Breakfast for Dinner/Fried Potatoes with Greens and Tofu Scramble

It was cold today.  Rainy and cold.  It felt like the season of Fall finally fell upon us.  I love it!  This weather, though, makes me want cozy food.  For me, this usually means something delicious and full of complex carbohydrates.  To stave off the cold, I decided to make fried potatoes with chard and tofu scramble for dinner.  And...while I was at it, cook a big pot of red lentil soup which is a staple around our house. (I'll post my lentil soup recipe at another time)

To be completely honest, I usually purchase frozen hash brown potatoes for brunch or breakfast feasts.  Today I decided to actually use potatoes, boil them, chop them  and then fry them up.  It was more work but I had the time this afternoon.  We have extra cooked potatoes in the frig for later this week.  They can be added to soup or stew, used as a side dish with seitan and gravy, or maybe we'll fry them up again with some greens.

Well not, that's a pretty crappy photo!  I am still new at this here thing called "blogging" so please give me some space to take blurry photos!

I cut the boiled potatoes up into little cubes and then added them to half an onion I sauteed in oil.  I added some salt and pepper and let them slow cook until they started to get brown.  I highly advise using a metal spatula to turn things like this.  It really allows you to get the browned bits up off the bottom!

Near the end of the cooking time I added two huge handfuls of chopped red chard.  I am always looking for ways to get more green into our diet.  To help the chard cook I covered the pan.

While the potatoes were frying I sauteed some garlic in oil in a different saute pan.  I used about 6 cloves of chopped garlic.  I added 2 pounds of tofu using my hands to crumble it as I added it to the garlic. (I used 2 pounds so that we'd have left overs for my daughter to eat over the next couple mornings.  I'm all about left overs!) 

While that was frying I put together a little spice concoction from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's tofu scramble recipe.  If you are using one pound of tofu the recipe is:

2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp tumeric  (I have read that tumeric really needs to be paired with black pepper in order for it to have the amazing anti-inflammatory effects.  I added black pepper as the potaotes cooked)

Put these spices in a bowl and add water to make a paste.  You want the paste to be a tad bit watery.

After the tofu had sauteed and began to have brown bits I added the spice mixture, salt, pepper, a bit of garlic and onion salt, and nutritional yeast.  For one pound of tofu, add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast.  Mix this all up in the saute pan. 

I then added 2 - 3 handfuls of chopped spinach (see, there are those greens again!), 1/2 can chopped artichoke hearts, and chopped Kalamata olives.  Oh my, what deliciousness!

Here's a photo of the two fry pans doing their business....

We added Kelly's whole wheat millet toast with Earth Balance margarine and a big bowl of organic grapes from the Farmer's Market and sliced apples from our trees.

This meal is packed with protein, fiber, antioxidants and phytonutrients.  You can always use less oil in any of the saute or frying applications if you are trying to cut back on fat content or calories.

Here is my basic Tofu Scramble Recipe:

1 pound of firm tofu  (I only use organic tofu)
2 - 3 tablespoons of oil
3  or more cloves of chopped garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp tumeric
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
chopped Kalamata olives
chopped spinach (remember that spinach cooks down so be very generous)
water packed artichoke hearts sliced into quarters

Heat the oil in a saute pan and add garlic.  After about 2 minutes add the tofu and crumble by hand.  Cook until tofu begins to brown.  While the tofu is cooking, put the three spices together into a small bowl with some water to make a watery paste.  Add this spice mixture to the browning tofu and add salt and pepper. Add the nutritional yeast.  Stir this all around until everything is incorporated. Add the spinach, olives, and sliced artichoke hearts. Enjoy!

Hip Hip Hooray for Fiber!

I am curiously intrigued with nutrition.I've become even more interested in nutrition since I began to teach a lifestyle class at the local Community College called "Weight Management".  What I don't tell these folks is how many calories to eat or how many hours a day to exercise.  What I do suggest to my students is implementing a course of "healthy habits" including a strong dose of nutritional information.

Our healthy habit this week is to look at fiber intake.  We talked last week about soluble vs. insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber can dissolve in water and insoluble fiber can not.  Think apple - the inside is soluble, the skin is insoluble. The only food that has fiber is plant food.  That shocks a lot of people out there. Most people think that the stringy stuff they find in their meat is fiber.  But no, only plant food has fiber.  And we need fiber!  The average American only eats about 12 - 15 grams of fiber a day.  Doesn't take a genius to link this to why Americans may be so unhealthy.  Or at least it's one reason, right?  We need fiber to do all sorts of things in our lovely digestive system.  Like pooping.  Ok, enough, you get the picture, right?

I tracked some of my fiber intake this week so that I could use my diet as an example when talking to my students this week.  That's why I've decided to share my day of eating today.  I am fascinated with what I eat, what you eat, what all of us are deciding to put into our bodies.

This morning I was up early in order to make a 6:30AM crossfit class.  I began the day with a big glass of water followed by an Americano.  No fiber there, but oh my God does it make me happy!  In the car on the way to class I ate an apple and a small handful of almonds.  I need some energy and fuel to propel me through these grinding work outs, but if I eat too much I am in trouble.

