Thursday, September 5, 2013

Tofu with Chimichurri Sauce - Vegan Mofo 2013



I am obsessed with watching food competition shows - or really, any food television show at all. It helps me become inspired, even when watching people cook non-vegan food. This dish did not come from any particular show or dish, but it was definitely a great experiment.
The veggies were the least impressive feat - just some simple steam-bag frozen veggies.

The starch used here isTrader Joe's Harvest Medley, which contains Israeli cous cous, red quinoa, split garbanzos, red and green orzo. REALLY simple to cook - boil water/broth, add some of this mix, bring to boil again, then simmer (covered) for 10 mins.
For the tofu: I drained a 16 oz block of (I think ) extra firm tofu, then sliced into rectangles of a size I felt was manageable, then baked them for about...30?...minutes at 350F. I then pan-fried them in coconut oil until they reached my desired crispiness.
The chimichurri-like sauce was the crown jewel of this dish. At first, I was just blending 4-5 Thai Bird's Eye peppers with 3-4 cloves of garlic with an idea to make some hot sauce. Then, I decided to add the rest of the fresh parsley I had on hand as well as the juice of a small lemon. The mixture was not balanced at all, so I added a dash of avocado oil, a little hunk of cucumber, and some coriander chutney (one of my all time favorite condiments to keep on hand). It evened out nicely sorry, MAGNIFICENTLY. Seriously, it was an awesome sauce that I want more more more of.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Yums! That's basically how I make meals. Tofu, grain, vegetable, voila! But yours is prettier than mine :)

The Saucy Coconut said...

Thanks! I get into ruts of veggie meats or tofu and no veggies, or veggies later. It's nice to take the time to put a meal together!