MoFo#6/Balsamic Tofu w/peppers & onions

I hope everyone's weekend has started off to a good one.  The sky is cloudy and grey.  One of the perks with raining is that my water bill is a lot less money.  Bring on the rain!

Thanks for all the get well wishes for Keaton.  He woke up yesterday feeling alot better.  He still has a cough that's lingering but it's random now.

He's bummed because we didn't let him go to Magic Mountain with his friends but that's just a long day and

when Dave was giving him a hug this morning he noticed he was warm.   He'll be fine, rest is all he needs.

There was this meal I used to make for Dave, not myself, in my pescetarian days. It was a balsamic chicken with pepper and onions. This was one of his favorite meals. I gave it a go from memory and it was delicious! If you want to impress dinner guests but don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, this is it. I served it over mashed potatoes. You can adjust the recipe for a single serving to or just make more and just have it for left overs.



Balsamic Tofu w/peppers & onions

Recipe

4 servings

Olive Oil

14oz. Firm Tofu, sliced into strips

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 C. yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 C.  Red Italian or bell peppers, sliced

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1/4 C. White wine

1 T. balsamic vinegar

s & p to taste

Heat up skillet(I use cast iron) and add olive oil.  Once heated up add the onion, garlic and peppers to skillet and saute until soft.  Next add in the rosemary and a bit of salt and pepper, continue to saute for about 2 minutes.  Once done take out vegetables and put into a dish and set aside.  Next add a bit more oil to the skillet and add the tofu strips, sprinkling a bit of salt onto the tops.  You want to sear the tofu on both sides until they start to turn brown and get a bit of a crust on them.  Once the tofu is done add the vegetable mixture back in with it and add the wine.  Stir for about a minute or so until completely warmed through.  Then stir in the balsamic vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over mashed potatoes or pasta.



Using a good balsamic is real important.  My mother-in-law always makes sure I have balsamic vinegar handy and luckily she knows which ones are best.  This one is from Oliviers & Co. and tastes wonderful!  It's more syrupy but not too much and a bit sweet instead of real acidic.  This is the kind you can drizzle over pasta or veggies before serving your guests or yourself.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed peppers are one of our family favorites. It's so easy too! Usually I use vegan sausage, for this, one of the rare times I use store bought faux meats. I didn't have any on hand so I crumbled tofu and mixed with herbs and sauted in pan. Here is the recipe that again I got from Karina at Gluten Free Goddess, and just changed it up. Oh these are a picture before they went into the oven. I forgot to take one after and well, we ate them up!

Serves 6

3 whole bell peppers, cut in half and seeded

3 cups cooked brown rice or white

1 med. yellow onion, diced

1 cup corn, cooked

2 T. pine nuts

2 tsp. cumin

1 1/2 tsp. oregano

2 T. cilantro

1 package of vegan sausage crumbled

If using tofu I used firm and crumbled it and add following herbs: oregano, red pepper flakes, sage, garlic, fennel, caraway seeds, soy sauce, cumin, olive oil. and sauted until cooked through.

salsa

tofutti

Preheat oven to 375. First saute sausage through or tofu. Put into a bowl and set aside. In another pan or saute onion & garlic in oil. Add corn and saute. Add pinenuts and saute for about min. Next add cumin and oregano for a couple more min. Add rice, sausage and cilantro to the pan a stir through.

Lay the halved bell peppers in a casserole dish. Fill up peppers. Top off with a Tablespoon or so of tofutti and salsa.

Pour hot water into the dish about 1/4 inch or more and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour until peppers are soft.