Friday, June 13, 2008

Tofu, cauliflower and beetroot

Three things we’ve been eating a lot of lately.

We tried making SusanV’s mini crustless tofu quiches. We used silken tofu that had previously been frozen; cut the recipe in half; used dried mushrooms instead of fresh; and used tomato instead of capsicum. Some combination of these changes led to a complete disaster—even after 40 minutes in the oven, these had not set up at all. I took them out anyways, and let them cool hoping they would firm up, but... no dice. What we had was a tasty but shapeless pile of tofu mush.

We also had roasted beetroot (which doesn't photograph well) and cauliflower baked in a garlic-cream sauce, which redeemed the meal completely.

A more successful attempt at tofu—firm, fresh tofu from the asian grocery store. I marinated it in a mixture of garlic, ginger, hoisin, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar. Then I fried it up in my kick-ass new pan and it got a little crispy and caramelised. After the tofu was cooked, Andy threw together a noodle and veggie stir fry with chilli and the leftover marinade. Yummy dinner—filling, tasty, easy.

Cauliflower was the star of this dinner. Andy found the recipe for “Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole” in The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. Instead of broccoli, he used cauliflower because it’s ridiculously cheap right now. And he added some frozen spinach. This was a really easy meal that uses exactly one dish in the preparation. It was pretty good, but we both agreed that broccoli would have been better.

Next to the casserole, I made some roasted veggies—parsnips, purple potato, and carrot with black olives and capers (based very closely on La Dolce Vegan’s ‘Roasted parsnips’).

Tasty tofu mush, take two. On the way home from uni yesterday I had a little bike crash when a kid on a bike swerved into me (on accident) as I was passing him on the path. We both ate shit, and I ended up with a scrape on my arm, a sore ankle and knee, some bruises and tight muscles. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t hurt at all.

While I was whinging on the couch, Andy made dinner for me. He decided to make the ‘Indian Frittata’ from Vegan with a Vengeance which features cauliflower, but reckoned it wasn’t going to set anyways so just decided to do it on the stove in scramble form. Then it took on a life of its own—he added potatoes, zucchini, carrot, lots of spices, and used silken tofu because that’s what we had. It was good, but not great.

I managed to suck it up for long enough to throw together a quick side dish—orange and ginger glazed beetroot. I just simmered a few baby beets with orange juice, powdered ginger and salt until the beets were tender and the sauce was thick. It was really good, but next time I’d use fresh ginger.

Now, we still have 1 ½ heads of cauliflower to use before we go to the market on Sunday! What's your favourite way to have cauliflower?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I could go for some beet root right about now... yum!! I have a bunch of jars of it pickled... hehe.

Anonymous said...

Cauliflower pasta sauce? Steam the florets then saute them with garlic and olive oil - simple but yum.

Anonymous said...

Super simple cauliflower soup we had the other week.
Take one head of cauliflower broken into florets, add stock to cover (we used ready to go massal chicken style and vege stocks (1ltr each)), and simmer till cauliflower is soft. Blend and presto. Can add spices or curry powder if you want a curry cauliflower soup, but we kept it simple.

Alicia said...

those small tricky quiches... haha...
All your meals look great for me, even the quiches. I often eat cauliflower steamed and with tomato sauce. I think it's tasty... A friend of mine says that's cheating because everything tastes better with tomato sauce :-).
And sorry to hear about your bike accident! I hope you're feeling great already.

Anonymous said...

hey there ^^
I'm a fellow Aussie vegan who magically stumbled onto your blog. And I like what I found!
I added you to my blog roll- I hope you don't mind ^^ Its good to kep track of the Aussie vegans!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Bummer about the quiche!! I remembered even when I followed the instructions they weren't really holding together very well. I made a big quiche with a crust using the recipe and it turned out great though.
Yikes about your biking accident! Glad you weren't seriously hurt.

Oh, and my favorite way to eat cauliflower is simply roasted with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, then finished with lemon jiuce and parsley.

the little one said...

Bike crashes suck. Sorry to hear about your fall! Glad you're okay.

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous you have someone that cooks for you! Alex offers from time to time, but his cooking is vile. That might sound mean but it's actually true.

Sorry to hear about your fall, I hope you get better soon!

Bianca said...

I made Broccoli-Cheeze Casserole yesterday too! Ha! It looks good with cauliflower though...and that chili tofu looks to die for...

Groover said...

Sorry to hear about your little bike crash. Hope you are alright.

Cauliflower soup is one of our favourites. Just cook the cauliflower with a potatoe or two. When soft put in blender together with some soy milk, nutmeg and fresh parsley.

Another favourite cauliflower recipe is Satay Vegetable Stir-fry from Great Vegetarian Food (p 143).

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

My first attempt at the tofu quiches yielded a mush too... but, like yours, it was quite tasty! As with most things, looks aren't everything ;o).

Erin said...

Sorry about some recipes not working out, and your little crash! Yikes! Good thing you're both mostly okay. Your meals look good nonetheless. One of my favorite ways to eat cauliflower is mashed, like potatoes. Boil or steam until soft, whizz it in a food processor and add a bit of soy milk or margarine and salt.

LK Sisters said...

The roasted veggies look so tasty and colorful! And beets are always yummy - we just chop and steam in the microwave, and then we eat them throughout the week in salads, etc.

Amy said...

Oh, definitely cauliflower curry with chick peas and tomatoes, and mango chutney. Mmm! It's kind of a wintry dish so it should be good for your austral winter.