Tofu Stir Fry Wraps

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 package firm or extra firm tofu, cube
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• 6 to 8 Butter lettuce leaves, (about 1 head, also called Boston or Bibb lettuce)

Directions:

1. Prep Work: This recipe doesn’t take long to cook, so you need to have things ready to go. Slice the onion and bell pepper, have the garlic ready to “press”, grate the ginger, mix the cornstarch/water in a bowl, and wash the lettuce.
2. Cube the tofu, season with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. Add the tofu; cook, stirring/flipping every few minutes, until almost golden brown, 4 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate, set aside. (If the tofu is still too soft, you can also put it on a cookie sheet and bake/broil it for a bit)
   
3. Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to pan, along with the onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until onion is tender and golden, about 2-3 minutes (reduce heat if browning too quickly).
4. Reduce heat to medium; add garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Stir in soy sauce, rice vinegar and cornstarch mixture; remove from heat.
5. Add tofu; toss to coat. Serve in lettuce cups.

Do you like tofu?
Based on this recipe from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Originally published October 2007

I started the week out with a meal plan and using Gyminee to track my calories and nutritional intake, so I make sure to eat enough.

Day 1
Breakfast: Oatmeal, raisins, grapefruit, coffee with soy milk
Lunch: Dave’s Killer bread peanut butter and banana sandwich, carrots, Kettle chips
Dinner: Vegan chili with tortilla chips
Verdict: I missed having yogurt for breakfast, but overall today was pretty typical.

Day 2
Breakfast:  Bob’s Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli, applesauce, almonds, coffee with soy milk
Lunch:  Bay Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant: Mango Curry
Dinner: Asian Lettuce Wraps (butter lettuce, mango, scallions, bean thread noodles) with Chai Pow Yu instead of beef
Verdict: Today was the perfect vegan day! I didn’t feel like I had to worry about getting enough calories

Day 3
Breakfast:  Bob’s Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli, soy milk, Dave’s Killer bread, peanut butter, honey, almonds, coffee with soy milk
Lunch:  leftover lettuce wrap ingredients mixed into a salad
Dinner: Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant‘s Mezza Plate: hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouli, pita bread, stuffed grape leaves, fried cauliflower, falafels
Verdict: I think I actually ate too many calories today!

Day 4
Breakfast:  Banana muffins (with applesauce substituted for eggs), honey, pear, apple, coffee with soy milk
Lunch:  Chips and guacamole
Dinner: Sweet & Sour Stirfry (pineapple, bell peppers, broccoli) with Chai Pow Yu instead of pork, rice, vegan cupcake
Verdict: I ate a lot of food today, but I’m starting to feel like I’m foraging for food.  I guess I really just felt like snacking or a dessert, so I bought a vegan cupcake at New Seasons deli.

Day 5
Breakfast:  Mother’s Day breakfast at Bar Carlo: Vegan Skillet of potatoes, avocado mushrooms etc and coffee with soy milk
Snack: frozen yogurt (we’ll discuss this later)
Dinner: Brazilian Black Beans, rice, beets, chips, guacamole
Verdict: I accidentally ate a frozen yogurt at IKEA today. It wasn’t even a temptation thing, I just completely forgot that I was going vegan this week. And I’d been there for hours, and I was tired and hungry… oops!

Day 6:
Breakfast: Sweetened Wheatfuls, soy milk, banana, coffee with soy milk
Lunch: black beans, rice
Dinner: pita pockets, hummus, baba ghanoush, tomato, cucumber, apple juice
Verdict: I felt like I was foraging again today.  I’m a little tired of eating a massive plate of rice, beans or vegetables and then being hungry again a few hours later.

Day 7:
Breakfast: Dave’s Killer Bread, peanut butter, banana, applesauce, coffee with soy milk
Lunch:  black beans, rice, pita bread, hummus, baba ghanoush, apple juice
Snack: Starbucks Soy Chai Latte
Dinner: Lentil Soup
Verdict: I was a little annoyed to find out that Starbucks charges you 40 cents extra to have soy instead of milk in a chai.  Lame!

Overall, vegan week has been fairly easy, except for my amnesia day when I bought a frozen yogurt for $1 at IKEA.  Personally, I’ll stay a vegetarian (or pescatarian) because it’s much easier for me to stay healthy.  Being vegan takes a little more work in planning meals and going out, but the main thing is the calorie counting. I hate feeling like I’m not getting enough to eat, and dairy is a much simpler protein source. Plus, I love cheese!

Farfalle (Bow Tie) Pasta and Peas
Serves: 2
4 oz (2 servings) Farfalle pasta
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 -2 tablespoons soy milk
1/2 package (5 oz) of frozen peas (thawed)
1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, plus more as a topping (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to pasta instructions (usually 8-10 minutes).
2. While the pasta is cooking, warm olive oil in a skillet, adding the chopped shallots. After 4 minutes add the soy milk and peas. Simmer 3 minutes on medium heat. Add lemon juice.
3. Combine pasta and sauce, add Parmesan cheese (optional). Salt if needed.

