LILLY’S CLEVELAND TOFU SUPPER
Our dog daughter loves tofu, especially Cleveland Tofu. She also loves green beans and blackeye peas. So Mom cooked her up some this morning seasoned with a little garlic, basil, turmeric and mild curry. Did she like it? You bet! Sauteed some mushrooms in maple syrup and added some roasted red peppers to raise the level to DOG CUISINE! Happy Lilly!
Makes 6-1/2 cups
MUSHROOMS:
2 T. corn oil
12 oz. white button mushrooms, washed and sliced
salt and pepper
3 T. Grade A maple syrup
In large skillet, over medium heat, melt oil.
Add mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste. Saute till tender and most liquid from mushrooms evaporates.
Add maple syrup, toss to coat and cook about 5 minutes or till coated smoothly minus any liquid in the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.
TOFU:
16 oz. container water-packed CLEVELAND TOFU
baking soda
white vinegar
Rinse tofu. Cut into cubes and submerge in bowl or pot of water with a couple Tablespoons of baking soda. Swish it around and let soak about 5 minutes. Drain.
Add about 1/2 c. vinegar, swish the cubes around to let the porous Cleveland Tofu absorb the vinegar as much as possible, getting into all the nooks and crannies. Break the tofu apart making large crumbles in the vinegar, swish around again, then drain and rinse. Set aside.
BLACKEYE PEAS & GREEN BEANS:
12 oz. pkg. froz. Blackeye Peas – by PICTSWEET FARMS
10 oz. pkg. froz. cut green beans
salt
Fill a saucepan with water.
Add blackeye peas, green beans and enough salt to make the water taste salty.
Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes, or till blackeye peas are tender.
Drain veggies and set aside.
SAUTE:
2 T. corn oil
1 t. salt
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. turmeric
fresh grind black pepper
1 t. dried basil
1 t. mild curry powder
1/3 c. diced sweet red roasted peppers
In extra-large skillet, over medium heat, melt oil.
Add salt, garlic powder, turmeric and black pepper. Swirl it around pan to evenly submerge and distribute.
Add large tofu crumbles. Stir to coat all surfaces, then cook about 10 minutes, stirring up from bottom as needed.
Add basil, curry and roasted peppers, stir to distribute. Cook about 5 minutes.
Add sauteed mushrooms and drained veggies. Stir to distribute evenly, then cook about 5 minutes longer on lowered heat or till done to your liking.
Remove from heat, cool to room temperature, then pack in covered containers and refrigerate.
Notes: Although this is a relatively dry dish, it textures as juicy. Don’t know why, but it does. Lilly licked the skillet clean after taste-testing a bowl! So this time, Lilly’s palate is the proof of satisfaction guaranteed!
REVIEW OF FROZEN PICTSWEET BLACKEYE PEAS:
When I saw frozen beans in the market I was surprised. Nobody likes to cook dried beans/peas from scratch. I bought some.
Upon reading the cooking instructions, I thought it read cook 3 minutes. Only later when I doubled checked ,because the blackeye peas weren’t nearly done, did I see 30 minutes in better lighting.
I doubted that they’d cook in even that amount of time, but they did. Perfectly.
So I will definitely buy these again.
Tasted good too!
THE ANIMAL-FREE CHEF TEST KITCHEN 