I can’t believe I haven’t posted the simple, glorious recipe for these little momos! Now, momo is maybe not the right word for what these are. There’s this really great Himalayan restaurant I love going to (Cafe Kathmandu on the Drive) and they have these delectable little dumplings called momos that you can order steamed or deep fried. They are just the best. Kaylie and I thought we’d give making them at home a go, and the worked pretty well.

We used wonton wrappers for these. I have heard that others have had a hard time finding egg-free wonton wrappers – I get mine at Superstore where the selection is large enough that you can find eggless ones. You might consider using rice wraps as well – that way they’re gluten free as well. To use the rice wraps, simply hydrate them for about twenty seconds in water. They are much bigger than wonton wrappers so maybe tear or cut them into pieces after they’re hydrated. If you over-hydrate them they will dissolve so be careful.

The vegetable/tofu mix can change according to your tastes. Feel free to play with it. Try diced carrots, bell peppers, or water chestnuts. We combined:

1/4 block firm tofu, crumbled
2 tbsp soya sauce, tamari, or Braggs
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
Sprinkle Chinese five-spice mix or coriander (use chopped fresh leaves if available)
3 stalks green onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 inch ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 – 1 cup mushrooms (measure before dicing – any type of mushroom you like)
1 tsp sesame oil or other oil

Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and toss in a pan on medium-heat for about five minutes. Let the mixture cool.

Now, to wrap your momos, place a rounded teaspoon of filling in the centre of a wonton wrapper. Wet your fingers in a bowl of water and bring the corners of the wrapper up, then twist. Seal with more water.

These can be frozen and then steamed. Steam them until the wonton wrappers become translucent – about eight minutes from frozen.

Momo dipping sauce

Mix sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and soya sauce together until they’re tasty. I’d say about one part sesame oil, 4 parts soya sauce, and 2 parts vinegar.

I won’t lie – this is one of my most successful dishes. I perfected the recipe about four years ago and haven’t looked back. It employs several of my favourite ingredients, which you will find in many of my signature recipes. For more information about what these ingredients are and where to get them, check out our ingredients & tools page.

In lieu of fenugreek leaves, you might want to try tarragon, or even basil.

1 block firm tofu, drained
3+ tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1+ tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/2 onion, diced
1+ tbsp vegetable oil for frying
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 handfuls mushrooms, bite-sized or chopped
1 crown broccoli, separated into bite-sized pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 small zucchini, chopped

Note: omit some vegetables if you like, or add different ones – mind your cooking times.

Crumble tofu into a bowl. (It’s easier to crumble a block of tofu if you slice it first.) Add nutritional yeast, fenugreek, salt, mustard, and 2 – 3 tbsp of coconut milk. Mix until the tofu is evenly coated. Add more nutritional yeast or fenugreek here.

Sauté onion in oil in a medium-sized, deep-walled frying pan over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and mushrooms; toss and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tofu and cook, tossing regularly, until golden – about 10 minutes. Add the broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, and the rest of the coconut milk, mix, and cover. Let it steam for 5 – 6 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender.

Serve with hot EB’d toast.

Who wants tortillas from a grocery store anyways? I find the politically correct mexican bowl to be one of my favourite dishes because it’s fast, flavourful, easy and reminds me of my mom.

This particular bowl consisted of:

Chipotlé lime baked tofu cubes
Roasted garlic potatoes
Pinto beans
Garnished with fresh tomato, lettuce, salsa, avocado and roasted zucchini.

You could replace the potatoes with rice or spanish rice, sautéed vegetables for tofu and black beans for pinto beans.

Try replacing salsa with a tomatillo sauce  or try adding guacamole.

chipotlé lime tofu

1/2 block extra firm tofu
Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tbsp)
1 tsp lime zest
1 small can of chipotlé in adobo sauce or  1 tsp chipotlé seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 small yellow onion minced
1 tbs oil

Cut tofu into 1cm cubes and place into a medium sized bowl. If using canned chipotlé use one pepper and mince put into bowl with tofu along with all of the other ingredients. Let the tofu marinate for at least fifteen minutes and place in oven at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes. This recipe is spicy!

After a long night of drinking, kissing and eating it’s important to reinvigorate your body with a flavourful breakfast. It isn’t to hard to use elements of last night dinner to create a tofu scram that is more satisfying than the dinner you had the night before.

