Grilled Tofu and Bell Pepper Salad with Tamarind Miso Dressing

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Grain-free && Low-Fat && Vegan option

Now that it’s officially unofficially summer (that’s what Memorial Day marks, right?) you may want to have a good grilling recipe in your back pocket, and I’ve got just the one for you!

Grilling and barbecues often conjure images of lots of meat, or vegetables marinated in oil, and heavy “salads” laden with mayo, which can be problematic or just plain unappetizing for vegetarians, vegans, and cyborgs with a digestive intolerance for much fat. But we also don’t want to be left out of the whole outdoors summer food scene either. This recipe combines grilled marinated tofu and grilled bell peppers and onions in a crunchy, fresh green salad with a distinct savory, tangy dressing. The dressing (which also doubles as the marinade for the tofu) may be a show-stealer here. I hadn’t even originally planned to blog this recipe, but I made it for my brother-in-law’s birthday barbecue on Memorial Day weekend, and had several people ask me for the dressing recipe, so I figured I might as well share it more widely here.

It’s nice to have a good recipe on hand whenever someone’s grilling, but if all you want to do is make a meal, getting out the grill and firing it up definitely feels like overkill. In that case, just roast the tofu and vegetables in a hot oven instead (see note below).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Grilled Tofu and Bell Pepper Salad with Tamarind Miso Dressing

Serves 6

Adapted from Crispy Tofu Salad in Bazaar by Sabrina Ghayour

Note: This recipe works best if you drain the tofu for 30 minutes to an hour, prepare the dressing, and let the tofu marinate at least one hour ahead, or as early as the night before you serve the salad. (This makes it a pretty good make-ahead recipe.)

Also note: If you don’t want to grill, just follow the recipe up to the point you would grill, but then cut the tofu, bell peppers, and onions into bite-sized pieces and stick everything in the oven on a couple parchment-lined baking sheets for about 20 minutes at 425ºF instead.

Bits:

Salad:

14 oz. extra-firm tofu
2 red/orange/yellow bell peppers, or a combination of smaller bell peppers totaling about 1 lb
1 large or two small sweet onions, sliced into 1½-inch squares, and skewered
1 small head curly green or red leaf (looseleaf) lettuce, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 large carrots, shredded or julienned
3 green onions (green parts only), sliced thinly
½ oz parsley leaves and small tender stems, roughly chopped
1 stem (about 7-8) fresh mint leaves
6 fresh chive flowers (or 6 chives, if flowers not available)
Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Dressing:

4 Tbsp unsweetened tamarind paste (I love Aunt Patty’s Organic Tamarind Paste)
4 Tbsp white miso paste
1 Tbsp honey (sub equal amount maple or agave syrup for vegan option)
zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp peanut butter powder (Anthony’s is my favorite; substitute regular peanut butter if your digestive system doesn’t throw an error when you ingest fat)
1 tsp rasam powder (substitute a good chili powder if you don’t have rasam powder)
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2+ Tbsp of water (enough to get desired consistency)

Algorithm:

Drain the tofu and wrap in a paper towel, and then wrap that in a dish cloth. Place wrapped tofu in between two dinner plates, and put something heavy like a big cookbook on the top plate to gently weigh down on the tofu, pressing out the water. Leave to drain for 30 minutes.
Combine all the dressing ingredients except the water in a pint mason jar, or other similarly-sized container. Add 2 Tbsp of water and stir until the mixture is homogeneous and smooth. Add more water a tablespoon at a time until you have something that is the consistency of a thick-ish salad dressing. A pepper and lemon juice to taste.
After the tofu has drained for a bit, unwrap it, and coat it with about 1/3 of the dressing mixture. Put it in a ziplock bag or an airtight container and then into the fridge to marinate for as long as possible before you’re ready to grill, ideally the night before.
Cut bell peppers from top to bottom into 3 to 4 long slabs. Remove any stems, ribs, and seeds.
Add remaining salad ingredients (from lettuce to chive flowers / chives) to large serving bowl and toss to combine.
When your grill is ready, put the marinated tofu slabs, the bell pepper slabs, and the skewered onions directly onto the grill and cook several minutes on each side, until heated through and just starting to get char marks on the outsides. Set aside for a few minutes until cool enough to handle.
Cut the tofu and bell pepper slabs into bite-sized cubes, and cut the onion squares into smaller bite-sized pieces if desired. Add these to the salad, and toss again to combine.
Drizzle dressing over salad and toss to coat, or (my preference) let others serve themselves salad and add their own dressing to taste (leftovers will last a lot longer if you store the salad and the dressing separately as well).

