Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  Ours was fun, hectic, and full of family!  We had too much good, Christmasy food and still have lots of leftovers remaining, even though I sent some home with guests.  After several days of this, I'm craving rice, pasta, soup, tomato-y dishes, spicy food!  So, when it's just us after the festivities, this is the sort of thing that does the trick...a really quick, nutritious and delicious dish, a simplified, veganized version of a Thai dish called "Praram", which is often made with chicken.  (A birthday and the  New Year to go now!)



Printable Copy

BRYANNA'S THAI-STYLE SPINACH AND TOFU WITH PEANUT SAUCE (SIMPLIFIED VEGAN "PRARAM")
Serves 3

Quick Peanut Sauce: 
1/4 cup peanut butter 
1/2 cup vegan broth 
1/2 cup plain nondairy milk 
2 tablespoons coconut flour or creamed coconut (such as Let's Do Organic)-- a block of concentrated coconut milk that you can reconstitute as thick or thin as you like
NOTE: Instead of the soymilk and coconut flour or creamed coconut, you can use a generous half cup of lite coconut milk. 
2 tablespoons  Thai sweet chile sauce 
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or 2 tablespoons lime juice) 
1 tablespoon soy sauce 
The rest of the dish: 
2 tablespoons mushroom-based vegetarian "oyster" sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand is called "Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce", and I have a homemade recipe here) 
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil 
a few shakes of Thai or Vietnamese hot sauce 
1 tablespoon peanut oil, or other oil 
12 ounces firm tofu (NOT silken), cubed 
12 oz fresh, cleaned baby spinach 
freshly-steamed basmati rice 

Whisk together the peanut sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and heat gently. In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup of this sauce with the vegetarian "oyster" sauce, sesame oil and hot sauce. Reserve the rest of the sauce in the pan. 

Heat the peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok. Add the tofu cubes and quickly brown them. 

Add the peanut sauce/"oyster" sauce mixture in the small bowl to the tofu. Stir this around until the tofu absorbs most of it. 



Add the spinach to the tofu and stir over high heat JUST until the spinach wilts. Spoon the mixture immediately over steamed rice and top with the remaining peanut sauce. 





Nutrition Facts (without rice)
Nutrition (per serving): 352.4 calories; 62% calories from fat; 24.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 582.7mg sodium; 1049.2mg potassium; 15.9g carbohydrates; 5.1g fiber; 7.2g sugar; 10.8g net carbs; 19.7g protein; 8.3 points. 

Happy New Year!

Pardon the terrible photo-- I tried to clean it up, but it's still not very good! There wasn't much light!

Okay, this is NOT a low-fat recipe, but, hey, once in a while you have to have peanut sauce!

I want to apologize for not blogging much these last few weeks-- been a bit overwhelmed with things, including family stuff (all good!). I must confess that I have not been cooking anything very exciting. I hope that will change soon!

This recipe is adapted from one in Bon Appetit magazine, so it's a good example of using a recipe idea and utilizing what you have in the house or garden to make a new dish.

What inspired me to make it was finding some viable kale still growing in the garden after the snow melted! The original recipe called for zucchini, but I had butternut squash, which I think is a better color contrast anyway, and I like the melty richness of it. I thought the sauce needed a bit more zest, and made it accordingly, thinning it out a little more, as well.

The cooking method for the veggies was a bit strange-- grilling. I used my oven's broiler instead, with good results. My kale was nice and small and tender, so it was pretty good cooked that way. If the kale had been older, I think I would have stir-fried/braised it in a pan with some oil.

We all loved it, and I hope you will, too!

Printable Recipe

NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE AND BROILED KALE AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Servings: 8

This was a big hit with DH and my friend Holly. If you prefer, you can have all the ingredients heated and serve the dish hot instead of at room temperature.

1 cup chunky peanut butter
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbs unseasoned rice vinegar
2-3 Tbs soy sauce (to taste)
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbs chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves, garlic, peeled
1 Tbs Thai or Vietnamese hot chili sauce (no fish), such as Sriracha
12 oz dried udon noodles or egg-free (flour and water) Chinese noodles (gan mian or ji mian) or spaghettini
1 1/4 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices, about 1" x1/2"
12 oz small, tender, green curly kale, stems removed, cut into wide slices
oil in a pump sprayer
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts

Blend the peanut butter, water, brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, and chili sauce in blender or food processor until smooth, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if too thick. Set aside until ready to serve. This sauce can be made 1 day ahead, in which case cover and refrigerate; then bring to room temperature before serving.

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain the noodles in a colander, running hot water over them. Set aside in the sink to drain..

Place the squash pieces in one layer on a large cookie sheet, spray lightly with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil about 3" under the heat source until the squash tender and slightly charred, on both sides. Add the kale on top of the squash, spray with oil, and sprinkle with salt. Broil briefly until the kale is tender and a little brown around edges. Watch it carefully-- it doesn't take long!

ALTERNATELY, you can stir-fry the kale in a bit of oil until tender.

Toss the drained cooked noodles, green onions, and peanut sauce in large bowl. Divide noodle mixture among 8 bowls. Top noodle mixture with squash and kale. Sprinkle each serving with chopped peanuts. (This is served at room temperature.)

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 501.1 calories; 37% calories from fat; 22.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 325.6mg sodium; 969.8mg potassium; 65.8g carbohydrates; 7.7g fiber; 11.8g sugar; 58.1g net carbs; 17.1g protein; 11.1 points.


Enjoy!