The "bowl" is a vegan staple consisting of grain (or pseudo-grain, like quinoa in this case), steamed or lightly sauteed veggies, protein and sauce. Considering I typically have veggies and cooked grains almost all of the time, this quickly becomes a RFV* (really fucking vegan) meal in a jiffy. Well, not really a jiffy in this case, since I had to marinate and bake the tofu... but you get the idea.
For this one, I had steamed broccoli and kale and marinated & baked tofu and red peppers over quinoa flavored with salt, pepper and a pinch of saffron. The tofu was pretty tasty and the marinade doubled as the sauce!
Marsala Balsamic Tofu:
Marinade:
--1/4 c Marsala (or, if you are rich, fancy and tasty drinking wine)
--1/4 c (probably a little less) balsamic vinegar
--1 tbsp tamari
--1-2 tsp olive oil
--2 (or so) tbsp of coffee (this was left-over espresso-roast coffee in the press-pot. I had the idea to put it in and it worked! I think that adding some cocoa here instead would also be good)
--Black pepper (lots)
--2 tsp dried thyme
--1 tsp dried oregano
--sweetener of choice, to taste. All I had was regular old sugar. I think that maple syrup would have been better.....
Directions:
1. Press tofu for 30 mins to an hour to get moisture out. Slice up red pepper into strips. (This is totally optional, I just had some left over that needed used)
2. Whisk together marinade. Slice tofu into desired shapes and put in marinade along with red peppers (flipping over or shaking up) for 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge
3. Bake at 350-375 for 45 minutes, with the marinade dumped into the pan, flipping once.
I don't use the Marsala wine I bought for one recipe very often....the flavor is quite strong and I don't always like it. However, I liked it here and will probably make a recipe like this again. Maybe sans wine though, so I guess I didn't like it that much.
Another thing to do to look really vegan is have your lunch look like the produce section neatly vomited into three compartments in your Tupperware container, like so:
The big compartment is a salad with spring mix, green cabbage, sliced green peppers, tomato and zucchini. I added some balsamic vinaigrette and it was good to go. The small orange compartment is baked yams with smoked paprika and S&P (slice yams, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with seasonings. Bake, flipping/oiling/seasoning the other side, until crispy at the edges). The other compartment is a pretty tasty multicolor quinoa salad.
Fiesta Quinoa Salad
Dressing:
- 2-3 tsp cumin seeds, toasted in a pan
- juice of 2 limes
- 1-2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1-2 tsp olive oil
1. Toast seeds in pan and drain seeds and the *small bit* of oil into a bowl
2. Add other ingredients and a bit of water (less than a 1/4 c) if needed to mix better
Beans and Veggies:
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 c frozen or fresh corn, drained (and thawed if needed)
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 tomato, seeded and diced
Assembly:
1. Add the veggies and 1 cup of quinoa to a large mixing bowl/container
2. Pour dressing over and mix really well to get the cumin seeds distributed
All in all, a good lunch. I am taking virtually the same thing tomorrow, except the smallest container will have chopped bananas and kiwi pieces left over from my morning oatmeal.
Since I ate all of the chocolate avocado pudding I made yesterday while I was watching Battlestar Galactica last night (seriously, I cannot get more vegan than I am as I wrote that sentence), there is no picture to speak of. And it meant I wanted to do some running.
I usually just run outdoors and do interval sprints on a treadmill; however, the apartment gym was closed and I did not feel like the usual run around the same route. Instead, I decided to take advantage of the 3-4 minute intervals that my iPod list gives me and alternate walk/run until I felt like coming home.
Walk/Run Playlist (run songs are in bold):
That's When I Reach for my Revolver- Mission of Burma
Academy Fight Song- Mission of Burma
Shining- Lustre
Fifteen- Lustre
No. 84 Vs. SL/A- Inch
Kermit the Hostage- Inch
50-yard Dash- Huffy
Chopper Pilot- Huffy
Genius Boy- Outhouse
Familiar- Outhouse
Belong- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I think that I might start doing this as an alternative to a regular run on days when I am (a) pretty damn tired but still want to get some exercise in; or, (b) have time to spend (since this takes a while to really get in more than a handful of songs).
Tomorrow, I am planning a big meal that I have been wanting to make since I first bought Appetite for Reduction: coconut squash rice, blackened tofu and roasted veggies (I am going to do zucchini).... Pretty damn excited!
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