add oil in slowly, whisking until smooth. 
• I ground coarse black pepper on my salad before applying this dressing.  Store in refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving. Shake before serving.
• 
  



Romaine salad with agave-spelt croutons and lemon honey dressing.

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How do you feel about the honey debate?  Feel free to voice your perspective!