Soy Tofu’ed Quinoa

Confession: This is actually an older post… one from my old blog site, so many of you may have seen this already. However, I wanted to repost it on here, so it was easier to find… ya know, just in case you meat-loving, tofu-hatin’ friends of mine who are just hankerin’ for some health in your life. 😉 

Gasp! Another Recipe!

I must be butter… because I’m on a roll.
(Da-Da-Ching!)

Okay – that was a really lame joke.
(It’s the best I’ve got)

But I DID cook again. This time I tried to copy a recipe of my mother-in-law’s because, well… AMAZING. It was some sort of rice, tomato, soy sauced-up, tofu thing-y. I really don’t know the name of it, but it rocked. So I’m naming it. From here on out, it will be name “Soy Tofu’ed Quinoa.”

Problem with the meal – the recipe was never written down. So I had to wing it when that crazy vegan husband of mine requested it.

So this is what I think the recipe was. But it may not have been? I don’t know…

(Disclaimer: Since I don’t know the best way to write a recipe – because, let’s be real, I never read them – the way this is written out may be annoying. I apologize ahead of time. But this dish has four parts, so that’s how I’m splitting it up because that’s how it makes sense to me. It may seem complicated, but I promise it’s not. Take less than 30 minutes to prepare!)

One more thing!! There aren’t any specific measurements in this recipe. We do everything “to taste”… usually, meaning “a lot.” (Except salt or oil… again, the crazy vegan I live with is a health food snob.) Bryant likes to have leftovers, so I always try to make a ton of everything.

 

Tofu Part:

*Alright people, I know most of you probably don’t like tofu. BUT this fabulously vegan and uber-healthy meal could be made a little less fabulously vegan and uber-healthy if you substituted chicken or something here… if, of course, you didn’t want to be fabulously vegan and uber-healthy.  For those who have issues with the texture of tofu – because honestly, it doesn’t have much flavor, so honestly, I don’t buy that excuse – I cooked this tofu more crispy than most tofu. More like a little tofu-y chicken nugget, if you will. Anyway, I encourage you to give it a try. This is my absolute FAVORITE way to eat tofu. 🙂

• extra firm block of tofu
• chili powder
• pepper
• salt
• vegetable oil

The tofu needs to be drained and then squished with a paper towel to get extra moisture out. From there I sliced it up into bite size pieces. Next, I brush a little bit of olive oil on them and seasoned with salt, pepper and chili powder. From there, stick them on parchment paper (because cleaning pans sucks) in the oven (400 degrees) for 12 minutes. I then flipped them over (with a little more seasoning on the other side) for another 12ish minutes.

While that is baking…

 

Quinoa Part: (My MIL’s original recipe used rice instead)

However many cups you want to make (I used 3 cups so we had leftovers), double the cups of water, so 6 for you non-math folks
Throw quinoa and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower temperature to low-medium for 15-ish minutes, or until the quinoa is fluffy and not watery anymore. Get that simmer going.

I mix regular and red quinoa together, hence the red in this picture.

While simmering, go ahead and prepare…

 

Tomato/Soy Sauce Mixture of Goodness Part:

• tomatoes chopped/diced
• red onion
• cucumber sliced
• cilantro
• small sweet peppers (red, orange, & yellow)
• soy sauce (we use low sodium)

(You could add other peppers too… like jalepenos or thai chili peppers or something if you like heat.)

Nothing in this part was cooked. Everything was diced/chopped into relatively small pieces and then drowned in soy sauce. Once done, I set aside to let the flavors settle and marinade for a while.
(Did that last sentence make it sound like I know what I’m doing??)
(Because I don’t.)

 

Green Part: (Fresh Kale or Spinach works! Or better yet? BOTH!)

• coconut oil
• an entire extra large container of fresh spinach
• one bushel of kale (or more… whatever works! Remember, we love our kale around here)
• minced garlic
• garlic powder
• pepper
• 1 lime

I heated the oil on low-medium and then threw all the greens in together, tossed some garlic in, peppered and powdered it (to taste, I guess). Then I squeezed a whole lime over it. I cooked it like this until the greens were soft and bright green.

(WARNING!! This portion of the recipe may not make it to the end of the recipe if you’re anything like me. I keep eating it from the pan! Oops!)

 

Once everything is finished, the last thing to do is combine and enjoy!! I think we’ve added sunflower seeds to the top before, as well.

Let me know if any of y’all try this and what you think! My mama (who is NOT a tofu-y type person) loved it!

Thanks MIL for the recipe!!