Diet – Carb heavy pasta.

Vegan – Use vegan pasta noodles, skip the Parmesan cheese.

Ingredient List: farfalle pasta, olive oil, shallots, soymilk, frozen peas, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese (optional), salt.

Cook book: Adapted from ideas in Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Diet – These patties are pretty healthy because they’re broiled in the oven, instead of fried.

Vegan – Leave out the egg. Substitute dairy sour cream for tofu sour cream.

Ingredient List: black beans, olive oil, scallions (green onions), garlic cloves, jalapeno chiles, cumin, salt, sweet potato, egg, breadcrumbs, sour cream, lime juice.

Cook book: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Diet – Dressing is high in fat, but no saturated or transfats. To reduce fat content, use a half-serving or make your own with low-fat yogurt and poppy seeds or olive oil, lemon juice and poppy seeds.

Vegan – Yes!

Ingredient List: Bartlett or Bosc pear, lettuce (your choice), roasted chopped almonds, Brianna’s Poppy Seed Dressing.

Diet – This recipe is already pretty healthy!

Vegan – Leave out the eggs, add another pear or two and make it more of a crisp with an oats/brown sugar topping.

Ingredient List: Bartlett pears, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, eggs (I use cage free), milk (I used vanilla soy milk), salt, powdered sugar.

Cook book: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Cookbook: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast by Martha Stewart

Diet – Consider this a splurge or pass on the whole recipe! :(

Vegan – I’m not sure how great vegan cheese would melt with this recipe, but it’s worth a try, because the asparagus is so good. Instead of using puff pastry, make a vegan pastry pie crust recipe.

Ingredient List: asparagus, frozen puff pastry, Gruyère cheese (substitute with sliced aged Swiss), olive oil, salt.

Black Bean Burritos (or Tacos)
Serves: 2
1 garlic clove, minced
olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 can of black beans, drained
1 tablespoon cumin

Serve with: avocado (best mixed with cilantro & lime) and whatever else sounds good to you: olives, sour cream, tomatoe. I usually just stick with the avocado mix.

1. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron skillet on med-heat. Add minced garlic (this is easiest with a garlic press). The garlic should take about 2 minutes. It burns quickly, so keep an eye on it.
2. Pour in water and immediately add the drained black beans and cumin. Let it simmer for 3-5 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated and the beans are soft, but not completely mushy.
3. Warm tortillas (6 inch corn tortillas for tacos, or larger flour tortillas for burritos) and prepare toppings.
4. For avocado / guacamole: Chop 1 avocado, mix in 1/8 cup of chopped cilantro, several teaspoons of fresh lime juice, salt to taste.

Now the Everyday Food recipe was for Beef Tacos with Radish and Avocado Salsa. So I adapted it by just using the Radish and Avocado Salsa recipe with my black bean tacos recipe. Thinly sliced radishes are a really interesting twist to this recipe, and they look amazing with the avocado.

Diet – Use corn tortillas instead of flour. Don’t skip on the avocado, this is the GOOD fat that you need.

Vegan – No changes needed.

Ingredient List: black beans, olive oil, garlic, cumin, corn tortillas, avocado, lime, salt, cilantro, red radishes, jalapeño chili (optional).

Cook book: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast for the radishes idea, & my own recipe for the black bean tacos.

Diet – No changes necessary, this soup is already pretty healthy, so it’s “diet” friendly.

Vegan – Leave out the egg.

Ingredient List: chik-style seasoning with water, soy sauce (substitute with Bragg Liquid Aminos), red pepper flakes, shiitake mushrooms (crimini or portabello work too), rice vinegar, cornstarch, egg, tofu, fresh ginger, scallions (green onions), toasted sesame oil.

Cook book: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast by Martha Stewart

Tomato & Kalamata Olive Pasta
Serves: 2
2 servings of any kind of pasta (spaghetti, penne etc.)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup of kalamata olives, pitted, roughly sliced
1/2 teaspoon oregano

1. Cook pasta according to specific pasta directions (usually about 10 minutes). Drain, set aside.
2. Heat olive oil (you can just use the same pan you cooked the pasta in) on med-heat. Add minced garlic (this is easiest with a garlic press). The garlic should take about 1 minute. It burns quickly, so keep an eye on it.
2. Add the chopped tomato, kalamata olives, and oregano to the pan. Mix for 2-3 minutes.
3. Immediately add the pasta back in and toss to combine everything.

Diet –This is a really healthy way to eat pasta, so seriously, don’t worry so much about the carbs and just try to eat a balanced diet. And again, olives are the good kind of fat.

Vegan – Just make sure the pasta you use is vegan.

Ingredient List: pasta (I usually use penne or spaghetti), olive oil, garlic, vine-ripe tomato, kalamata olives, oregano.

Cook book: Yours truly.