Recipe Friday!

Yesterday on twitter I asked what kinds of recipes and foods I should talk about. I got a lot of responses for various vegetable dishes, and few on what exactly to do with tofu and how to use it. So I thought I’d focus on 3 things today – Kale (Which is my FAVORITE green!), Eggplant (what good Italian girl doesn’t know how to use eggplant) and how to marinate and use Tofu (the chameleon of vegan food).

Let’s start with Kale. Before I went to a plant based diet I had never heard of kale. I know, it’s sad, it’s like never hearing of chocolate or something. Kale is one of the best leafy greens out there, and it’s delicious and can be used in lots of ways. Kale also happens to be packed full of really great stuff for your body. Kale has TONS of  calcium (more calcium than a glass of milk) , lutein, iron, and Vitamins A, C, and K. Kale has seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times more lutein. Kale is rich in Vitamin C not to mention and fiber. The “Icing on the Kale” are the natural occurring all important phytochemicals sulforaphane and indoles which research suggests may protect against cancer.And it’s got the antioxidant Vitamin E. kale kicks ass. Which is why you should be including it in your daily meal plan. One of my favorite ways to have kale? A green smoothie. That’s right, I drink my kale!

Easy green smoothie – with kale:

about a cup (I use more) of kale leaves
1 frozen banana (chop up really rip bananas and stick them in a freezer bag for later, I buy a HUGE amount of bananas at at time and do this)
1/4 cup blueberries (frozen is best)
Your favorite vegan powder – I LOVE Vega – especially the chocolate one.
Water – depending on how thick or thin you want your smoothie will depend on how much you add, start small, and keep adding.

Next thing you know, your drinking kale, and you want to call your mother, or grandma, or that aunt who was always trying to shove veggies down you, and you say “TAKE THAT I just drank some kale!”

Another great thing to do with kale – sandwiches…

My favorite kale based sandwich:

3 slices of thin sliced tempeh (any kind that you like)
2 slices tomato
4 leaves of kale
2 TBS of hummus
2 slices of some hearty vegan bread – Toasted!
Olive oil and vinegar (I like balsamic)

Pan fry tempeh in olive oil, drain oil.
and then layer your sandwich: 1TBS hummus, tempeh, tomato, kale, a little olive oil and vinegar and then put 1 TBS of hummus on the other bread slice.

All of this equals TASTY. It’s a great on the road sandwich as well, although, be sure that it all cools down before you stick it in a bag, because things could get mushy. This will also make your co-workers jealous, as they heat up some frozen way too small to be called a meal.

More kale recipes:

Kale Chips
Creamy peanut kale (you can use another kind of nut butter if you or someone in your home is allergic to peanuts)
Baked curly kale with potatoes, garlic and olives.
Raw – Kristen’s raw fennel, orange, kale salad.
Rustic red kale and white bean soup
Braised kale with caramelized onion
Pineapple kale smoothie
Warm kale salad

Now how about eggplant? Growing up eggplant was a staple in a lot of Italian dishes. Now granted, we smothered it with cheese, fried it, and then added more cheese, but non the less, I learned a few things about eggplants. Most importantly – let your eggplant sweat. That’s right, eggplants have a slight bitter taste to them, that should sweat out before cooking with it. To do this, get some paper towel (or brown bags) slice eggplant and  place sliced eggplant  on the paper towels  for as long as you can (my Granny used to let them sweat for hours). Also, sprinkle the eggplant slices with a little salt to help the process. After a while you will notice that under the slices a liquid appears. When that is noticeable, your eggplants are probably good to go. Then rinse them before using. Also – try using a stainless steal knife when cutting eggplant, other knives react with the flesh causing it to turn black.

What’s so good about eggplant? It’s rich in: fiber, potassium, copper, manganese. vitamin B1, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, and B3. Eggplant also contains important phytonutrients, which are antioxidants. They are a great brain food because they also provide nasunin which is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage.

And what can you do with that eggplant?

Spicy baked eggplant
Baba Ganoush
Ratatouilli
Eggplant stew
Eggplant lasagna
Baked polenta with ripen tomato and eggplant
Turkish eggplant casserole
Eggplant medley

oooh – and why not kale AND eggplant?! An eggplant and kale recipe!

Tofu

I get a lot of questions about tofu – and how to make it. So many people make the mistake of thinking tofu tastes nasty because they have either just had a chunk of it out of the carton (which I don’t personally mind) or they have not prepared it correctly, or have had it prepared in a bad way for them. I could write an entire post about tofu – so I’ll try to be short, and cover tofu next week in more depth (I know, you should probably mark your calenders or something).

First – when cooking with tofu – tofu scramble, tofu steaks, anything hearty ALWAYS use the firmest tofu you can find. The ones that are packed in water in a plastic container in the grocery store are generally too soft to use. Trader Joes makes a great firm high protein tofu, I also like the brand “Soy Deli” . Generally, I’ve found that if they appear to be vacuum sealed with little water verses packaged with a lot of water, it just works better.

For marinating tofu, again be sure to find a firmer tofu: If you are marinating for less than one hour, it can be done at room temperature covered with wax paper, paper towels, or a towel. However, for longer periods of time, marinating should be done in a tightly-covered container in the refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth and other nastiness.

Tofu can be used in a million different ways, and it takes some trial and error to figure out what to do with it and how it best works. I’ll post more about tofu next week – but if you are interested in recipes for tofu check out all of these tofu recipes!

That wraps up recipe Friday! I hope that you had a marvelous week! I also want to thank all of you for your comments/e-mails/tweets this week. I really love the comments on “It’s not your fault” and I am happy to see some support for people who are vegan curious from current vegans! I think it is so important that people know there is a community of caring and friendly vegans, and that no matter where you are, you are never alone. Please feel free to ask questions, share frustrations, no matter what they are, in the comments. If I don’t know the answer, I will find someone who does!

Have a beautiful weekend! Get out and enjoy some fresh air, and find a farmers market to explore, pick up some kale and eggplant!