Things you need:

1 yellow onion (cut into rings)

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

5 kale leaves

1 C Portabello & Red Wine Tomato Sauce (refer to prior post)

2 Tbs vegan margarine

1 lemon

1/2 small zucchini

8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

6 white button mushrooms

1 tps Tarragon

Salt

Place garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 block tofu, & portobello tomato sauce in a bowl and let set until you are done prepping everything else.

In a skillet, sauté onions rings with vegan margarine until slightly brown and caramelized.  Add sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and tarragon until mushrooms and tomatoes are slightly soft. Add tofu mix, a pinch of salt and kale. Let simmer stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes in total. Add zucchini last and only let the whole mixture sauté for only 3 minutes more, you don’t want your zucchini to be over cooked!

Plate your scram and add a squirt of lemon juice on top!

Make toast, slice fruit, pour coffee and eat!

Last weekend, I didn’t have my camera – I’d left it at a friend’s house – so when Kaylie and I started putting together this incredible breakfast, we decided to record it on video. After many painstaking hours subtitling it for the deaf and hard of hearing, during which iMovie crashed as if on a 15-minute schedule, the video is done! Voila, here’s Kaylie and I being dorky!

In this video, I used a variation on the tofu egg patty I keep talking about but which I feel nobody has actually tried to make. (That’s okay, it means you’ll come to my restaurant someday, right?)

Let us know if you want some more clarification on how we did anything in this video – I personally think K should share the recipe for those potato rice cakes.

When I first made the switch to veganism, I hated tofu. It was a flavourless, jellylike mass with all the bad and none of the good qualities of desserts served at daycares. And for a vegan, not liking tofu can be a serious problem. Over time, as I learned about the different types of tofu available, I learned to love it. So, if you’re new to tofu, if you’re cooking for a tofu-eater, or if you’re trying to learn to love tofu, you might find this guide useful.

Click through to read the entire post. (more…)

Yeah, just eating a delicious vegan “chicken” salad sandwich for lunch, no big deal. I’m actually eating this very sandwich as I write! That is how fast/bored I am today. Do you want to make your very own vegan chicken salad? I dare you! Do it! Then eat it on a sammich with lettuce, red onion, and tomato, just like me!

This recipe makes enough for a couple of stacked sandwiches. Double the recipe for double the salad. Duh.

Tofu “Chicken” Salad

1/2 block firm tofu, pressed, and cut into li’l cubes
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp mustard (go for the dijon)
1 tbsp total chicken spices – try marjoram, sage, rosemary – I like dill
Salt & Pepper

Toss your tofu cubes in the rest of the ingredients listed. Now that the tofu is marinating, preheat your oven to 250 F.
Spread your tofu out on a baking pan (make sure nothing’s piled up or touching) and bake 10 minutes. Take it out, toss it, put it back in for another 7 minutes. Repeat this process once more. You’re trying to get a golden finish on most edges of the tofu.
You could probably also fry it if you wanted to save time but I bake it.

In a small bowl, combine:
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise (I prefer Vegenaise – in a pinch, use silken tofu)
1 stick celery, chopped
1 – 2 dill pickles, diced
1 – 2 tbsp capers (optional)
1 tbsp dill pickle juice or caper juice from the jar
1 – 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
Salt & pepper

Add the tofu to this mixture and toss it together. Let it sit, covered, in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

There’s no way I will give this recipe away just yet, but damn the tofu is to die for.

Oh, baby. Another triumph of the tofu egg patty I’ve been making. If you haven’t tried this yet, you really should. We served it over a pile of garlic hashbrowns, tomato, and spinach, with barely-fried white mushrooms and a thin gravy made with tahini and nutritional yeast.

I’m going to try a few different approaches with the egg patty. I think I want to get the extra firm tofu, drain it and slightly press it, slice it, and then marinate it in the thick mixture of coconut cream, miso, nutritional yeast, and mustard. Then I want to heat some oil up very, very hot in a pan and flash-fry the soaked tofu on each side, to retain a melty-soft texture inside. If you try it before I do, let me know how it works.

For a little while, Kaylie and I have been trying to perfect the stacked breakfast, reminiscent of an eggs benedict or florentine. This was one of our successes. Here’s the recipe for the “egg” patties – these work really well in breakfast sandwiches as well.

(more…)