Making dinner healthier, one slow cooker at a time.
Here’s where you can get another Bull City Vegan Challenge tasty brunch. I actually went to Daisy Cakes twice during the vegan challenge, so I think you should definitely give it a try.
Daisy Cakes
401 Foster St. Suite A
Durham, NC 27701
Vegan brunch item available Saturdays 8am-3pm and during the week (Tuesday – Friday)
This recipe is one of the easiest of them all. You can make your own pizza dough or just use English muffins or tortillas. The filling probably takes about 15 minutes to throw together and you can make it a day or two before you want to use it.
If you are avoiding soy you could certainly use seitan or add extra veggies in place of the tofu. To make it gluten-free simply buy or make gluten-free pizza shells. to recipe →
In my pre-vegan days eggs were often my go to ingredient for a quick dinner. Now that I’m vegan, I still make some of the same convenience foods only I use the magic of tofu instead of eggs.
Scrambling tofu is surprisingly similar to scrambling eggs in that the excitement comes from the add-ins. (And be honest, the picture above looks pretty close to regular scrambled eggs.) to recipes→
I’ve been meatless for so long that sometimes I forget to mention some of the simple things. This recipe is one of those. I made this last night for my sweetie and remembered just how much I love this stuff!
If you’ve already made a silken tofu mousse before, then you can move along. There’s not much new to add. However, if you’ve never made one before and are new to the wonders of silken tofu be prepared to be wowed.
This is my favorite impromptu dinner party dessert. It takes about 10 minutes and then all you do is stick it in the refrigerator for about an hour to thicken up.
You can make this mostly sugar-free by using grain sweetened chocolate chips, or use unsweetened chocolate and add your favorite sweetener like stevia or agave. There will be sugar in the liqueur, so you can use an extract instead to keep it sugar-free.
This is gluten-free with Amaretto, but it would not be if you choose another liqueur that has gluten.
Make sure to check out the rest of my Valentine’s dinner over at my post on Key Ingredient’s blog. I think my not-quite souffle turned pretty good too.
The Easiest Chocolate Mousse Ever
Serves 4
gluten-free (with Amaretto)
Puree the tofu in a food processor, stopping a few times to scrap down the sides. When you are finished it will be silky smooth.
Melt chocolate chips on the stove top in a double boiler (or in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds).
Add melted chocolate and liqueur to the food processor and process until thoroughly mixed, scraping down the sides and processing some more.
Put in serving cups or martini glasses and stash away in the fridge for at least 1 hour to let it thicken up.
The TofuXpress is one of my favorite kitchen tools. I just added it to my arsenal this year, but it’s up there with my immersion blender! I was skeptical at first, but now that I use it all the time I wouldn’t want to be without it.
I don’t know about you, but here’s how I was pressing tofu: a cast iron pan on top of a cutting board with something else added in for weight. Then I would stand there to make sure nothing was going to fall on my dog.
(Somehow Brenna, my dog, senses the danger and makes sure to lay up against a counter next to where I place my tower of tofu pressing.) So it wasn’t pleasant, though I’ve gotten really good at catching pans as they get unbalanced and fall off. But it that really anyway to live when you can just put it in this device?
It’s unbelievably easy to use. There is a super-strong spring that puts the pressure on the tofu to express the liquid. It also does it in half the time.
The TofuXpress is a little expensive at $39.95, but it very well made. I don’t expect to have to buy another one for myself, but I will be getting a few as gifts. And if you put it on your Holiday gift list it won’t cost you a dime ; )
They also have tofu recipes on their site if you need some inspiration.
Enter this giveaway and you may just win your own TofuXpress!
You will get one entry for each task you do as long as you enter a new comment for each one on this blog post. I’ll announce the winner Friday.
I’m so excited! My book, The Vegan Slow Cooker, was released early and many people who pre-ordered at Amazon will get theirs this week!
This soup was pretty much an accident. I had no intention of adding pumpkin to my new chick’n chowder. However, I freeze my puréed pumpkin in ice cubes just like I do my homemade bouillon. I do label the bags, but if you don’t actually read them bad (and good) things can happen.
