From ledgertranscript.com
By Lisa Murray
I have introduced my niece, Alex, in a previous column. She came to live with me and my husband a few months ago and was game to try veganism. I am delighted that she agreed to be a guest columnist for me this month. I’m sure you will enjoy her views, tips, and delicious recipe!
Greetings! I’m Alex – a newfound vegan. Well, I’m vegan-ish. Vegan-lite? That is to say, I’m trying my best to eat more plants.
With my recent move to New Hampshire, I have taken to making more plant-based dishes, because I now live with two full-time vegans. I still shy away from calling myself one (see above), because I just love food. All food. Good cheese, good meat, and all things in between. I’ll still order it at a restaurant, or pick up some pecorino for my pasta.
However, lately I’ve been discovering good vegetables. Vegetables were always good (at least once I became an adult and started eating them in earnest), but in my past life as an omnivore, I first treated vegetables as a necessary evil, then as a garnish, basically an afterthought to my main meaty dish. Now, instead of half-heartedly throwing together a side salad (we all do it), I’m looking for ways to feature plants that I’m excited about in my cooking.
I’ve found the best way to do this is to start with dishes and flavours you already know you like, and try making it vegetarian or vegan by swapping out the meat or dairy for plant-based alternatives. My gateway into plant-based food was a ‘Buddha bowl’ recipe that loaded sweet potatoes and spinach onto rice, topped with a peanut sauce. Let’s face it -- anything is delicious in a peanut sauce.
The original recipe had chicken, which I began to leave out; it felt like too much work to make chicken on top of sweet potatoes, onions, sauce and rice. So my advice is to take out the meat in your dish and substitute with a plant-based alternative.
I find that tofu helps me feel full while also being better for the planet than meat, but tofu is pernickety. If you’re daunted by it, or don’t like the taste (all vegans succumb eventually), leave it out! The dish will still be filling and balanced.
This recipe is a fusion of two that I love separately, but making it together is vegetable-forward, filling and doesn’t leave me craving a slice of cake afterwards, because it balances sweet, savoury, sour and umami flavours to perfection. If you do one thing, make the sauce! It’s delectable, and the fact that it is vegan is just a plus.
Serves four
- 3 sweet potatoes.
- 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce).
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup.
- 1 red onion.
- 1 block super firm tofu.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Handful of spinach.
- 4 green onions.
- Bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped.
For the peanut sauce
- 2 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce).
- 1 garlic clove.
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter.
- 2 tablespoons vegan yogurt (I used almond).
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup.
- 1 tablespoon pickled ginger (or equivalent of fresh ginger).
- 1 lime, juiced.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice sweet potatoes lengthwise (no need to peel). Place in a deep baking tray with water covering the bottom, then cover tightly with aluminium foil. Bake for 20 minutes.
Slice tofu lengthwise into 1 1/2-inch strips, then cut each strip into triangles. Place on a baking tray with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and garlic powder. Put the tofu to one side. Slice the red onion into thin slices; place on the other side of the baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes until tofu is a bit crispy and brown.
Slice the green onions, and tear up the spinach into bite-sized chunks, then set aside. After the sweet potatoes have steamed in the oven for 20 minutes, remove them an drain any water at the bottom of the dish. Mix the tamari and maple syrup, and brush over the sweet potatoes. Put them back in the oven to roast for 30 minutes, or until a fork goes easily through each slice.
Add tamari, garlic, peanut butter, vegan yogurt, maple syrup, pickled or fresh ginger and lime juice to a blender and blend until creamy. Dollop some of the peanut sauce on individual plates or a large platter, then top with spinach, sweet potatoes, tofu, red onion, green onion and cilantro.
Add as much sauce on top as your heart desires, and tuck in!
Feeling freaked out by watery tofu? Super-firm tofu is the way to go if you have no time to prep. If there’s one thing I learned from eating more plant-based dishes, it’s that extra-firm tofu needs a full day of pressing to get the water out. Try to get super-firm tofu packaged without liquid to save yourself the hassle of prepping tofu in advance.
https://www.ledgertranscript.com/Recipe-for-a-Healthy-Planet-62048287
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