Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Super Strogie

There is something about classic comfort food that speaks directly into your soul. While a pile of greens and sprouts is virtuous and good for the body, there is no beating a giant dish of gooey macaroni and cheese or a thick slice of warm apple pie when you need to wind yourself down. Hippocrates would have approved of the (now maligned) practice of eating when stressed out, sick or otherwise incapacitated... his motto was after all "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"! As November continues along its merry way and the darkness of the short days takes up more and more of our free time, The stews and roasts begin re-appearing, and suddenly it's not a bad thing to have the oven on!

As a kid one of my favourite dishes was my mum's beef stroganoff. Well, it wasn't really "her" recipe (it came from the Milk calendar about a thousand years ago), but it was creamy, hearty and something that we could look forward to when we saw the stewing beef thawing in the fridge! Usually we'd have it with rice (as a kid I'd always have it in it's own bowl, no food touching!!), and we'd wipe our plates clean! When I started figuring out that my body was rejecting the things that were instrumental in beef strogie (um, like beef, butter, milk and sour cream!!) it was like tearing myself away from the animal shelters everytime I visit. I know it's the best option, but it's still a hard pill to swallow.

I did find myself a remedy to that, though! I can't really remember how I stumbled onto Eat Me Delicious' mushroom stroganoff recipe (I think it may have been when I looked up this treat!), but I am SO glad that I did - plus it gave me another way to enjoy mushrooms! I did go against our usual custom of the rice bed and stirred in some brown rice fettuccine at the very end, and veganized the recipe with soy yogurt. It's not a particularly light meal, to be sure, and it is carb-heavy, but of course you don't have to add as many (or any!) noodles. For me, though, it's a delicious way to pop into Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights event hosted at Sweet and Savoury this Friday.

Tofu Mushroom Strogie
Serves 1-2
3 oz extra firm tofu, drained, pressed well and cubed
steak spice, to taste
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp red wine
1 tsp tapioca flour
1/2 cup "not-beef" broth
1/3 cup plain soy yogurt
2 tsp dried parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice pasta (I used fettuccine), kept hot
  1. Cover tofu with a sprinkling of steak spice, set aside.
  2. Cook the mushrooms and onion in water over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and it has mostly evaporated.
  3. Add the wine and cook 1 minute, until it is slightly reduced.
  4. Mix the tapioca flour and broth in a small dish.
  5. Pour over the mushrooms and bring the mixture to a boil.
  6. Add tofu to the pan, lower the heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
  7. Stir in soy yogurt and parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  8. Add noodles and toss well to coat. Serve immediately.
Amount Per Serving

Calories: 528.8
Total Fat: 8.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 352.4 mg
Total Carbs: 88.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.0 g
Protein: 27.4 g

5 comments :

  1. What a great way to redo a favorite comfort meal dish

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  2. I knew I was going to like this whenI read the name and that did not really tell me enough. It turned out to be even better than I had expected and this is going to be a favorite around my house.

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  3. I do something similar, but instead of a soy-gurt I whiz up some silken tofu. It works wonderfully, and doubles up on the protein. :)

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  4. I saw this on eat me, delicious as well and I really like what you've done with it. You are so right...sometimes nothing will satisfy you like comfort food.

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  5. What a fantastic options for those with meat aversions. It looks delicious and I can't wait to try it.

    Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

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Thanks for the feedback!