Am I a vegetarian? I do like tofu…
So as much as I had said I was going to blog every day about my vegetarian week, I didn’t. Alas. Above you can see three of the dishes I had made – a grilled vegetable panini, eggplant montadillos with goat cheese, and a sweet-and-spicy glazed grilled tofu. I was generally pleased with how they came out. Over the course of the week, I did discover a few things about being a vegetarian and my own food consumption:
- I had figured that being a vegetarian would be difficult, with my supposed lack of flexibility when it comes to eating vegetables. It wasn’t difficult at all, because…
- Apparently, I like eating more vegetables than I give myself credit for. Eggplant, zucchini, corn (OK, it’s a starch, but still) – all vegetables that you couldn’t get me to try a year or so ago, but now are core ingredients I found myself cooking more of. A wide variety of recipes is now accessible to me, and that makes me happy.
- I don’t need to eat cold cuts for lunch in order to be satiated during the school day. Steph and I enjoyed hummus on flatbreads with some sprouts and house-made pickled peppers, and were very happy with our lunches. I’m going to play around with some different recipes, because I tend to like a little more spice (not heat, spice) in my hummus than the recipe I was using. Aside from going meatless, it’s also easier on the checkbook.
- I tried some of the products that are created to be “faux-meat”, like Boca Burgers and Yves Veggie Dogs. The results of my unscientific study: they are NOT for me. I loaded up the “burger” with cheese, ketchup and mayo, and the “hot dog” was unpalatable without a mountain of sauerkraut and mustard. I would rather attempt to make my own faux-burgers rather than buy one of these. Bleh.
So what’s the end result? Steph and I are going to do our best to limit our meat consumption to one meal a day, usually dinner. Why? Personal health, environmental concerns, being more cost effective, taking advantage of the Garden State, whatever – it’s just a choice we’re making. We’re not activists, I still think that pigs are magical animals (and I will cook them as often as I can), and that cows taste delicious. I view it more as a challenge for me to try new ingredients and vegetables than a lifestyle choice.
Tonight, Stephanie was out at a bridal shower, which means two things: I didn’t feel guilty about picking up jelly beans (my secret vice) at Wegmans, and that I could cook myself a super-spicy dish for dinner tonight. Thai cuisine was a good choice since there’s lots of vegetarian options, and I could really crank up the heat on it. Hence, Thai red curry with tofu.
Tofu in Coconut-Curry Sauce
Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison – Serves 2
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 serrano chiles, minced (I took the seeds out of one of them)
2 tsp Thai red curry paste
.5 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
.5 cup water or vegetable stock
.5 salt (you may very well need more, I did)
cooked rice
chopped cilantro
chopped roasted peanuts
Preheat your broiler. Cut the tofu into .75″ cubes. Line a baking sheet with foil, put the tofu on the sheet, and broil until golden on the outside, 15 minutes total, shaking the pan to rotate the cubes every now and again.
Heat the oil in a saute pan or wok over high. Add onion, pepper and chiles and cook, stirring continually, 1 minute. Stir in curry paste until all vegetables are coated, then add coconut milk, water, salt and tofu. Simmer until tofu is heated through, 2 minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro and peanuts.
It was delicious, but here’s what I’m going to change when I try this again: don’t wimp out with the chiles, add basil when I add the coconut milk (thanks, @chrischampion!), added some fish sauce (to round out the flavor, and add saltiness) and avoid the cilantro (for me, too soapy in this recipe).
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I really enjoyed your week of vegetarian meals. I am not a huge meat eater, but couldn’t go entirely meatless… your comment on the “faux-meat” is spot on… really, why fake it when the real stuff is very good.
Keep up the good work! Lee
Thanks so much! I definitely plan on steering clear of “faux” meat in the future – I’m totally OK with hot dogs and hamburgers.
Great job on your vegetarian week. I could not get on board with veggie hot dogs but I do love gardenburgers (realizing that they do not taste like hamburgers but are a separate entity).
I hate tofu. I can’t get on board with it. Plus Matt has extreme texture issues…tofu is not for him.
Can’t wait to see the other recipes you come up with!
I will give the gardenburger another try, but they’ve got to be homemade. I have a recipe for black bean burgers that I want to try next week. I’ll keep you posted
Looks tasty! I like the idea of Thai tofu
Great choice in slowing your meat consumption. You have to get more creative in the kitchen, but you’ll love it!
The Thai tofu was absolutely delicious. I know you like the spicy food, so you should definitely give it a whirl.
I am not a vegetarian and I never will be. I moved to Montana partially because I love the high quality beef that you get here, not to mention the buffalo and elk. My sister however, has been an on again off again vegetarian her entire adult life. So I’ve been exposed to a couple of pretty decent options. If you like eggplant, I definitely encourage you to try an eggplant parmesan.
As for faux meat, I generally agree with the sentiment that there is no good reason for it. However, there are a couple of exceptions. I’ve found that morningstar make a vegetarian breakfast sausage link that is excellent. It is a completely viable substitute and it actually tastes like sausage. I don’t know how they do it. Check it out here http://www.morningstarfarms.com/products_veggie-sausage-links.aspx
Also, gardenburgers are a complete waste of time…… on their own. However, I’ve found that a gardenburger patty makes an excellent topping to a real burger. Get all of the veggie toppings in a nice compact easy package. Throw apiece of cheese on top of the gardenburger patty and another between it and the meat and you’ve got yourself a pretty tastey burger. It used to make the hippie vegan types I used to work with at Outward Bound absolutely crazy when I would do this.
I’m looking forward to trying your Tofu in Coconut-Curry Sauce. It looks excellent. Do you press your Tofu before using it? Those vegan hippies all swore that it was the only way to go with tofu.
Hey Alex! I almost forgot about your site. Great job on going vegetarian for a week. Those meals sound yummy. I love tofu, especially in Thai food but my other half doesn’t feel the same way. I always pick out the tofu bits from pad Thai. For lunch I like to kick it oldschool with a good ole PB and J. Its cheap, relatively healthy (sometimes I even add apple slices instead of jelly) and vegan. Plus it makes our hair really healthy.
Veggie burgers can be pretty nasty but there was one I used to like. Morningstar farms used to make a cheesesteak versions with bits of cheese, peppers, and onions. It was delicious but sadly, they don’t make them anymore.