Sunday, August 3, 2014

Persian Inspired Tofu Scramble

One of my favorite brunch places in Montreal is a Persian restaurant in my neighborhood. I have decided to re-create my favorite in a vegan and low fat version: Feta Cheese and Tomato Omelette.

You might say  this is a tall order ... replacing both the egg, cheese and most of the fat. The results?  Very tasty and a great brunch dish! The "feta" definitely reminded me to the real thing.

Food for thoughts... The restaurant version has:
- 2x more calories compared to the homemade vegan version
- 5x more fat compared to the homemade vegan version
- 4x the daily recommended intake of colesterol (vs zero for the homemade vegan version)


Cut the tofu in small cubes
Pour the feta "sauce" on top of the feta and mix well
Put in fridge for 1 hour, covered
Cook the tomatoes and green onions (here I used chives instead)
Black salt ... interesting light pink color
Add in black salt, onion powder and maple syrup
Et voilà!

Yield: serves 2 people

Ingredients
1/2 pack of firm tofu
1 Tbps of apple cider vinegar
1 Tbps of red wine vinegar
1 tps dried basil
1 tps dried oregano
1 tps garlic powder
1 Tbps Tahini
1 Tbps lemon juice
1/2 large can whole tomatoes
4  strands of green onions
1/4 tps onion powder
1/16 tps maple syrup (e.g a drizzle. You can use any other sweetener)
1/4 tps black salt

Directions

Feta / Eggs
1. Drain excess water from tofu (see Tofu Preparation Instructions)
2. Cut tofu in cubes of approx. 1/2 inch
3. Whisk together apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, basil, oregano, garlic, tahini and lemon juice
4. Pour mixture over tofu and mix in with your hands
5. Store in fridge for 1 hour, covered

Scramble
6. Chop tomatoes and green onions roughly
7. Heat skillet at medium, add in green onions and tomatoes. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
8. Mix feta tofu. "Smash" some of the tofu, let simmer for 5 minutes
9. Add salt and onion powder. Mix well.

Serve immediately with pita bread to scoop  (or any other bread)

Notes:
1. I omitted the green onions as I made this recipe early in the morning as didn't have any. I used chives as a replacement. I also used a kaiser-type of bread to make a breakfast sandwich.
2. What is black salt? It is a type of rock salt containing some sulfur.. which means, it smells like eggs!  The rock is black however when grounded, it becomes a bubble gum pink. You can find it at Indian markets, spice shops and some bulk places. For Montrealers, I have seen some at Anatol on St-Laurent.

Feta recipe inspired by http://www.thevegancookbook.com/2008/11/vegan-feta.html
Recipe inspired by http://bybloslepetitcafe.ca/

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Homemade Nutella Coconut Delight

Good evening ! I came home yesterday after a month trotting around the globe: Vancouver B.C, Whisler B.C and Brisbane, Australia. It was great to connect wtih my boyfriend's family and friends in B.C. From Vancouver, I then headed directly to Australia for work for a period of 3 weeks;  great experience and I met some amazing people.

I'm thankful to be back home and decided to get over my jetlag by keeping busy cooking. My Vitamix and food processor are offically back on duty!!

So, I have been thinking about homemade nutella for quite a while .. and today was the day where the magic happened. I made Nutella with a twist... I added coconut flakes and it turned out delicious! It is surprisingly close to the real thing, but it taste better and is much healthier!



Yield: Approx. 1.5 cups
Ingredients

2 cups raw hazelnuts
1/4 cup maple syrup (or any other sweetener, just check on the conversion)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
1/8 tsp salt

Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven at 420ºF/215ºC
2. Roast the hazelnut for 6-7 minutes and let them cool
3. Put the hazelnut into a towel and massage to remove the skins
4. Blend hazelnut and coconut in food processor for 3-5 minutes, or until smooth like nut butter
5. Add in all other ingredients and blend for another 2-3 minutes
6. As needed and to taste, add more soy milk.

Serve immediately; store leftovers in refrigerator in air tight container

I decided to only use maple syrup (and not coconut sugar)




The skins peel off very easily.. if not, don't worry about it.
the reason for peeling the skins is to avoid a bitter taste






I served the Nutella on little banana sandwich... amazing!