the cooked and the raw

Yesterday I baked a sweet but at the same time salty bread, with rosemary and raisins to be precise, something similar to ’pan di ramerino,’ which is a traditional Easter Tuscan bread. This combination is something that I believe works really well in breads and flour-based preparations. For this bread I referred to one of Ilona Chovancova’s amazing recipes of ‘Cakes Maison’ for the amounts of flour and liquids to use (and replacing 1-butter with olive oil, 2-cow’s milk with soy milk and 3-the eggs with silken tofu). This organic bread, or loaf cake, is perfect on its own or as an addition to any meal. I had the last slice for breakfast this morning, with a spoonful of homemade plum jam spread on it… :) For this bread I used organic ingredients ;)  

Ingredients (makes 1 loaf):

150 g wholemeal flour

150 g unbleached kamut flour

5 tablespoons silken tofu

250 ml vegan buttermilk (which is 250 ml soy milk plus 1 teaspoon apple vinegar)

75 ml extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons raisins

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons organic baking powder (I used cream of tartar)

½ teaspoon whole sea salt

Preheat the oven o 180° C and lightly oil a 24 cm loaf pan (alternatively, you can lay a sheet of parchment paper down on your loaf pan). In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the tofu, vegan buttermilk, and olive oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry and fold until the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the raisins and rosemary and fold until they are evenly distributed. Do not overmix. The batter should be rather sticky and thick (if you realize it’s really too thick while mixing all the ingredients, feel free to add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of soy milk). Transfer the batter into your loaf pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until a wooden stick or toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before unmolding. Let cool completely on a rack.      

If you have to convince someone that tofu is a tasty alternative to meat and animal proteins, try with scrambled tofu. Scrambled tofu allows you to be very creative: it can be paired with almost any kind of vegetable, from zucchini to carrots, from seaweeds to peppers (just to list a few…). It’s also great with nuts. I think that firm or extra firm tofu work best for this kind of recipe but this is just my personal suggestion as I know that some people prefer the softer version. I’m very ashamed to confess that for this scrambled tofu I used frozen spinach…which is not good at all …but it happened! The tofu and the lemon, of course, were organic ;)

Ingredients (makes 2 abundant servings):  

250 g firm, organic tofu

1 ½ cups cooked spinach

½ red onion, chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon rice malt syrup

1 tablespoon shoyu

2 tablespoons raisins

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted 

zest of 1 organic lemon, grated

whole sea salt (to taste)

chili powder (to taste)

Blanch the tofu by placing it in a pan of boiling water. Simmer for 2 minutes, remove the tofu from the boiling water and rinse it under cold water. Set aside. 

It’s always a good idea to blanch tofu before sautéing it or baking it or using it for dips. The blanching procedure, which is very easy and takes only a few minutes, makes tofu more absorbent of flavours and its soy protein a lot more digestible.

In a wok, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion until it’s tender, then add the shoyu and the rice malt syrup. Keep cooking over medium heat for 1 more minute. If you are using frozen spinach you can throw it into the wok once you have cooked it separately in a pan of boiling water (and drained them well) and sautè for a couple of minutes. If you choose fresh spinach you’ll have to figure out the amounts (as you’re going to need more than 1 ½ cups) and stir fry the spinach in the wok until wilted. Crumble the tofu using your hands and add it to the vegetables. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, then add the pine nuts, raisins, chili, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and chili if necessary, stir and serve.

Tofu is indeed one of the most versatile foods: it can serve a variety of purposes, from appetizer, to main course, to dessert and definitely more, suiting lots of recipes. The fact that it comes in a range of different textures (from extra firm to silken), makes tofu even more appealing. I normally use firmer textures for stir-frying and grilling or baking and prefer softer tofu for desserts and salad dressings. As I’m a non-meat eater, tofu certainly makes my life easier. I personally never get tired of tofu, because I don’t usually have huge amounts of it at once. For this stir-fried version with zucchini, I used one rectangular block of medium firm tofu. Needless to say, organic tofu is better. If you don’t use the whole package, you can rinse the remaining tofu, put it into a container covered with water, and place it in the fridge. Change the water daily in order to keep the tofu fresh and consume it within 2-3 days.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

1 package (300 g) medium firm tofu, cut into approx 2cm x 3cm slices

2 medium zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

whole sea salt (to taste)

For the first marinade

3 tablespoons shoyu

2 cups water

For the second marinade

fresh coriander leaves (to taste)

ground, dried coriander (to taste)

2 garlic cloves, cut into chunks

3 tablespoons sesame oil 

Arrange the sliced tofu in a single layer in a square or rectangular container. Mix together the shoyu and the water and pour the marinade over the tofu, coating it completely. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.
Drain the tofu but don’t throw away the shoyu marinade, which can be used (within 2-3 days) as the base of a vegetable soup or to marinate more tofu. Combine the sesame oil, the garlic chunks, the fresh and dried coriander in a bowl. Add the tofu, cover and marinate in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours. Heat the olive oil in a wok, add the sliced zucchini and a pinch of salt. Stir over high heat for a few minutes, adding a little bit of water to avoid sticking to the wok. Remove the garlic chunks from the tofu marinade and add the tofu (with its marinade) to the zucchini. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the tofu and the zucchini and stir-fry for another 2 minutes over high heat. Serve immediately.