Vegan MOFO - Day 8 - Iron Chef/Okra and Horseradish

Today I am straying from my there. I love iron chef! Did I tell you how much I love iron chef? It gives one a chance to see how creative they can be. It also opens you up to the possibility of ruining some perfectly good ingredients. This is my favorite arena. I love trying to figure out to how I can wing throwing together a great dinner with ingredients someone else picks out.

This challenge was a bit daunting for me because I can't really stand okra normally, especially the frozen stuff. The first challenge was finding fresh okra this time of the year. Score one for my friend Daphne! One of her neighbors had okra in her garden. I couldn't decide whether to use fresh or prepared horseradish, so I bought both. Now with the chosen ingredients in hand, I needed to get creating.

I had a theory that the pith in the okra is what gives it to that nasty slimy texture I despise. So I decided to clean out the seeds and pith and stuff those bad boys. Okra seems to show up in cajun/creole cuisine. This made me think I should put a cajun twist on things. Here is what I came up with.

Cornmeal Crusted Stuffed Okra served with Durty Rice Cake and Creole Sauce

Cashew Horseradish Cheese

1 cup raw cashews (measured before soaking)
1/2 package Mori-nu silken firm tofu
1 Tablespoon fresh grated horseradish
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of white pepper.

1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup corn meal
3/4 cup corn flour

Soak cashews in filtered water overnight. Drain. Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of processor once or twice. Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. This cheese is excellent as a spread on crackers too!!

Get 12 medium sized fresh okra. If it is too large it will be very woody and stringy. If it is too small, it will be hard to stuff. Make a slit down the length of the okra. Carefully remove the pith and the seeds. Gently stuff the okra with the cashew cheese. Refrigerate stuffed okra while you prepare the creole sauce.

After the creole sauce is simmering. Heat canola and peanut oil to 350. Make a breading station with two shallow bowls. One with 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk. In the other bowl mix corn meal and corn flour. Place stuffed okra in milk, then dredge in flour mixture. Repeat one more time. Place breaded okra in hot oil carefully. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Can keep warm in 250 degree oven while preparing side dishes.

Serve over Durty Rice Cake. Drizzle with creole sauce. (Recipes for these will be posted later as another MOFO entry. I have to pack for my trip!!!)

Mediterannean Quinoa Stuffed Portobellos

I've been meaning to post this since February. Sorry for the delay for those of you who asked for the recipe. I was beyond busy with the 3rd Annual Joanne Wood March Madness for Mammaries Hike that I put on each year to benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and the Wellness Community - Arizona. The hike was a great success, raising over $27,000 for the two charities. Woot!!

On to to the food. For Valentine's Day I created a tasty delicious side dish that ended up being more like a main dish really. It is very tasty and packs a pretty good protein punch from the quinoa.

Mediterannean Quinoa Stuffed Portobellos

4 servings

4 medium sized portobello mushrooms

Marinade

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon tamari
2 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste

Filling

1 Cup Quinoa
2 Cups Vegetable Broth
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large red onion or 1 small, diced small
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil choppped

1/2 cup coarsley chopped kalamata olives
2 teaspoons capers

Mix marinade ingredients in shallow baking pan. Add mushrooms and marinade for at least an hour turning once.

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake or grill portobellos for about 5 minutes until they just barely start giving up their liquid. Remove from oven or grill.

Prepare filling. In medium saucepan add quinoa to cold veggie broth. Bring to a boil cover and cook for 15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Remove cover and fluff. While quinoa is cooking heat oil in iron skillet or saute pan. Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are transluscent. Add oregano, red pepper flakes and salt. Saute for 3 minutes. Add sun dried tomatoes, olives, and capers and saute for another 3 minutes. In mixing bowl toss this mixture with quinoa. Salt and pepper to taste. Stuff each portobello cap with approximately 1/2 cup of mixture. Bake mushrooms in covered pyrex dish for 20 minutes.

As you can see, I garnished mine with a roasted pepper cut in a heart shape. You can also garnish with chopped fresh italian parsley.

Vegan MOFO Day 26 - Iron Chef - Stuffed

Earlier this month I posted about stuffed stuff. Then this week the iron chef challenge ended up being stuffed stuff this week. No matter, I love stuffing stuff.

For quite some time I have been intrigued by kittee's stuffed tofu, so last night I thought I would give it a whirl. Here is my interpretation.

Stuffed Tofu Parmesiana Style

Makes 6 servings.

2 packages extra firm tofu, pressed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced small
1/3 tube gimme lean sausage style (or homemade)
8 oz package cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1/2 cup soy milk

Basic Marinara

1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can roasted crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste

Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400.

Press tofu for at least 30 minutes. In the mean time make filling. In a heavy skillet on medium heat add olive oil. Saute garlic and onion until onion is just soft. Add sausage and cook until slightly browned. Add mushrooms, spinach, and spices. Cook over low heat until liquid is almost gone. Add toasted pine nuts. Saute for a few more minutes. Let cool.

Once the stuffing is cool, slice tofu. Slice each block into thirds width wise. Cut slits in the middle of the side of each piece being, making a pocket. Be careful not to cut all the way through. To coat the tofu, put each piece one at a time in soymilk. Then dredge in bread crumbs to coat. This may take two times to get it proper coating. Place coated tofu in oiled glass baking dish. Ladle marinara sauce over each tofu pocket. Sprinkle vegan mozzerella over the top. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until heated through. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve over noodles or risotto.

Vegan MOFO Day 13 - Stuffed Stuff

What could be better than food to a food lover you might ask? Food stuffed inside of other food of course. I'm always thinking of fun ways to stuff foods into other foods. Perhaps it is the subliminal need to be surrounded by something that makes you feel cozy and safe. Nah! It's probably just because stuffed foods are fun!

Lets start with the very basics; breads stuffed with stuff. Think of the many possibilities! Who doesn't love pitas stuffed with all sorts of goodies. Below is a picture of a pita stuffed with curried chick salad. Imagine if you will many other delights that can be stuffed into pita; falafel, veggies, hummus. Let us not forget the italian calzones. Calzones are a fun way to serve veggies and other goodies in a fun little packet. How can one forget empanadas. Oh the joys of spicy savory packets of spanish empanadas. Have you ever had an empanada made with masa flour. Oh man, sheer mouthgasm.


Pastries are also lovely stuffed with stuff. Just imagine puff pastry stuffed with a sweet carmelized fruits or a vegan marscapone drizzled with caramel or chocolate. Behold, phyllo pastry stuffed with chocolate. Simple but decadent.



Another great food to stuff are veggies. I love finding different incarnations of stuffed veggie things. Some of my favorites are stuffed portobello's, cheeze stuffed hot peppers of any variety, stuffed squash, stuffed artichokes, stuffed tomatoes, etc. There are infinite possibilities for combinations with other veggies, grains, meat analogs, nuts and fruits. I could go on all night, but again, I will let the pictures do the talking.

One great thing about certain stuffed foods is that they make great looking and impressive finger food. When I dream of developing fun, creative, finger foods, stuffed stuff always cross my mind. I'm not feeling particularly inspired to write tonight, but now I am inspired to stuff some stuff!!