Buffalo Style Tofu "wings"

Just in time for Superbowl Sunday! Who says that just because I'm a vegetarian I have to miss out on some of the tastes I used to enjoy. Granted MorningStar Farms makes a mean buffalo chik'n nuggets but it lacks the saucy factor that you would enjoy from eating buffalo wings. That was until I came across this recipe. I tried it and was instantly hooked. So for those of you who are vegetarian or looking to cut some calories, here is a delicious comfort food you can enjoy!

Buffalo Style Tofu

Ingredients:

Firm Tofu

garlic powder

paprika (optional)

season-all seasoning salt (optional)

pepper (optional)

butter

hot sauce

Directions:

Wrap the tofu in some paper towel and place on to a plate. Place a second plate on top of the tofu and set a weight on top of the second plate to allow access water to drain from the tofu. Let dry for about 30mins.

Once dried, cut tofu into 1inch strips and season the strips with your favorite seasonings. The garlic powder is recommended but you can always add whatever seasonings you enjoy. I personally used paprika, pepper and season-all in addition to the garlic.

Fry the tofu in a large skillet in some oil (or deep fry if you have a deep enough skillet or a deep fryer) until the tofu turns golden brown. (or to your liking)

Meanwhile, while the tofu is frying, melt some butter in a sauce pot on medium-low heat. When the butter is melted add the hot sauce and stir. I usually eyeball this step but if you need exact measurements use about 1/4 cup of hot sauce for every 1tbsp-1 1/2tbsp of butter. This is to your taste. Use less hot sauce or more hot sauce... it's really up to you.

Once the tofu is cooked, drain some of the oil from the tofu and add them to the sauce pan. Coat the tofu generously with the sauce and serve immediately with some celery and blue cheese dressing. Enjoy!!

2012 is the year of the... Cupcake!

I'm starting January off in a sweet way... January's cupcake is a Coconut Cherry Cupcake.

I purchased a cupcake calendar and decided to cook my way through the calender. What's a better way than starting off the new year with this delicious cupcake?

This recipe yields a dozen cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

• a stick of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 tbsp of milk
• 2 eggs
• 5/8 cup of self-rising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 cup sweetened coconut
• 8 tbsp drained canned cherries, chopped

Frosting ingredients:

• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup of confectioners sugar
• 1 tbsp milk

and maraschino cherries for garnish..

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put baking liners into muffin pan.

Then beat butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Stir in milk. Gradually add the eggs then beat until well mixed. 

Sift the flour and baking powder and beat the mix. Fold in the coconut and cherries.

Fill the cups about half way. Bake cupcakes for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Take the cakes out of the pan to cool.

To make the frosting:

Beat butter until fluffy. Sift confectioners sugar and beat together until will mixed gradually beating in the milk.

Apply the frosting and garnish with maraschino cherries and enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole

This a tasty breakfast casserole that is simple to make with whatever you may already have in your refrigerator and pantry...

Most people have a box a bisquick in the pantry so this was a recipe I found on their website that I modified to make vegetarian and with smaller portions... 

Recipe:

2 Morningstar Farms Veggie sausage links (chopped or you can their spicy Italian meatless crumbles if you want more of a kick)

1/4 bell pepper (any color and chopped)

2 eggs

1/2 cup of bisquick

1 cup of milk

1/4 onion (chopped)

1 medium potato (grated or you can use a cup of frozen hashbrowns)

1/4 cup of cheese (I had mozzarella but the recipe originally called for cheddar)

1 tbsp oil (your choice)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Meanwhile in a pan, cook the sausages, onion, bell pepper and potatoes (if using fresh) with oil until the vegetables are tender. 

Transfer into a 1 quart greased baking pan. If you are using frozen hashbrowns, combine the hashbrowns in the baking pan with the cooked veggies and sausage at this point. Top with most of the cheese... leave a little to top the casserole when finished baking.

Meanwhile, combine the eggs, milk and bisquick in a bowl. when combined, pour the liquid over the vegetables.

Bake the casserole for 40 - 45 minutes. When the casserole is finished baking, top with the remaining cheese and cook in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. This casserole makes about 6 servings. It tastes great by itself or with some hot sauces.. YUM!! And each serving is low fat... about 140 calories per serving! I had mine with some grapes and of course; Hot Sauce!

I hope this is a simple recipe, you can use whatever vegetables or breakfast 'meats" you may have. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think of this or what additions you would add to this recipe. Enjoy!

French Onion Soup... with a sweet twist

It snowed today and when it snows or when its cold outside I want to eat soup.
I decided to make French Onion Soup.

Now we all know that French Onion Soup is usually made with beef broth but this recipe uses Pacific Natural Food's Vegetable broth instead. This vegetable broth has a rich orange color from carrots that give this recipe the dark color that classic French Onion Soup has...

I'm also just me, myself and I so I modified the recipe to make 2 - 4 servings (depending on how big you want your serving sizes to be... mine was two big serving sizes)

Recipe:
1 medium/large sweet yellow onion
1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
3/4 tsp of dried ground thyme
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 large clove of garlic (or 2 smaller cloves) chopped
1 tbsp of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of cooking white wine
3 cups of vegetable broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese (grated)
garlic croutons

Cut the onion into half and then thinly slice the two halves. In a large pan, heat the olive oil on medium-low heat and cook the onions for 10 minutes till it starts to turn brown. Add the garlic, sugar and thyme and cook for 30 minutes till the onions turn golden brown.

Sprinkle the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the wine. Gradually add the broth. Bring to a boil. Remove any scum that may have formed on the surface. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.

In the mean time, this would be the perfect time to make your own croutons... if you want or you can always use store bought. I made mine... hehehe

When the soup is ready, ladle some soup in a bowl. To serve, grate some Parmesan cheese over the soup and top with as many croutons as you'd like.

You can use Gruyere cheese which is typically used in French Onion Soup recipes but all I had was a block of Parmesan and I like the nutty flavor of Parmesan cheese as a nice contrast to the sweetness from the yellow onions.

This recipe has a long cook time but it is worth the wait. If you're going to make this for dinner, plan to make it so that by the time it's finished, you are nice and hungry!