Cucumber, Cabbage, and Tofu Chopped Salad

I share a community garden plot with my mom and she picked the first done cucumber and gave it to me, that was very nice of her:)  I used the cucumber and a small head of purple cabbage from the farmers market to make this yummy salad.......

On Cooking and Ingredients

Cucumber, Cabbage, and Tofu Chopped Salad

4-6 side dish servings

Tofu

1 15 oz block of tofu, drained, and cut into half inch cubes

1 T tamari (wheat free soy sauce) or 1 T Bragg Liquid Aminos

1/2 T olive oil

1 T brown rice vinegar

1 t maple syrup

Dressing

1 t grated ginger

1 t grated garlic

1 T tamari

2 T brown rice vinegar

1/2 t toasted sesame oil

1 t agave or other sweetener

Salad

2 c chopped cabbage

2 c cucumber chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 c tofu recipe 

Optional Garnishes

cilantro

dulse granules (seaweed that can be found by the nori or sushi supplies in your local natural foods store)

sesame seeds

Make the tofu:

On top of a plate, fold a kitchen towel so that it can cover the bottom and top of a block of tofu.  Put the tofu on it, then the other half of the kitchen towel, then a cutting board, and a heavy pan to weigh it down.  Drain in the refrigerator 3-4 hours or overnight.

When the tofu is done draining, cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.  In a roasting pan, mix the tamari, olive oil, brown rice vinegar, and maple syrup.  

Add the tofu and stir to coat.  

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Take it out of the oven and stir it, then put it back in the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven.

It will be lightly browned.  Let the tofu cool for 10 minutes on the counter, then put it into a glass covered container and store it in the fridge to cool.  You want to put cooled tofu into the salad.  Also, this salad uses 1 cup of tofu, so you will have extra to use on another salad or in another recipe.  While the tofu is cooling, make the dressing. 

Make the dressing:

In a medium/large sized bowl, mix the grated ginger, garlic, 1 T tamari, 2 T brown rice vinegar, 1/2 t toasted sesame oil, 1 t agave, and mix well.

Assemble the salad:

To the bowl with the dressing, add the 2 cups of cabbage, 2 cups of cucumber, and 1 cup of the tofu and mix well.  Garnish with optional cilantro, dulse, and sesame seeds.

Vegan Cream of Celery Soup

We planted celery in the garden this year and it is just starting to get big enough to harvest.  It is dark green and full of flavor.  The pale green celery in the grocery store almost tastes like water compared to this stuff.  It inspired me to make cream of celery soup in the middle of the summer:)  If you make this using grocery store celery in the winter time, try to buy the greenest celery you can find and use the inside stalks and leaves if possible.  This soup tastes fantastic and nobody would know that it was vegan if you didn't tell them.
On Cooking and Ingredients

Vegan Cream of Celery Soup
Makes about 5 cups
1 1/4 packed cups of really green celery, half leaves, half stalk, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
2 large cloves of garlic
1 quart vegetable broth
1 large potato, chopped into about 1.5 inch chunks, you can leave on the skins if they are soft
pepper to taste
salt (only use salt at the end if needed, if you use sodium free vegetable broth, you may need salt, but if you use vegetable broth that already contains salt, you probably won't need it)

1/2 c raw cashews, soaked for an hour
1/2 c water

(If you are allergic to cashews, you could use 3/4 cup of non-dairy, unsweetened creamer)

To a large pot, add the celery, onion, garlic, potato, broth, and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

While the vegetables are simmering, make the cream.  Drain the cashews.  In a high speed blender, blend the cashews and water.  This makes about 3/4 cup of cream.  You may substitute another non-dairy, unsweetened cream if you would like.

When the potatoes are soft, remove the pot from the heat. Use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients in the pot, or blend by batches in a high speed blender.  It will look like this:

Add the 3/4 cup of cashew cream or other cream of your choice and stir will.  Heat gently until warmed again, season with salt if needed, and serve.