After class and throughout the next 3 hours of my day I drank a huge smoothie comprised of the following items:

Water
Aloe Vera juice
raw vegan protein powder
almonds
walnuts
cashews
carrot
beet
celery
beet greens
spinach
kale and chard
parsley
chia seed
flax seed
hemp seed
banana
orange
strawberry
grapes
blueberries
green peas
Vitamineral green

I know, that's a bunch of stuff.  It's delicious and my tastebuds have grown to love the sweet earthy taste of our morning smoothie.  We make a huge vitamix blender full and usually we drink the entire thing.  If there is any left over, we carry that over to the next day's smoothie.

Our blender full of smoothie has about 90 - 100 grams of fiber.  That's 40 - 50 grams of fiber each.  WOW!

I didn't eat lunch until mid afternoon and I decided that a Big Ass Salad was on the menu.  I cut up two heads of Romaine lettuce, grated half a purple cabbage, and shredded 4 large carrots.  That is the base of my salad and there was plenty left over to use in the next couple days.

Today I tried to use my mandolin slicer.  That was a huge mistake and I now know why it lives, pretty undisturbed, in a cupboard hidden well behind the things I regularly  use like the rice cooker and crock pot!

 

I hate the mandolin slicer and today I retired it to the Good Will bag in the garage!  I'm terrified that I am going to slice my fingers off and really, the damn thing just doesn't work for me.  I watch those folks on "Chopped" and they seem to handle it just fine.  Not me.

 

 



I changed over to my 25 year old Cuisinart and I had small chopped purple cabbage galore!  I also have all my fingers!

Here's my Big Ass lunch salad.  It's comprised of romaine lettuce, chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, sunflower sprouts, chopped cucumber, chopped yellow bell pepper, avocado, chopped apple (from our trees!), sunflower seeds, and hemp seeds. I dressed it with some flax seed oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and onion powder, organic flavored salt, black pepper, and nutritional yeast.  Oh boy, was it good and did it ever fill me up!

 

 I prepped enough that I have this huge bowl of "base" salad for the next few days.  My daughter had a big bowl for dinner tonight.

 

For dinner tonight we had "Beans, Greens, and Grain".  This is a common meal for us.  Really simple "go to" meal comprised of pinto beans which I soaked all day, and then cooked in the slow cooker overnight with a chili and some adobo sauce, a teaspoon or so of cumin, and 1/2 an onion.  I cooked up a bunch of quinoa in the rice cooker and then the husband did up a stir fry of chard and kale from our garden sauteed in red and yellow pepper and shallot.  Super simple, super nutritious and yum yum good.

 

 

I'm sorry to say that I did not take a photo of the frozen blueberries I had for dessert while watching the Presidential debate.  I love frozen desserts and these little delectable delights that I bought at the Farmer's Market earlier this summer and froze for later consumption are the bomb when I'm craving something cold and sweet!

 

It was a delicious day full of amazing nutritious food and I believe I ingested close to 100 grams fo fiber!  Yay me!  Yay healthy body!

 

 

 

 



Blueberry Corn Cakes

 

 

A couple summers ago we went College "shopping" in the Pacific Northwest.  This gave us the opportunity to spend some time with our yoga friend, Kristen, in Portland. (Don't even get me started about the amazing vegan food I ate in Portland - OMG!)  One morning we walked down to a lovely breakfast spot and ordered corn cakes.  I have been looking for the perfect corn cake recipe ever since.

 

The perfect recipe was right under my nose (actually up on one of the many shelves filled with cookbooks in my pantry).  Veganomicon is written by two of my all time favorite vegan cooking icons, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  I actually want to do one of those "Julie and Julia" things where I make a recipe a day from this cookbook.  It is simply fantastic!

 

Sometimes I really have my shit together and everything gets set out and ready for the actual preparation!

 

 

What I love most about this recipe is that the corn cakes have blueberries scattered about within the pancake which is actually thinner like a fat crepe.  I used blueberries that I bought earlier in the season at the Farmer's Market.  I spend a bit of money on blueberries so that I can wash them, freeze them in gallon bags, and have them all year long. Open the freezer door to bags of fruit not available in the winter - best ever!

 



 

When we bought this house it came with a huge 1980's Chef's Kitchen.  Totally outdated but filled with really fun things like a huge griddle between the 4 burners of the Chambers stove.

 

 

 

Recipe for Blueberry Corn Cakes

(adapted from the Veganomicon cookbook)

 

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (i have also used corn flour and it was fine)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp canola oil or other mild flavored oil

1 1/4 cup plain soy milk

1/4 cup water (recipe calls for 1/3 cup but I thought the batter was too thin)

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 cup blueberries

 

Sift together the dry ingredients.

 

Stir together the rest of the ingredients (excpet blueberries) Stir to combine.  Don't over mix.  Add blueberries.

 

Pour 1/4 cup batter onto an oiled preheated skillet or griddle.  Cook on medium high heat until both sides are golden brown.

 

Personally, I don't think the "cakes" need any additional syrup.  They are sweet and savory and delicious with more fresh fruit on top!

 

I have now served these to my sweet husband, my daughter, my sister-in-law's, two nieces, and my parents.  There were never left overs!