Luckily this was a happy mistake – my favorite kind. Once I realized I had put pumpkin cubes in instead of bouillon ones, I changed my plan and added some more pumpkin. I didn’t notice that much difference in the flavor, but it does add more nutritional goodies.
I used a local vegan chick’n called Soy Delight, but your favorite chick’n should work just fine. If you are anti-fake-meat feel free to substitute cubes of pressed tofu, wheat gluten, or even white beans.
Also, if you avoid pre-packaged non-dairy sour cream, use pureed silken tofu or cashew cream instead. It’s your soup after all – so make it the way you like it.
Don’t forget that you can easily make your own pumpkin purée, in the slow cooker of course! Go ahead and get some of those pie pumpkins that are showing up at the farmers market. You can stock up for winter and spring!
Make sure to get in on the giveaway this week at Busy Vegan. Just go to this Busy Vegan link and add a comment to the post there. In the bag is a super cool OXO peppermill, some tasty peppercorns to fill it from My Spice Sage, and a postcard with my recipe for Slow Cooker Tempeh Braised with Figs and Port Wine. I have coupons I’ll be adding and a few other bonuses too. There will be 2 winners!
Also please like the Healthy Slow Cooking Facebook page if you haven’t already and please spread the word to your friends!
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chick’n Chowder – serves 4
Cooking Time: 6 to 8 hours on low (or 3 to 4 on high)
The night before: Cut up the veggies and chick’n. Thaw pumpkin purée if you have it frozen. Store together in one bowl in the fridge.
In the morning: Add everything except the non-dairy milk, Toffuti sour cream, and the extra salt or pepper. Cook on low for 6 to 8 (or on high for 3 to 4 hours).
Remove bay leaf and thyme stems (if you used fresh thyme). Then add the non-dairy milk and sour cream. Make sure you thoroughly mix them in the soup. Then taste your soup, and add more salt, pepper, cayenne, or thyme if needed.
If you want a thicker soup you can take about 1/3 of the soup and purée it in a blender or food processor and then mix it into the rest of the soup. Personally I liked the thinner soup.
Serve topped with shredded vegan cheddar, extra vegan sour cream, and/or chopped chives if desired.
I just made another batch of smoked tofu and was itching for a recipe to use it. I saw this recipe for sweet and sour seitan on Learning Vegan’s blog. Yum! I’m on a restricted diet for the next couple of months, so no seitan or brown sugar for me. But Learning Vegan inspired me to make my own version.
This is just my interpretation, feel free to play with it and make it your own. If you don’t have canned pineapple you can use fresh or frozen. You’ll just need about 1 cup of juice to substitute for the pineapple juice. Apple juice would be my first choice, though I think OJ would work just as well. After all you’re using it to sweeten the mix.
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Smoked Tofu (*gluten-free)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 6 – 8 hours + 45 minutes before serving
The night before: Open the pineapple can and drain the juice into a small bowl. Add soy sauce and ginger to the juice to make the sauce. Store sauce and pineapple chunks in the fridge for the morning. Cut the tofu, onions, peppers, carrots, and broccoli.
In the morning: Add the sauce, carrots, and tofu cook on low for 6-8 hours.
45 – 60 minutes before serving: Turn slow cooker to high and add peppers, broccoli, and pineapple. Make a thickener by mixing the corn starch and water in a small cup and then add it to the slow cooker. It’s ready when the sauce has thickened and the broccoli is done.
I am a huge fan of tofu. I always tell people if they don’t like it they haven’t had me cook it for them yet. It’s not as egotistical as it sounds. Most people simply don’t know how to use tofu to their advantage.
Tofu is the perfect palette to add flavors to. And I love smoky flavors! You can probably tell because of my heavy use of liquid smoke in most of my recipes. I used to buy a brand of smoked tofu when I lived in New Orleans that I can’t get here in Durham. But it was the perfect thing to have on asian style greens. Yum!