Zucchini Noodles With Pesto and Fresh Tomato Sauce

My friend told me that a few weeks ago at work, somebody brought a zucchini noodle maker and they were all eating zucchini noodles for lunch, that's so awesome!! That and lots of basil available in the garden inspired me to make this recipe.  It tastes best at room temperature, and when you toss the noodles with the pesto, you should eat it right away.  If you have extra, store the noodles, pesto, and tomato sauce all separate in the fridge until you are ready to eat the rest.  Also, the tomatoes I used were super sweet.  If you are using tomatoes that aren't, you could add a splash of balsamic vinegar to the fresh tomato sauce to sweeten it a little.  This recipe makes 2 servings.
On Cooking and Ingredients

Zucchini Noodles

4 Small/Medium sized zucchini

The tool I use to slice the zucchini noodles is like a peeler, but it has sharp little edges that cut the zucchini into noodle shapes.  There are also fancy vegetable spiral cutting machines that you could use if you have one.  I found this one at a kitchen gadget store.  Use the tool to slice the zucchini until you get to the seeds in the middle, you just want the outside part of the zucchini, not the seeds.  I had 2 small and 2 medium zucchinis and it made 4 cups of noodles.

When you are done cutting the noodles, put them in a colander and let them sit out for a few hours on your counter.

Fresh Tomato Sauce
2 cups of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 small clove of garlic, grated
2 T fresh basil, chopped
salt
pepper

In a glass bowl, mix the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and salt and pepper.  If you are using tomatoes that aren't really sweet, you could add a dash of balsamic vinegar to sweeten them.  Let the tomato sauce set out on the counter for a couple of hours with the zucchini noodles.

Pesto
Makes about a cup
3 cups of basil leaves
1/4 c raw cashews
1/4 c raw pine nuts
1/4 c olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic
salt, pepper
1 T nutritional yeast (optional)

In a food processor, pulse the basil, nuts, and garlic until chopped finely.  Turn on the processor and add the olive oil slowly until combined.  Season with salt and pepper and nutritional yeast.

Assemble 

Take 2 cups of zucchini noodles and place them in a mixing bowl.  Add 4T of pesto and mix until the pesto coats the noodles, adding more pesto if needed.  Add half of the tomato sauce to the top and it's done.

DVDs, Books, and Websites I Recommend

I've done alot of reading over the years and have come to the conclusion that a plant foods diet is the best for our health and for the earth.  The following are some of my favorite resources that I like to refer people to.  Most of the books and DVDs should be available at your local library or I've provided links to the author's pages for all of them.  When I remember more or find good new ones, I'll add them to this post.  Hope this is helpful!


DVD's:
I just found this and watched the trailer but haven't seen it yet, but it looks great: Planeat
Genetic Roulette
Forks Over Knives
Food Inc
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
Food Matters and Hungry for Change
Dirt! The Movie
Farmageddon
Supersize Me


Websites on Health:
Get a kick start on your health: http://www.21daykickstart.org/
Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine
Harvard School of Public Health
Red Meat and Cancer

Books/Authors:
I became vegetarian after reading the following books by John Robbins-yes Robbins as in Baskin/Robbins Ice Cream:) -The Food Revolution and Diet for a New America
The China Study
Eat Drink and Be Healthy
Eating Animals 
The Kind Diet
Quantum Wellness and Veganist

Doctors who write about using plant foods to prevent and reverse disease: 
Dean Ornish
Neal Barnard
Andrew Weil
T. Colin Campbell
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. 
Joel Fuhrman
Did you know Bill Clinton went vegan because of his heart disease? He looks to Dean Ornish and Caldwell B Esselstyn for advice.

Corn, Zucchini, and Tomato Salad

Just starting to see organic sweet corn available at the farmers market and also have just started harvesting some black cherry tomatoes from the garden.  This salad is a really simple, and really delicious side dish.  I made it to go along with lentil sloppy joes, yum!
On Cooking and Ingredients

Corn, Zucchini, and Tomato Salad
Makes about 4 cups

1 1/2 cups of sweet corn-it took 4 medium sized cobs to get this much corn
1 medium zucchini, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes sliced into quarters
small handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 T finely diced shallot

1 T white wine vinegar
1 t stone ground mustard
1 t agave or other sweetener
1 1/2 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Drop in 4 peeled cobs of corn. Remove them from the water after no more than 90 seconds, give them a quick rinse under cold water, cut the corn from the cob and place into a medium sized bowl.  Add the zucchini, tomatoes, basil, and shallot. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, agave, olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper.  Pour over the vegetables and give it a stir.  Taste it and add more salt and pepper if you would like.