Parsnip Date Hazelnut Chickpea Flour Loaf

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Grain-free && Very low fat && Slightly and naturally sweetened

This quick loaf coffee cake is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. But, parsnips in a coffee cake you may ask? To which I’d reply, sure, it’s no stranger than putting carrots in a cake, which many would argue is much more delicious than strange. Parsnips are just another root vegetable, and they’re even carrot shaped, if that helps to put you more at ease. While maybe not be quite as sweet as carrots, they have a little more of an earthy, and almost creamy, flavor that’s hard to describe; well worth a try. Parsnips really have their heyday in fall when everyone starts to get excited about root vegetables, but like carrots, they seem to be available and delicious year round.

Made with 100% chickpea flour, it’s totally grain-free, and the only fat comes from the chickpea flour. It’s also sweetened only with a little bit of date syrup, making it pretty guilt-free for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, or dessert… you might even be able to pass it off as a dinner item; after all, chickpea flour is high in protein and parsnips are a vegetable. I say go for it!

For this loaf I recommend using a store-bought date syrup like The Date Lady‘s, which seems to be have a somewhat greater concentration of sweetness than the home-made stuff I’ve posted about (see my recipe for 110010 Birthday Cake for how to make your own date syrup. As the store-bought kind seems to be darker and a little sweeter, I have my suspicion that after blending the dates and water to make syrup, it’s probably cooked down a little to concentrate it; I need to do an experiment to check my hypothesis, and will be sure to report back when I do. But unless you have time to do the experiment yourself, try to go with store-bought.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Parsnip Date Hazelnut Chickpea Flour Loaf

30 minutes prep time, 45-55 minutes bake time

Makes 1 9″x5″ standard-sized loaf

Bits:

Dry:

150 g chickpea flour
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp ground fenugreek seed

Wet:

200 g grated parsnips (start with about 300 g / 2 large parsnips, then peel and grate to get 200 g)
¼ cup (70g) roasted mashed garnet yam (or butternut squash)
3 Tbsp (50 g) egg whites
½ cup (125 g) nonfat greek yogurt
1 Tbsp nonfat milk
2 Tbsp (40 g) date syrup
1 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp hazelnut extract (or omit and increase vanilla extract to ½ tsp)
¼ tsp almond extract

Algorithm:

Line a 9”x5” standard size loaf pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Combine dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl (sift chickpea flour as it tends to clump).
Grate parsnips, if not already grated, and measure out 200 g. Set aside.
Add wet ingredients except the parsnips in small mixing bowl and stir until pretty much smooth.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold with rubber spatula until almost combined.
Add the parsnips to the batter and fold until combined.
Bake 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out *almost* clean. Check after 20 minutes and put a foil hat over the top to prevent dark spots.
Be a boring grown-up and clean up your mess while the loaf bakes.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan, unstick the parchment, and let cool completely on a wire rack (best if you can leave it for at least 45 minutes to an hour, if not longer) before wrapping it up and putting it away).

Keeps for 2 weeks tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge. Also freezes fairly well, but texture may suffer a little.

Spring Pea, Asparagus, and Beluga Lentil Bowl with Mint-Pea Yogurt Dressing

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Grain-free && Fat-free && Vegan Option && 30 minutes or less

I’m really getting into spring produce now that spring is in full swing! This bowl is a perfect edible way to celebrate the season. It’s actually a mix of a couple different very spring recipes I came across recently, adapted to what I had in my fridge at the time. It definitely isn’t the most photogenic dish, which made me hesitate for a second about posting it, but it was so delicious, I thought it would be a big shame not to share.

The mint-pea yogurt dressing is a slight adaptation from Hetty McKinnon’s new book “Family“, which is a gorgeous treasure trove of creative and delicious recipes, most of which can be made in under an hour; suitable for a weeknight dinner. I adore Hetty’s first book “Community“, which earned her the reputation in my mind of being the “other” Ottolenghi (plus she’s vegetarian!). Her books are worth seeking out.

