Thursday Night Dinner

Whoops. I sort of abandoned my blog for a while. What can I say, having a baby is very time consuming.

Anywho, to continue where I was at . . . Thursday Night Dinner.

One of my new favorite resources for recipes is food52. I think it's a really interesting concept, but sometimes I have to work pretty hard to extract the recipes that I convert into being vegan. Thursday night's dinner was one of those recipes - it's Mujaddara with Spiced Yogurt. This recipe always makes WAY more than I think it's going to, so we always have lots of leftovers. The only conversions I really have to make are for the yogurt sauce. To make it vegan I substitue WholeSoy plain yogurt mixed with about 2 tablespoons of Tofutti Sour Creme. The sour cream gives it that little bit of tartness, and thickens up the yogurt a bit.

If I served Dave a plate of lentils and rice for dinner, we would eat about 10 snacks before bed because he would claim he wasn't full. I made up a little recipe for tofu and veggies to go with this lentil dish to add some extra protein, and to make the meal a bit heartier.

If I make this in the colder months I just shove the veggies and tofu in the oven, but since we are in the midst of summer that means grilling. I bought wooden skewers from the grocery (soak them in water first so they don't burn to a crisp on your grill), and made shish kabobs.

First I start by pressing and marinating the tofu (2 blocks of extra firm tofu). For those of you unfamiliar with good tofu prep - the more water you press out, the more marinade it will absorb. Tofu is basically like a sponge. But that sounds gross and probably makes you not want to eat it. I digress . . .

Marinade:

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

3 Tbsp olive oil (truth be told, I don't measure - just do whatever looks good to you)

1 Tbsp agave

1 clove garlic, minced

A small handful of fresh chopped mint

A pinch of red peper flakes, salt, and freshly ground black pepper

If Elliott will let me get some cooking done, or at least a little mise en place, then I try to marinate for at least 2 hours or so. For veggies, you can use whatever you have on hand - I normally use 1-2 zucchini (quartered lengthwise, then roughly chopped into about 1/2 inch pieces), baby bella mushrooms, and asparagus. I found a nice little addition is to put slices of lemon on your skewers to infuse a little extra flavor. Also, brush your left over marinade onto the skewers once the are assembled.

I am not the best griller in the world, but I can tell you that you need to be sure to oil your grates before you grill tofu. Tofu sticks to EVERYTHING when you cook, so you might end up with a little tofu scramble if you aren't careful.

And there you have it - Thursday night dinner! As well as Friday lunches for Dave and I . . .