This is my first try smoking tofu in the slow cooker. You can smoke it on the grill with a smoker box, but it’s January, the perfect time to find another way. A way that is inside the warm house.
I made this in my largest oval slow cooker. You could cut the planks to fit your slow cooker, but I’m too lazy at the moment. I bought maple grilling planks because they were on sale, but you can get any kind grilling planks that you prefer.
I’m calling this one version one because I want to try it marinated next time, so I’ll be posting that in the next few weeks.
Slow Cooker Smoked Tofu (gluten-free)
Use large oval slow cooker – or – cut wood to fit your slow cooker – I used this one
Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes (mostly hands off time)
Cooking Time: 6 – 8 hours
The night before: Submerge the planks in water (or juice or wine) and soak for 1 hour. Then dry in the oven on 350 for 5 – 10 minutes until it is dry. (I got this from the plank instructions.)
Cut the tofu into 4 slices (lengthwise) so you have 4 flat pieces. Wrap these in a very clean dish cloth or paper towels and put a heavy sauté pan or cutting board on top to press the water out. After 20 – 30 minutes unwrap and lightly brush with liquid smoke.
Place the first plank in the slow cooker. It will not be exactly straight across (it will be angled slightly), and will be in the upper third of the slow cooker. Place 2 of the tofu slices on this plank. Add the other plank on top of this and put the other 2 tofu slices.
Warning: If you fiddle with it too much the planks will fall sideways into the slow cooker. This is the time that you will either start again or be brave and get out the saw. I obviously just tried again and it worked fine. You may want to play around with the planks in your slow cooker before you put the tofu on them.
Cook on high overnight to create a very firm tofu. Your house will smell a little like a campfire or fireplace, but I considered that a bonus!
It’s cold and flu season. When I’m feeling under the weather I crave Hot and Sour soup. It’s not easy to find a vegetarian version at a Chinese takeout so I have to make my own. Since I’m cooking it in the slow cooker I can go back to bed and get some rest so I can get better fast!
This is also a good soup to make when you just don’t feel like going out. Most of the ingredients I keep on hand in my pantry or freezer. I love Trader Joe’s frozen cubes of garlic, ginger, cilantro, and basil for just this sort of thing. And silken tofu keeps for almost a year in the packaging that Mori-Nu uses. Check the date when you are stocking up.
Slow Cooker Meatless Hot and Sour Soup
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 hours
The night before: Slice mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Mince garlic and ginger. Cube silken tofu. Store in fridge to use in the morning.
In the morning: Add everything except peas into the slow cooker and cook on low 8 hours.
Before Serving: Add the peas to the slow cooker, and add more vinegar and chili if needed. Pour a few drop of sesame oil on top of each serving. If you like it milder and your friends like it hot, serve chili paste on the side.
This is a twist on the heavy, fat laden traditional lasagna.
One of the questions I get as soon as I tell people I’m a vegetarian is ‘How do you get protein?’. We don’t need as much protein as they thought we did in the 50′s. But sometimes when you are switching your diet adding a little extra protein can help you feel less hungry.
This is a perfect dish to serve at a dinner party. It’s easy to make and hearty. Just add a nice spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and you’re all ready for company.
Slow Cooker Protein Packed Pumpkin Lasagna
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 6 -8 hours
Pumpkin Tofu “Ricotta”
In a food processor blend the olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes until you have a paste. (It’s ok if there are still some lumps in it). Add the rest of the ingredients, blend until creamy. Add a little water if you need to thin the mixture. Taste and adjust seasonings.
The night before: Make the pumpkin tofu ricotta and store in the fridge until morning.
In the morning: Spray the crock with olive oil so you won’t have a nightmare cleanup on your hands later on.
Break off the corners of one side on each piece of the lasagna noodles so that they fit snuggly in the crock pot.
Repeat those steps ending with a last layer of lasagna noodles and top that with sauce.
Cook on low for about 8 hours. It’s ok to leave it longer if you need to.
Giveaway ends May 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