Spring Pea, Asparagus, and Beluga Lentil Bowl with Mint-Pea Yogurt Dressing

30 minutes or less

Serves 4

Bits:

4 medium yukon gold potatoes (or any good roasting potato, or 1 lb cauliflower)
Sprinkle of olive oil for roasting (optional)
1 cup beluga lentils (or sub Puy / French lentils)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 lb asparagus, woody stems removed and chopped into 1½” batons
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
4 cups arugula
Salt and black pepper
Fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped, for garnish
Fresh chives, finely chopped, for garnish

For the Mint-Pea Yogurt Dressing:

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/4 cup packed (10 g) fresh mint leaves
1 cup (250 g) non-fat Greek yogurt (sub vegan yogurt to make the dish vegan)
1 tsp honey (sub maple syrup to make the dish vegan)
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
black pepper, or to taste

Algorithm:

Roast the potatoes: Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Fill a medium sauce pan half way with water and set to a boil on the stove. Rinse and chop the potatoes into 1″ cubes. When the water is boiling, add the cubed potatoes, bring back to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Drain the water and spread potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toss potatoes with a couple drops of olive oil and a generous dusting of salt. Roast for 25 minutes until potatoes just start to brown.
Boil the lentils: In a small sauce pan, add the lentils, 1 cup of vegetable broth and 1 cup of water. Bring the contents to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover with a lid, and let simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender but not mushy. Drain any remaining liquid.
Boil the asparagus: Fill a medium sauce pan (rinse and re-use the pan used to boil the potatoes) half way with water, and bring to a boil. Add the chopped asparagus and bring back to a boil. Boil the asparagus for 2 minutes. Strain out asparagus with a slotted spoon and set in a colander or sieve to drain and cool.
Boil the peas: Bring the water used to cook the asparagus back up to a boil. Add the peas for both the main dish and for the dressing (2 ½ cups total), cover, and reduce heat to medium. Boil fresh peas for 2 minutes, or frozen peas for 4 to 6 minutes, until warm through. Strain out the water and set aside.
Make the mint-pea yogurt dressing: Combine ½ cup of the cooked peas and the remaining dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired.
Put it all together: Combine the roasted potatoes, lentils, asparagus, the remainder of the cooked peas, and the arugula in a large serving bowl, or portioned out into smaller dinner bowls, and toss to combine. Drizzle generously with the mint-pea yogurt dressing, and sprinkle with chopped fresh mint leaves and chives. Enjoy!

Note: The dish without the dressing will last a lot longer in the fridge than if you combine it with the dressing and chopped fresh mint and then store it. If you anticipate the possibility of leftovers, have people add dressing and the chopped fresh mint and chives to their individual servings just before eating. Store the salad and the dressing separately in air-tight containers in the fridge, where they will keep for a week. Chopped fresh herbs may or may not last as long, depending on their freshness, so store any extra by themselves.

Surati Toor Dal with Broccoli and Roast Potatoes

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Vegan && Very low fat && Grain-free

I think I could eat some form of dal for at least one meal every day. Actually, I probably do. I’ve even been known to eat it for breakfast. (Really, why *not* eat it for breakfast?) Even now that the weather is starting to warm up here, there’s still nothing (well, almost nothing) more comforting and appealing to me food-wise than having a hot bowl of dal with some roasted potatoes and green veggies scattered on top. (Especially broccoli. Why am I obsessed with broccoli??) There are so many variations of dal and lentil soup recipes, and any simple roasted or boiled veggie makes a great topping, so it’s easy to change things up and keep these kinds of recipes interesting. I’m sure I’ll be posting more like this in the future.

This is a complete meal in a bowl that is vegan, filling, healthy, and above all tastes amazing. I had this for dinner last night, and actually opted for seconds instead of dessert (dessert for cyborgs is greek yogurt with seasonal fresh fruit on top… hard to beat, even if ice cream weren’t off limits.)

I think I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, my absolute favorite place to get dal and other Indian groceries is Indian Sweets & Spices in Shoreline, Washington, just about a 20 minute drive north of Seattle. They have a great selection of organic dals, organic besan (chickpea) flour, organic spices, and plenty of non-organic everything else (including the best fresh curry leaves I’ve been able to find in the greater Seattle area, including the International District). You can also get organic dals and ingredients from Amazon of course, but I find everything costs at least twice as much on Amazon (even with free shipping) as it does at Indian Sweets & Spices, or any local international grocery store I’ve been to. So, particularly in this case, it really helps your community AND helps you to save a bunch money if you can shop local, wherever that may be.

