So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 77, Winter Food
It's been cold and it's been snowing. I'm not a big fan of very spicy food but even I was converted temporarily by this winter. I actually was looking forward to making this chili - Kidney Bean and Quinoa Chili. The original recipe is called Black Bean and Quinoa Chili by Melody Polakow of MELOMEALS.COM. I only had red kidney beans and I love them so that's about the only thing I changed. This chili was very easy to make, and it gave me the zap I needed for my tongue. Oh, I made my chili a little more soupy because it's still snowing outside and I wish I could be warmed up by swimming in the chili. By the way, why is it so cold this year? The global warming apparently doesn't just make the summer hotter.
With the chili comes the cornbread. In case you never knew of this super simple and awesome cornbread recipe by Isa Chandra, here it is again.
As if the chili is not enough, I made the Jerk Tofu and served it with steamed spinach on the side. This wonderful recipe is also by Isa Chandra. The tofu came out exactly like Isa's description, sort of like barbeque, sort of like curry, sort of sweet, and sort of savory. It is absolutely satisfying! This tofu has just become my favorite tofu dish. And my take on the name of this dish: it's called jerk tofu because if anyone wants to steal my tofu, I'll definitely say "jerk off".
Is it a crime that I had the jerk tofu with spinach together with some vegan fluffy biscuits? I saw a wonderful fluffy biscuit recipe on Elly's blog a few days ago. I haven't been able to get it out of my head. The photos looked really fantastic. I had to make these biscuits. I had no choice. So I took the original recipe and veganized it. My photos don't do justice to these biscuits (what's with the lighting anyway?) but rest assured they taste really good. They are really fluffy too.
These are the few things I did to veganize this recipe:
1. Put 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch at the bottom of the measuring cup and continue to measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour to make 1 cup plain cake flour. This is for those of you, who are like me, who don't usually have cake flour around.
2. Use 1/2 cup of chilled vegan margarine (cubed 1/4-inch each) and about 2 Tbsp. canola oil to replace the butter.
3. Measure out 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk and add 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar to curdle it for at least 2 minutes. This is to replace the required buttermilk.
4. Brush the tops with soymilk. You can also consider using a little melted margarine in the soy milk.
1. Put 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch at the bottom of the measuring cup and continue to measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour to make 1 cup plain cake flour. This is for those of you, who are like me, who don't usually have cake flour around.
2. Use 1/2 cup of chilled vegan margarine (cubed 1/4-inch each) and about 2 Tbsp. canola oil to replace the butter.
3. Measure out 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk and add 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar to curdle it for at least 2 minutes. This is to replace the required buttermilk.
4. Brush the tops with soymilk. You can also consider using a little melted margarine in the soy milk.
Although I love seeing the white snow outside, I really hope the winter will be over soon. I already want to make some summer rolls!
Comments
I need to try that vegan cornbread recipe out sometime. I've been craving cornbread for a while (I know, a strange thing to crave, but it has been ages since I've tasted any...)