Clean Eating #105: Twice Baked Tofu Sweet Potato Dish

Twice Baked Tofu Sweet Potato Dish

So, in case you're wondering, yes I did buy a bulk box of Tofu:)  I have never cared for the texture of tofu, but after watching the documentary Earthlings, as well as the other documentaries that I've mention on this page... I just can't bring myself to eat most meat.  I'm still eating eggs and dairy, but even with that, I'm trying to cut way back.  My husband heaved a heavy sigh and said that he knew once we all started on this healthy road that he knew that's where it would lead, so he's pretty much on board.


Having a husband on board makes all the difference in the world!  Of course he and Squatch still eat meat occasionally, especially if we get pizza, but at home he's willing to just eat whatever I'm willing to fix.


Now for my own tofu challenge... I've always heard "Tofu doesn't HAVE a taste" well, that's all well and good, but I don't like the texture of JELLO in my normal meat dishes.  It grosses me out, honestly.  I have experimented today with pureeing it in with regular potatoes in my twice baked potatoes and now with sweet potatoes and they were both absolutely DIVINE.  I couldn't taste the tofu or notice the texture at ALL.  Squatch even liked it!  I also used tofu successfully before as a part of my beef stroganoff sauce and mushroom soup.


So my goal is to come up with a variety of tofu recipes that we will all eat AND enjoy so this can become a regular part of our diet around here.  Let me know your favorite tofu recipes, I can always use more ideas! 


For now, here are your ingredients:

4 large sweet potatoes, baked

12.3 oz of Extra Firm Tofu

1/4 cup Agave Nectar

2 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

*Optional Toppings:  Slivered Almonds and Ideal Xylitol Brown Sugar

Slice the potatoes lengthwise and put the insides into a small mixing bowl.

Add the Tofu, Agave Nectar and Spices. 

Mis well with a mixer or blender.

Stuff the potato skins with your potato mixture.

Top with Almonds and a sprinkle of brown sugar substitute.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the tops are browned.  Eat up!

Verdict:  The kids LOVED these.  LOVED them.  The question I got was, "Wait, these are healthy, right?"  

"Yep"

"Good!  Then does that mean I can have more!?"

Definitely an instant family favorite!

Clean Eating #104: Twice Baked Sour Cream & Onion Potatoes w/Tofu

Twice Baked Sour Cream & Onion Potatoes w/Tofu

Ingredients:
6 Medium Baking potatoes, baked *Bake at 375 for about 20-40 minutes until soft ~ depends on the size of your potatoes.
6 oz of firm tofu (when my family is more used to tofu, I plan to double this)
8 oz of light/fat free sour cream
6 oz neufchatel/no fat cream cheese
5-6 green onions, chopped finely
Sprinkle of Parmesan & garlic pepper to taste

When baked potatoes are cool enough, scoop the inside out of the shell, leaving just a little potato.

Take 1/2 of the potato mixture and combine in a bowl with sour cream, cream cheese, onions and tofu. 

Using a mixer or food processor, blend ingredients until smooth.

Fill the potato shells and top with pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden on top.

Serve with a salad.

What I'd Do Differently Next Time:  I plan to do a lot of variations on these.  Adding broccoli, garlic or chives, using different spices, etc.  I'm thinking a Mexican theme would work well too.  Maybe pureeing white beans or cauliflower would help as well with the starch content and adding protein.  This was a big hit.  Even Squatch didn't care that there was tofu in it because, "as long as its not jiggling, I'll eat it."

Clean Eating #103: Vegetarian Couscous w/Tofu & Zucchini Noodles

Vegetarian Couscous with Tofu & Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, shredded lengthwise for the "noodles"

1 box of Whole Wheat Coucous

1 green or red bell pepper

1 12.3 oz package of tofu, drained.

10-12 grape tomatoes

1 medium onion

Seasonings to taste:

Chili Powder, Basil, Garlic Pepper & Sea Salt

Shred Zucchini Lengthwise

Sautee tofu, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions in coconut or olive oil until tender.  Add extra oil for the 'topping'

Cook Couscous according to directions.

Place the hot couscous in a bowl and top with sauteed veggies and zucchini noodles.  Serve hot.

VERDICT:  My son, Jaedin, who has been vegetarian for about two years ate this entire bowl without even sitting down.  He reminded me of his father.  I guess it was good:)  I got a bite or two before he came downstairs, and yep, it was pretty yummy.  I'll definitely experiment with some different seasonings.

