Sesame Orangeyaki Stirfry with Tofu

I've obviously been on a total citrus-teriyaki kick these days, trying to achieve a balance of the tastes and textures my fellow veggie and tofu loving mom and I both enjoy. When it's just the two of us for dinner, stir frying is generally the method of the day - we can add as many veggies as we want (without the "any meat?" comments from the peanut gallery) and it's relatively quick to whip up. Since we both really enjoyed the marinade from the Teriyaki Tofu "Jerky" and the sauce from the Saucy Simmered Teriyaki Tofu Bowl, I decided to use those as a base for an "everybody in the pool" saute.

This time, instead of adding water and simmering, I cooked all the veggies, along with two types of tofu, in toasted sesame oil for extra flavour, and opted for fresh ingredients over dehydrated ones both for better texture and the sake of saving me a trip to the store. Being able to make the broccoli, onions, celery and peppers just crisp-tender while the onions and mushrooms cooked a little more, and letting the garlic and ginger bloom without burning really made a difference! Since it didn't cook as long (and I didn't want the sauce to make soup), I thickened the mixture with a little cornstarch when I added it at the end.

Notice that I said I used two types of tofu - the types I'm referring to aren't regarding the firmness of the protein (i.e. silken vs. firm) or the form in which I bought it (dried vs. water packed vs. fried), but the actual beans each block was made from. I've fallen in love with the Korean-style black soybean tofu from VitaSoy I found at the Asian market, and decided it's distinctive nutty flavour would play well with the sweet, salty and bitter notes in the rest of the mixture and heighten the taste of the sesame oil. I knew, though, that Mom would probably go for the "regular" extra firm stuff she was used to more willingly, though, so I compromised with a block of each with excellent results. That said, either one alone is fine - it's all about using what you have after all!

Shared with Waste Not Want Not Wednesday and Gluten Free Fridays 

Saucy Simmered Teriyaki Tofu Bowl

Remember how I promised that I'd share some of the other things I did with San-J's Orange and Teriyaki cooking sauces? Like 3 weeks ago?? Well, I finally managed to rescue the photos and recipes from hard disk death and have the original dish ready for you - along with a second, similar dinner I made recently (more on that tomorrow!).

This first meal (well, meal when you add a side of rice or noodles) came almost straight out of The Dehydrator Bible too, using not only vegetables I dried at home but a new batch of the Teriyaki Tofu "Jerky" I had made specifically for this purpose. Since the author had added fresh orange flavour to the teriyaki sauce in her beef-broccoli dish, I kept with the theme, swapping in my tofu jerky for the beef in the original and adding San-J's Orange Sauce for an extra kick of citrus. It took a while for everything to rehydrate and simmer down, and the sauce was still slightly too runny for my own taste, though Mom liked sopping it up with brown sticky rice. However, the chewiness of the tofu was the opposite for us - I liked it's mouthfeel, and the fact it held the sauce well, while Mom wasn't as much of a fan. Our varied experiences proved to me that the dish is totally subjective, especially depending on what you served it with, and the fact that the flavour was still so good regardless was one of the reasons I made a second, more veggie-packed version recipe.

If you have an hour or so to kill and some Teriyaki jerky on your hands, I definitely suggest simmering up this pot of gluten-free, (almost) vegan yumminess a go. Just make sure to cook up a mess of rice or some other grain, otherwise you have (an admittedly delicious) soup on your hands instead!

Shared with Gluten Free Fridays 

Teriyaki Tofu "Jerky"

Tofu gets a fair amount of use in the household these days, given that both my mom and I have decided that the white block of concentrated vegan protein is not the creepy, gelatinous, blah hippie food we originally made it out to be. No, thanks to a decent preparation primer, a few years of trial and error and a healthy dose of adventurous nature, we've discovered a few go-to recipes - both savoury (like Chickpea, Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry - a fave of mom's, the Chinese Style “Bourbon Tofu” that won over the whole family and my staple Tofu-Roni) and sweet (Soy Awesome Cookies, anyone?). While the household is evenly split on the bean curd debate (my sister and stepdad still won't willingly eat it), Mom and I both find it easier to digest, not to mention almost fun to work with given it's uncanny ability to soak up flavours like nobody's business.

