Vegetarian & Vegan – Page 7

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

You know these guys, right? The little pastel greened husked dudes by the tomatoes that you look at peripherally and pass by without a second thought?

Pass by no more; they are the key to green salsa that is second to none.

Choose tomatillos as you would tomatoes; you want firm ones that give a bit to finger pressure, with no soft spots, discoloration or other lesions.

Bring ’em home and get it on.

8-10 Tomatillos
1/2 medium Sweet Onion
1/2 lightly packed Cup fresh Cilantro
1-2 Hatch or Jalapeño Chiles
1-2 cloves Garlic
Juice of 1 fresh Lime
1/2 teaspoon Agave Nectar
Pinch of Sea Salt

Peel the husks off the Tomatillos and rinse them briefly in cold water. Quarter the onion, peel the garlic, and cut the lime in half.

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Field strip your chiles if you’re cooking for a general audience, or leave ’em be if you like the heat. If I use frozen Hatch chiles, I don’t roast them, but if it’s jalapeños that get the call, into the oven they go.

Halve tomatillos and place cut side down, along with the garlic and chiles, on a baking sheet. Slip that into the oven with broiler on and your rack set so the Tomatillos are about 5″ or 6″ below the element or flame. Roast ’em until the skins are blackened, then remove.

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Toss everybody but the salt into a blender or food processor and blend thoroughly.

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Pour the blend into a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat.

Add salt to taste.

Allow salsa to simmer until it thickens and reduces slightly. Remove from heat, pour into a glass container and allow to cool completely in refrigerator.

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Will last longer than it will likely survive, AKA 4 or 5 days, refrigerated.

Now, obviously, it’s great on Tex Mex, like the housemade chimichangas this batch graced last night, but don’t stop there; it’s wonderful on pork chops or chicken, roasted potatoes, stuffed peppers, and omelettes, just to name a few. Whip up a batch and see if it ain’t so.

Enjoy!

Great American Meatout Day!

Now, if you’re around here at all, you know we’re as omnivorous as they come, so, when we post a Meatout ref, it must be good!

The Great American Meatout has been around since 1985, encouraging us to explore good nutrition without the M word.

You can pledge a day, a day a week, or a full swing life change, and you’ll find plenty of resources to help you along your journey.

It just so happens that March 20 is GAMO Day, so embrace your inner veggie and go take a look!

E & M

Tofu for Ann!

Ann wrote in the other day after checking out the cilantro pesto recipe:
Yum! This all sounds so good! Okay, what’s your best tofu recipe? Or maybe a couple recipes? I bought tofu, and have no idea what to do with it…

Hey, Ann! I’ll bet you were the nice young woman I spoke to at the cafe the other day?
You got it. Tofu is absolutely wonderful stuff, versatile as the day is long. Nowadays, and especially in a food-savvy area like ours, there are some great locally made artisinal varieties to be enjoyed: Thanh Son Tofu, Northwest Tofu, and Chuminh Tofu come to mind as must-try.

That said, my personal favorite variation is stir-fried with onions, green onions, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, carrots and garlic sauce.

So, first wash and prep your veggies: Julienne the carrots and onion, cut green onion into reasonable chop stick manageable chunks, and slice your water chestnuts.

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Drain and cut your tofu into nice bite sized chunks.

For the garlic sauce, you’ll need:
1 Cup Vegetable Stock
3 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
1-2 Fresh Hot Chiles, fine diced (Jalapenos are fine for this, and red pepper flake will do in a pinch)
1-2 fresh Limes, (For Juice, you’ll want 1 to 3 tablespoons)
3-5 Cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon agave nectar, (Light Honey is fine)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch dissolved in 4 tablespoons of water
1 – 2 Tablespoons Canola or Peanut Oil for sauteing

Add a little veggie oil to a preheated wok or saute pan over medium-high heat and allow to heat through. Add tofu and saute for a minute or two until it starts to brown. Remove and set aside.

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Throw stock, vinegar, lime juice, agave nectar and fish sauce into a sauce pan over medium heat. Start out light with each major flavor note and work to a balance you like between the salty, hot, sour and sweet notes, then adjust later as needed). When the sauce begins to simmer, drop the heat to medium low, and add the cornstarch solution; stir until the sauce starts to thicken slightly, then toss in the garlic and chile peppers and allow to incorporate. Remove from heat and allow to stay warm on stove top.

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Add a bit more oil to the wok, again over medium high, and toss in the carrots; allow them to saute for a couple minutes solo, then add all the rest of the veggies and about half the sauce.

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Let everything incorporate and heat through, then add the tofu and the rest of the sauce. heat through until simmering nicely and serve.

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Can be done solo, or on/with rice, or as lettuce wraps with more fresh sprouts, cilantro, and basil leaves to add to the fun.

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Thanks for asking, enjoy and let us know how it goes!