Smothered Tofu Steak and Onions

I found a teaser Cuisine magazine in our mailbox the other day and in it a recipe for Salisbury steak...my most favoritest of tv dinners as a kid! Probably because I rarely got tv dinners. I was a true granola girl who's favorite snack was straight vinegar scooped up in lettuce leaves til my lips were white (pretty sure my innards have been preserved for life).
The recipe I found did not come in a frozen lump made with untold icky things in it. Nor did it call for cans of condensed soup, or anything else I couldn't easily sub out (sugar becomes agave nectar). Then, in the same day, I came across this vegan recipe that looked vaguely similar to the aforementioned steak recipe. I figured I'd better give this one a go first, or I'd make the steak and never look back! That said, I did not make this vegan...or even vegetarian for that matter. I used organic chicken broth in the sauce since I had a quart of it open in the fridge. The original recipe calls for water, so just use that if you be veggie....oh and vegetarian Worchestershire sauce too I spose, since regular has wee little fishies in it. :-)

Making this last night I came to a startling realization...I'm NOT going to stop using the Lee & Perrins Worschestershire sauce, even though it's got high-fructose corn syrup in it. Painful though it is to finally admit that to myself. Last night I mixed up the balsamic and my organic non-L&P worchestershire sauce, had the forsight to taste it....bluck! So THAT'S why I've not being liking stuff that's called for Worchestershire sauce lately!! I've been using the organic one with no HFCS and it is so not the same. So bring on the HFCS I say...guess I'll have to make an exception in this one case. Somethin' else'll surely kill us before a Tbs here and there of Worchestershire sauce....

I improvised with amounts for the sauce, since several people said they'd double the sauce next time they made it. Same amount of onion, just added more vinegar, Worchestershire, broth/water, and cornstarch. I thought the sauce was really tasty (especially over the mashed potatoes), but the tofu needed some extra love. Not sure what I'd do to it next time. Maybe garlic powder and thyme, or marinating the tofu in something first?...hm.

Smothered Tofu Steak and Onions:

Ingredients (use vegan versions if that's your preference):

1 package extra firm tofu
2 tablespoon olive oil (divided)
1 lg. onion, sliced root to stem
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup extra chicken broth or water
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Slice Tofu into 6 even cutlets about 1/2 inch thick. Place on paper towel to drain. I press as much water out as possible by weighting it down with pans, cutting boards, etc., so that they're able to get crispy when pan-fried.
Heat non-stick pan. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add onions when oil is hot. Sauté onions until golden brown and caramelized (about 10+ min.) remove onions, set aside.
Salt and pepper tofu steaks on both sides.
Add other tablespoon of oil to pan. Add tofu and fry until golden brown on both sides (about 8-10 min.)
Add onions back to pan. Add balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and stir.
When all combined add slurry of 1/2 cup broth/water and cornstarch to pan. Stir until thick. Add water to thin out if too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Plate atop a nice pile of mashed taters and a side of veggies...braised kale with garlic in our case.

Serves: 2-3
Next week...the Salisbury steak! ;-)

Baked Salmon over Herbed Mashed Peas

It sure seems like I would have posted about this one in the past year or so, but upon scanning the archives I see that I didn't! Hm...well, the peas are just too yummy not to post now. The original recipe is from Cooking Light and calls for pan-frying the salmon. A stinky method that we do not practice in the Ponder/Butler house. Baking is so much easier, so into the oven it goes at high heat on a foil-lined sheet for only about 10 minutes. Done. No pan to clean either.
The other change I made from the original recipe is using regular ol' onions in lieu of the pricier leeks. It's what I had on hand and since I had to buy the fresh herbs already, I wasn't up for a 10 dollar side of peas. By all means use the leek if you'd like, just sub a cup of leek for the onion.
Oh another thing...the recipe calls for a 10 oz bag of peas, I had a 16 oz. bag, so just adjust up with the herbs etc. if you find yourself in the same position. FYI, more of these peas is a good thing.

Fennel is a nice complement to the tarragon in the peas, so I made a composed salad of thinly sliced fennel bulb, orange slices and avocado on a bed of bibb lettuce leaves. Since I had plenty of tarragon left from the peas, I made a dressing of canola, stone ground mustard, lemon juice, tarragon, s & p and a dash of agave nectar.