While I've cooked and baked tofu a variety of ways over the years, I'd never thought to turn it into a "jerky" - dehydrating it into an even more concentrated mass of protein than it already was. That said, when I got a copy of The Dehydrator Bible I immediately spotted the directions for marinating and drying tofu and had to give it a go. Out of all the flavour possibilities the book provided, teriyaki seemed the most logical for this originally Asian foodstuff and I went to town! The recipe first drains, presses and infuses the sliced soy curd with a sweet, savoury and slightly spicy marinade, then dehydrates it, making chewy, easy to store strips. Unlike "regular" jerky which can be stored at room temperature, the book suggests tofu jerky be stored in the fridge or freezer for the longest shelf life. The reasoning is that since tofu contains fat it can still go rancid, even when dried, but I would figure beef or any other meat would have the same problem! Either way, this stuff is so addictive that storage really isn't an issue - and not only is it a great on-the-go snack but it made it's way into a recipe too! That recipe will be coming soon - I really promise this time!*

Shared with Waste Not Want Not Wednesday and Gluten Free Fridays 

*I've been totally AWOL from the blog for a while thanks to end of the year report cards and my hard drive crashing sucking up all my time. Things are *fingers crossed* getting back to normal now!

Triple Berry Pie Pockets (#RecipeRedux)

Pie seems to be one of the quintessential Summer desserts. It's odd, really, since there is usually a fair bit of indoor prep work, oven time and occasionally stovetop use involved - not to mention the fact that for almost all pastry recipes the ingredients need to stay cold! Then there's the whole irony that we're serving up (admittedly divine) fat- and sugar-laden pastry in the height of swimsuit season... but who am I to mess with tradition, especially when it comes to finding one more way of enjoying the all-too-short fruit season?

The #RecipeRedux team agrees, and this month we're celebrating all things pie, with a healthier twist! My contribution is a variation on both pie and pop tart - individual pocket-pies made with an oil-based, half-spelt pastry dough and packed with a combination of blueberries, goji berries and No-Cook Berry Chia Jam. To keep the filling from running out after that first bite, I used a touch of graham cracker crumbs which not only thickened the mixture but added great texture and flavour too.   

Purely Peach Jam (Toast Topper #61)

Arguably one of the best (and here, at least, the most anticipated) aspects of Summer life is the abundance of prime, fresh produce - especially fruit. Things like peaches just don't taste right any other time than mid-July through August, when they're plump, soft and simply dripping with sweet nectar. Sadly, that prime peach season is still out of reach for us, at least fresh-wise, and I want that fresh, sweet flavour every day!

Luckily, peach jam is equally delicious as long as it's made with prime fruit (just like any preserve), and thankfully I have an ace in my back pocket - IQF peaches from a local orchard. Picked at their peak, skinned, sliced and flash frozen, they make perfect additions to oatmeal, pies, cakes, muffins, yogurt... and of course jam!

I didn't want to waste that precious peach flavour and natural sweetness though, so I opted to make this Toast Topper with minimal extras. I even made the whole batch sugar free (I used Truvia and no-sugar pectin) and added some delicious unsweetened peach nectar I found on sale. A pinch of ginger and a shot of pure vanilla extract later and I had my perfect peach jam - thick, chunky and all about the fruit. My mom loved it too, but wondered how to enhance the naturally awesome flavour... leading to me slipping in a shot of Amaretto (one of her favourite liqueurs) for a hint of "peach melba" flavour without the raspberries that featured in my past melba-esque preserve. Both ways are divine, both ways more than worthy of your favourite crusty bread or dolloping into the middle of muffin batter before baking!

Shared with Gluten Free Fridays and Waste Not Want Not Wednesday