Masala Baked Tofu, Asparagus, & Dilly Potatoes

I came home knowing that I wanted tofu to be the protein source for the night, so I immediately started pressing a block of extra firm tofu while I determined what I wanted to do with it. For you tofu newbies out there, pressing it is key to getting it to soak up flavors. You push out the water and the tofu acts like a little flavor sponge. When my friend Rachel gave me the gift of the Tofu XPress (http://tofuxpress.com/) several years ago, I was intrigued and excited, but I had no idea that I would use it many times every week from then on! It's small and takes up almost no space in the cupboard and it is handy as all get out. I highly recommend it.

So I made the Baked Masala Tofu recipe from "Appetite for Reduction" which is a lower-fat and lower-cal vegan cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. It's good, but since it uses a ton of curry powder, the end result is that some of the tofu has sort of a pasty sauce on it. The boyfriend loves it, but the kid and I just scrape it off.

I also steamed some asparagus and sprinkled a little mushroom salt on top, and then made a new potato creation for the side. I took 5 Yukon Gold potatoes (my absolute faves) and washed them and chopped them into about 12 pieces each. Then I stuck them in the pressure cooker and put about a cup of water in and put it on high for 7 minutes. I let the pressure come down naturally. Once it was down, I opened it up and drained the excess water. I put a tablespoon of margarine in a pan and melted it, then added the soft potatoes and pan fried them briefly. I sprinkled dill and sea salt on top - I didn't measure, so I'm not sure exactly how much I used (maybe 1/2 tsp?), and stirred it up until it was pretty evenly spread. The potatoes were soft and falling apart a bit and the flavor was exactly perfect.

Dinner got a solid 4 out of 5. :)

Nutrition for 1/3 of the potatoes, 1/3 of the masala tofu, and 8 spears of asparagus:

Calories: 489

Fat: 11 g

Carbs: 75 g

Protein: 23 g

Fiber: 12 g

Sugars: 6 g

Vitamin A: 17%

Vitamin C: 64%

Calcium: 18%

Iron: 29%

Spicy Scrambled Tofu

I wanted something spicy and heavy on the protein today, so I opted for a double-whammy of vegan protein: tofu & seitan. You have surely heard of tofu, but seitan may be new to you. It is a high-protein item that comes in various formats (slices, crumbles, chunks, you name it) and is wheat gluten based. Sounds weird if you haven't had it, but it really makes some of the best meat substitutes out there, if you're into that sort of thing. I am! This was easy and SO FILLING.

It wasn't very pretty, but my stomach didn't care one bit.The picture's colors are a little off, but I can't seem to adjust them in a way that makes the salsa on top red without making the tortilla look like it fell into a bowl of turmeric.

1 block extra firm regular tofu, drained and broken up
1 package Upton's Naturals Chorizo-Style Seitan
1/2 TBS olive oil
3/4 cup salsa (as spicy as you'd like!)
2 TBS nutritional yeast**
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sharp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Fajita Seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin

Add olive oil to the pan, then add the tofu to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the chorizo-style seitan and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the salsa and spices and cook until nicely combined. Serve with toast or tortillas (I shoved it into the tortilla after I took the picture; it's nice like that) and add a dollop of salsa to the top.

**Nutritional yeast is one of those ingredients that's you probably haven't heard of if you're not vegan or vegetarian. It adds an incredible depth to things while adding tons of vitamin B12. It's worth looking for, since even my local Kroger sells it in the natural foods section nowadays. Do not try to use any other kind of yeast (baking, brewer's, etc) these are nothing like this stuff!

Makes 4 extremely filling servings! We rated it a 4/5.

Nutritional Information, per serving:

Calories: 224
Fat: 8.9 g
Carbs: 11 g
Fiber: 2.1 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 26 g
Vitamin A: 3%
Vitamin C: 11%
Calcium: 6%
Iron: 52%