Clean Eating #102: Vegetarian Tofu Stuffed Zucchini

Vegetarian Tofu Stuffed Zucchini

*You can make this dish Vegan by leaving off the parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

2 large Zucchini

1 medium onion, diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, diced

1 12.3 oz block of tofu

Seasonings to taste:  Chili Powder, Garlic Pepper & Sea Salt

1/2 qt of Marinara Sauce (I used our loaded veggie sauce)

Parmesan Cheese

Squish the extra liquid out of the tofu by layering napkins under and on top of the tofu and setting something heavy on top.  

Carve the middle out of your zucchini.  I left probably about 1/4 an inch of 'crust' for the boat.

Sautee diced onions, garlic, remaining cucumber insides & tofu with seasonings until onions are tender.

Fill the Zucchini with filling.

Top with marinara & Parmesan cheese if you like.

Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, until the Zucchini 'boat' is softened.

This was delicious!  Even my non vegetarian husband and son ate this with no complaints.  I eve warned my hubby that it had tofu, and he ate an entire zucchini boat... even with the option of pasta with meat in it sitting beside him!  I will definitely make this again!

Clean Eating #99: Baked Carmelized Tofu

Baked Carmelized Tofu

I follow Tosca Reno's facebook page "The Eat Clean Diet" and the day after I bought a big bulk package of tofu, she posted a link to THIS recipe by Jessess.  Sounded delicious....

My 10 year old daughter made the marinade for me, it was super simple.  I just replaced half of the Sesame oil with coconut oil because we really don't care for super strong sesame oil taste and replaced the Cayenne pepper because we didn't have any.  We also ended up doubling the marinade recipe because I couldn't figure out anyway to get enough marinade to cover the tofu, since I sliced it really thin.  I then used the extra to make a stir fry sauce for veggies.

Ingredients

• 1 pckg Lite Firm Tofu
• 1/2 tsp Red Chili Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 2 tbsp melted Coconut Oil
• 4 tbsp Dark Agave Nectar
• 4 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 tbsp Ginger; grated
• 3 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425F.

Remove tofu from packaging, press between a clean hand towel for a minute or two to remove the excess moisture.  I left mine sitting between clean hand towels for a few minutes while I did other things.  Slice into thin slices (we're new to tofu, so I knew it would go over better with my kids if it was sliced thin enough to get around the texture).

In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the tofu.  

Pour a little marinade into a shallow pan, top with single layer of tofu, then pour enough marinade to cover the tofu.

Let tofu soak for 5-10 minutes.

Place tofu slices on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Spoon additional mixture onto each tofu slice. Add additional grated ginger onto each tofu slice (one side).

Bake for 10 minutes.

Turn tofu slices over onto other side, spoon additional mixture onto each tofu slice. Sprinkle that side with sesame seeds.  Bake until that side starts to brown and the marinade is carmelized.

Remove from oven and serve with stir fry veggies or broccoli.  YUM!!

The Verdict:  OMG, this was SO good.  I burned some of the edge pieces, so I need to watch my cooking time next time (I edited the cooking time above) because I cut them thin, but I'm really glad I did, because the texture that squicks the kids out was MUCH less noticeable.  The carmelized marinade made this dish SO awesome.  I'm experimenting with making a stir fry sauce similar to this marinade... I'll let you know how it turns out.

Clean Eating #83: Barbecue BBQ Tempeh Sandwich

BBQ Tempeh Sandwich with Green Onions

Served with leftover green onion stems & sour cream and chives twice baked potatoes.

Using our BBQ Sauce from yesterday...

Ingredients:
1 pkg Extra Firm Tempeh, chopped
Clean BBQ Sauce
2 Green Onions, chopped fine
1 tsp coconut oil.

Directions:
In a sauce pan, heat the oil until melted.
Add the chopped onions and Tempeh & cook for about 5-8 minutes.
Add BBQ Sauce to taste...

Serve as a dish or on a sandwich.  Goes great with twice baked potatoes, sweet potato fries or Broccoli

Clean Eating #80: Tofu, Veggies & Rice with Spicy Orange Mango Sauce

Spicy Orange Mango Tofu & Vegetables over Rice

This dish was DELICIOUS.  I made it for my son, who is a vegetarian, and then I kept picking at it and ended up eating it all so I had to make him more!:)  I'm sure my husband and son wouldn't be interested because they are very resistant to tofu in general, but I liked it.

Ingredients:

 1/2 fresh mango, diced

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 red chili pepper, diced

small bag of frozen peas

3 medium carrots, sliced thin

1/2 package of Tempeh, diced

1-2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions:  

Puree ingredients until smooth

In a sauce pan on med-medium high, bring sauce to a boil

Add diced Tempeh & frozen/fresh veggies of choice

 Serve over rice... Viola!  I loved that the carrots retained a bit of crunchiness, but if you prefer more "cooked", you may want to start the carrots separately first.