Baked Salmon over Herbed Mashed Peas:
(Cooking Light)

1 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp butter
1 10 oz bag of frozen petite green peas (calls for thawed, but I just throw in frozen and cook a little longer)
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
1 Tbs chiffonade of fresh basil
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt (+more for salmon)
1/4 tsp pepper (+more for salmon)
~1 lb Wild Alaskan salmon
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450.
Saute onion in butter on medium heat for about 5-6 minutes.
Add peas and broth/water and cook another 5 (if thawed) minutes, or until peas are soft.
Whiz pea mixture, herbs and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth.
Stir in 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper.
Set aside until fish is done.

Place salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet and lightly coat with olive oil.
Salt and pepper generously, then bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness.

Plate salmon atop a bed of mashed peas and serve with a lemon wedge...or topped with a drib of your salad dressing like I did. :-)

Ick!

Wrong....

Melt-in-your-mouth Braised and Barbequed Chicken

Another Southern Living Cook-Off recipe found it's way to our table last night. This one garnered an $11,000 prize and amazingly didn't include condensed mushroom soup, Kraft Italian dressing or any other nasty unsubbable ingredients. :-) Hard to find in a middle America cookbook, seemingly.
The only change I made to this one was in using agave nectar in lieu of brown sugar. And using brown rice instead of boil-in-bag white rice. A decent recipe that's easy to make...I did like last night's (that didn't win any cash prize) better though. :-)
Served this with steamed broccoli.

Melt-in-your-mouth Braised and Barbequed Chicken:
(adapted from Carol Dagger's recipe in Southern Living Cook-Off)

2 Tbs canola oil
8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned (about 2 lbs)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbs cornstarch, or a little less arrowroot
1/3 cup soy sauce
-1/4 cup agave nectar (called for 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed)
2 Tbs minced fresh ginger
3 Tbs cider vinegar
3 Tbs ketchup (look for organic ketchup since it won't have HFCS in it, or make your own)
1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Start a pot of brown rice. I just use a rice cooker...the only way I manage to not screw up cooking brown rice!
Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken, and saute 6 minutes, turning once.
Combine fruit juices in a large bowl. Stir together cornstarch and 1 Tbs juice mixture until smooth; set aside.
Stir soy sauce and next 6 ingredients (thru garlic) into remaining juice mixture; pour over chicken.
Bring mixture to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 35 minutes, turning chicken after 20 minutes.
Uncover chicken and stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until sauce thickens.
Spoon rice onto platter; top with chicken and sauce. Sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Southwestern Fish over Quinoa

My dad gave me a Southern Living Cook-Off cookbook when he visited at Christmas and this is the first recipe I've made from it. It was really tasty and an easy to throw together weeknight meal given I didn't grill the fish as called for. Broiling is a no-fuss option that works great with tilapia. The original recipe calls for Mahi-mahi, but subbing tilapia is fine by us. The original recipe calls for boxed saffron rice, but I made a quinoa with garlic, diced poblano pepper, cumin and colored it with tumeric instead. Served with a spinach salad (with orange, jicama and cilantro) with a chili-lime dressing made for a nice complement to the fish.

Southwestern Fish over Quinoa:
(adapted from Catherine Chandler's recipe in Southern Living Cook-Off)

quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
just shy of 2 cups water
1-2 tsp olive oil
~1 tsp tumeric
1/2+ tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 diced and seeded poblano pepper, or jalapeno...or nix this, I just happened to have a poblano that needed to be used :-)

beans:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (called for a 19 oz can?? I only found the 15 or 28 so used a small can and adjusted the spices down)
1 can of Mexican style diced tomatoes including juices (or one with added chiles)
1 Tbs chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander

fish:
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
olive oil
4 good-sized tilapia filets (original calls for 4 6oz. mahimahi filets)
lime juice
jarred salsa (Rose's if you're in Austin!)
Greek yogurt
cilantro

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan and saute garlic, diced peppers, spices and salt for about 1 min.
Add quinoa and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes until all water is absorbed. Fluff and adjust salt. It was a little on the bland side, but there was a lot of flavor going on top so I wasn't too concerned.

while quinoa is cooking:
In another saucepan combine beans, tomatoes and the spices and simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened.

