Cheater Chutney

My hubby came up with this quick method of making a nice dipping chutney. I have no idea about how chutney is traditionally made, but this ends up tasting like the real thing served at one of our favorite Indian restaurants.

Note on Proportions: Just start with a conservative amount of each ingredient and adjust to taste from there.

Ingredients:

• apricot jam
• soy sauce / tamari
• rice vinegar
• chili powder
• water

Method:

Start with a few tablespoons of apricot jam in a bowl and add about half that amount in soy sauce. Add a very small amount of the rice vinegar (too much will ruin it, you can always add more), a decent amount chili powder (about 1/3 the volume of the apricot jam), and a small amount of water.

Using a fork, mix very thoroughly unitl there are as few as possible jam lumps.

Adjust to taste and enjoy!

Yummy N' Easy Cauliflower

This is a very simple & basic side dish that boasts big flavour. This recipe calls for a full head of cauliflower; if you have less on hand or just don't want to make as much just half the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower
• approx. 450 gram soft tofu
• 4 Tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread
• 1/3 cup water
• 1.5 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tsp herbs of your choice (dill or tarragon work nicely)
• Salt to taste

Method:

Steam cauliflower and tofu until cauliflower is done (not too soft, you don't want it falling apart).

In a small saucepan, heat the buttery spread over low heat. When melted, turn off heat and add water, nutritional yeast flakes, herbs and salt.

Transfer cauliflower and tofu to a serving dish. Pour sauce overtop and mix.

marinated tofu strips

Freezing the tofu, then thawing and squeezing out the excess water gives tofu a chicken-like consistency and makes it absorb the marinade so much more effectively than just soaking without having frozen it first.

Below is just a sample marinade; you can really play around with any flavourings you like or other pre-packaged marinades - this is just a guideline.

ingredients:

1. 45o grams (16 oz) firm or extra firm tofu
2. 1/2 - 3/4 cup water
   
3. 3 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
4. optional: 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
5. 1 large (or 2 small) cloves garlic; crushed or minced
6. 1 tsp powdered ginger (or 2 tsp freshly grated)
7. 1/3 - 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
8. 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

method:

Freeze tofu for at least one day.

Thaw tofu completely. Remove from package and squeeze out as much excess water as you can without crumbling the block.

Cut into strips, cubes or slabs - its up to you.

Combine ingredients #3 - 6 for marinade and pour into a flat pan.

Lay tofu strips in the marinade and rock the pan around to cover all the tofu.



Once most of the marinade has been absorbed (1 min), lay tofu strips on a plate



On another, larger plate, spread out the flour. Add a few dashes of sea salt for extra flavour.

Fold the strips into the flour, making sure all sides are covered.

QUICK TIP** if you cut your tofu into small cubes, the easiest thing to do is pour the flour into a small plastic bag (bread bag), place the tofu chunks inside, blow air into the bake and shake around to fully cover.



Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place the strips (or slabs or cubes) in the pan. Fry on all sides until slightly crispy and browned.



Recipe by: Trudel