(NOTE: This post is not sponsored, nor is any other post sponsored; all of the opinions expressed are solely mine. I feel strongly about what I like, and want to encourage people to use good quality ingredients and support their local economies whenever possible.)

Surati Toor Dal with Broccoli and Roast Potatoes

About 45 minutes start to finish

Serves 4 as a complete meal

Bits:

For the dal:

1 ¾ cups toor dal + ½ cup mung dal (or use all toor dal, or all red lentils, depending on what you have)
3 ½ cups vegetable broth (I use Imagine Vegetarian No-Chicken Broth)
1 tsp turmeric
2 large or 3 medium roasted red peppers from a jar
1 jalapeño (or other preferred chili)
1″ finger of fresh ginger (~ 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp after mincing)
20 fresh or frozen curry leaves
2 Tbsp peanut butter powder, reconstituted with 3 Tbsp water (Anthony’s is my favorite)
1 tsp jaggery (a.k.a. gur) (or 1 tsp honey or maple syrup)
1 ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp asafoetida (a.k.a. hing) **See note below.
1/2 to 1 tsp dried red chili flakes, depending on desired spiciness

For the veggies:

3 to 4 medium potatoes (I use yukon gold or red potatoes, as they’re less mealy than russets), cut into ¾-inch cubes
~ 1 tsp olive oil (optional, use a good drizzle more if you’re not fat-intolerant)
1 ½ tsp salt
2 heads of broccoli

Algorithm:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
Start the dal:
- Put the dal into a medium-sized deep mixing bowl and fill the bowl with water to the top. Skim off / pour out the foam and then strain the dal into a fine-mesh sieve. Repeat 3 or 4 more times until the rinsing water is just about clear.
- Tip the dal into a large sauce-pan or stock pot. Add the vegetable broth and 3 ½ cups water. Bring to a boil. Skim off as much froth as you can, then add the turmeric powder.
- Turn the heat down to a vigorous simmer, cover partially, and leave to simmer. Set the timer for 30 minutes.
Make the potatoes:
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil, add the cubed potatoes, and boil for 1 minute.
- Drain the water from the pan, and spread the potatoes on the parchment-lined baking sheet (rinse out the pan and set aside for now. Sprinkle the olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle over the salt. Toss it all together to coat the potatoes as evenly as possible, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Add ingredients to the dal:
- Cut the roasted red peppers into small dice, and stir into the dal.
- Mince the jalapeño and fresh ginger and stir into the dal.
- Roughly chop the fresh curry leaves and stir into the dal.
- Stir in the reconstituted peanut butter powder and jaggery (or sweetener of choice)
- Check the dal and add more water about a ½ cup at a time if the dal hasn’t started to fully fall apart and it’s starting to look a little dry.
Make the broccoli:
- Fill the pot the potatoes cooked in with water and bring to a boil. While it’s coming to a boil, cut the broccoli tops into small florets and the stems into bite-sized (about ¾”) chunks.
- When the water is boiling, drop in the broccoli and boil for 4 minutes until easily pierced with a fork.
- Strain out the water, and refresh in cold water to stop them cooking.
Finish the dal:
- When the dal is done cooking (after about 30 minutes, when the lentils are falling apart), put the heat on low and stir in the salt and lemon juice.
- Put a small frying pan on over medium heat and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and dried chili flakes. When the seeds start to pop, tip them into the dal and stir through.
Add dal to each serving bowl and top with broccoli and potatoes. Enjoy!

Leftovers keep in the fridge for a week; dal can be frozen in an air-tight container for several months.

**Note: Asafoetida is another one of those ingredients that is helps make Indian dishes taste authentic and amazing, and it’s really tough to find a good substitute for. If you’re gluten-free, you have to watch out because it’s often mixed with wheat to help with processing it into a powder. A couple brands I’ve seen use fenugreek (and other fillers) to help with the processing, which makes it gluten-free, but you lose some of the intended flavor, and get a bunch of fenugreek instead… which is probably not bad, but I can’t imagine it’s quite as good. It can be tough to find, but pure asafoetida is naturally grain-free (and therefore gluten-free), and of course will have undiluted flavor. I’ve searched high and low for pure asafoetida powder, and Nature’n’Me is the best I’ve found so far (but sadly I’ve had to feed the monster to get it). If you really have to, you can try substituting ½ tsp garlic powder and ½ tsp onion granules instead.