When you've gotten the beans on:
Preheat broiler on high.
Combine salt, chili powder, cumin and coriander in a small bowl. Place fish on a foil-lined baking sheet and brush/rub the filets lightly with some olive oil. Sprinkle your spice mixture on both sides of the filets, then broil for 5 min first side, and about 2 more on the second side. Just until fish flakes with a fork.

Plate a mound of quinoa on each plate then top with bean mixture. Place a piece of fish atop the beans then squeeze lime juice over it. Top with salsa, Greek yogurt and a little cilantro if you choose.

The dressing for the salad was just lime juice, chili powder, a little agave nectar, kosher salt, a shake of Tabasco, and a little olive oil. Yum!

Cold Soba Noodles with Vietnamese Pork

Ok, this is another Cooking Light recipe that needed tweaking. The pork was delicious and cooked in a flash, but the rest of the dish needed something. I just went ahead added more dressing (vinegar, chile paste, etc.). I'm posting as written in the magazine, but next time I'm going to make the pork as called for and then use my Asian Chicken Salad dressing (see bottom of this page for the alternate dressing) for everything else.
I'm thinking the pork would be wonderful in a hot dish too.

Cold Soba Noodles with Vietnamese Pork:
(Cooking Light)

3 tablespoons chopped green onions, divided
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil, divided
4 teaspoons fish sauce, divided
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari
2 teaspoons brown sugar (I used amber agave nectar)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound boneless pork cutlets, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
8 ounces uncooked organic soba noodles
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
3 cups chopped napa (Chinese) cabbage (I probably used more to make more of a salad)
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
Cooking spray

Combine 1 tablespoon onions, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, and next 4 ingredients (through pork) in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 20 minutes (I marinated it longer).

Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon oil, remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce, vinegar, and chile paste in a large bowl, stirring well. Add noodles, cabbage, and bell pepper; toss to coat.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove pork from marinade. Add pork to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until done. Arrange pork over noodle mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons onions.

Alternate dressing for next time:
Probably should bump up the amount of napa cabbage used in above recipe, since this makes quite a bit of dressing.

2 TBS extra olive oil
2 TBS soy sauce (I used a little less)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2-3 TBS agave nectar, or honey
pinch red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste

Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

Alright, all these Christmas goodies are starting to get to me. I've been going on and on about what a sugar fiend my father is and was on his recent visit, when really, I'm just as much of one!!! Maybe I thought I could deflect some of the attention from my own sugar monster tendencies if I went on and on about how taking my sweet foddah to a store that just happened to have candy/cookies/ice cream there was like trying to drag a non-reasonable 4 year old through the most candy laden checkout line at a grocery store all the while saying "no, no, no". Alas, tis my cross to bear too. If it's in the house, I want it. This soup might help. Unfortunately, the original recipe from Cooking Light falls short in the flavor department. Not a problem if you're up for adding a pinch of this and a splash of that though! Only problem is that I don't have any amounts to list...just the extra ingredients.
All just as well in any regard, since we all like different levels of spice, sour, sweet, etc. anyway.
The monster really dug this one after said tweaking of the recipe had occured, so I'm posting it.
If only to be one of the few food blogs I read that doesn't have cookies, etc. posted AGAIN.
Plus it's been ages and my buddy James is way over seeing the teff pancakes post. :-)

Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup:
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

4 cups water
3 cups fresh spinach leaves (I used more than 3 cups)
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 (5 3/4-ounce) package pad thai noodles; wide rice stick noodles (I use the equivalent weight of Tinkyada's Brown Rice Fettuccini noodles...they're just fabulous!)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 lime wedges
I added some rice wine vinegar, more fish sauce, and some sirachi chili sauce, more lime, and probably more salt. Just keep adding and tasting til you're happy with it. :-) Oooh, add lemongrass if you've got it! That's what it was missing!

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes (or if using the brown rice noodles as per package instructions). Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.

Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with lime wedges (I added some lime juice into the soup before even serving).