Grain and Veggie Salad with Tangy Tofu Dressing

I've actually got three posts lined up to make!  I'm just having a hard time finding the time to actually make them. Baby happily takes up a lot of my time.  However, now he's sleeping peacefully in his wrap on my chest, and I have a few minutes to blog.

Last week, Drew brought home something like six dozen yellow squash from work.  Someone's garden had an explosion.  Now, I love squash, but I usually buy them about two at a time, and I had no idea what to do with all that squash.  I chopped it up and put it into omelets.  I diced it and ate it in wraps with hummus.  I steamed it and ate it salted for a snack.  Then, in my sleep deprived, brain-dead state, I completely ran out of ideas. So...

I turned to the lovely world of the internet and Googled "What the hell do I do with all this summer squash?" (yes seriously), and I found about eight gazillion recipes.  However, I'm so damned picky that I only liked about three of them.  I found a recipe for Millet and Veggie salad over at Melomeals that I thought I would like a lot after I tweaked it to my satisfaction.  You guys know me, after all of my "tweaking", it wasn't really even remotely the same.  However, the inspiration definitely was not my own; that came from Melody's amazing blog.

Like many of my posts, this is more of a guideline than it is a recipe.  There are so many possible variations to make it suit your own tastes (for example:  I used enough garlic to bring down all of Salem's Lot!).  The possibilities are endless.  The thing that brings it all together and really makes the whole dish is the dressing. The really amazing thing about this is that even the kiddo liked it.  He ate more of it than I did, I think.  This surprises the heck out of me considering it had lots of vegetables in it.  And grain.  And health.  Go figure!

Yeah, it's not terribly aesthetically pleasing, I know, but it sure does taste good, and it's SO healthy!

Grain and Veggie Salad with Tangy Tofu Dressing

Ingredients:


Salad:

• 1/2 cup dry grain of choice.  Like Melody, I used Millet, because I had it and I LOVE it.  Next time I think I'll use quinoa.  You could use pretty much any grain that tickles your fancy.  You could also probably use whole wheat cous cous or even small legumes, like lentils.
• 1 small to medium summer squash, seeded and diced
• 1/3 cup shelled edamame
• 4 spears asparagus, chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• Salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup pureed tofu
• 2 TBS nutritional yeast
• 3 TBS sesame tahini
• 1TBS lemon juice
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• 1 TBS good brown mustard
• liberal shake nutmeg
• liberal shake (or three, if you're like me!) dried dill

Directions:


Salad:

1.  Cook grain of choice according to package directions.

I toasted mine first.  

Try not to notice that my burner needs cleaning!

2.  Saute desired veggies, or you can use the dry fry method.  That's what I did, saving the calories from the oil to use in the dressing instead!

3.  Let grain and veggies cool to room temperature.

4.  While you're waiting for everything to cool off a bit, you can go ahead and multi-task

Yeah.  In fact I do love to show him off!

Dressing:

1.  Puree tofu to very smooth, almost liquid state.

2.  Add all other ingredients and whisk whisk whisk until very well mixed and frothy.

The Whole Shebang

1.  Mix cooled grain and veggies.

2.  Pour half of dressing over grain and vegetable mixture and mix well.

4.  Let chill for several hours, ideally over night.  The longer it melds the better it tastes.

5.  When ready to serve, drizzle more dressing over the top and salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Now, what the heck do I do with the rest of these?!

Super Chunky Vegetable Sauce

I was looking around for something to have for lunch, and I was coming up blank.  One of the disadvantages to the "use it all up before we move" school of thought is that you end up with a lot of strange odds and ends that don't necessarily go together.  We've actually got quite a lot of food in the house; it's just that it's so diverse it's hard to combine it into a meal that makes sense.

I had a few fresh veggies, a few canned veggies and lots of bulk grains and pastas.  From that, this colorful, chunky oh so flavorful sauce was born.  It turned out pretty darned good for pure improvisation.

Super Chunky Vegetable Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 large zucchini, quartered and sliced very thin
• 5 artichoke hearts from jar of marinated artichoke hearts, diced
• 1 can diced peeled tomatoes with juice
• Splash of liquid from jar of artichoke hearts
• Liberal shake of dried Italian seasoning
• Kosher salt to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Spray large non-stick skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat.

2.  Add diced onions and sauté until translucent.

3.  Add minced garlic and sauté one minute.

4.  Add sliced zucchini and continue to sauté for a minute or two more.

5.  Add diced artichoke hearts and can of diced tomatoes with the juice.

6.  Add a splash of liquid from the jar of artichoke hearts.

7.  Add a liberal shake of dried Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well.

8.  Reduce heat to low and simmer sauce for eight to ten minutes, until zucchini is tender/crisp.

9.  Serve over hot cooked pasta or grains of choice.  I ate mine over Israeli couscous, but I imagine it would be great over quinoa or bulgur as well.

Enjoy!

Grain and Lentil Salisbury Steak with Gravy

Vegan Salisbury Steak!  What?  Unpossible, you say?!  Well, actually I say so too, but nonetheless, these are really quite good.  They're flavorful, have a chewy, toothsome texture, and they're quite filling.  I only had one with a spoonful of mashed potatoes, and that was plenty of dinner for me.  Made with brown rice and lentils, they're full of fiber, low fat, and low calorie.

This is totally not my recipe, though it's been tweaked a bit in order to suit my own tastes.  I don't have any idea where I originally found this recipe, so I'm unable to credit the author.  If anyone recognizes it, feel free to point me in the right direction.

Grain and Lentil Salisbury Steak

Ingredients for patties:

• 1/4 cup cooked lentils, choose your color (I used a mixture of brown and red)
• 1/2 cup whole oats
• 1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 TBSP wheat germ
• 2 TBSP vital wheat gluten
• 1 TBSP ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce

Ingredients for gravy:

• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped (I am from the school of "there's no such thing as too much garlic".  If you're not, you probably want to decrease the amount used.)
• 1 TBSP tomato paste
• 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
• 2 TBSP whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Prepare skillet by spraying with olive oil and sprinkling with 1/2 TBSP soy sauce.

2.  In a food processor, coarsely chop oats, rice, and lentils, chopping them up, but NOT pureeing them.

3.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add wheat germ, vital wheat gluten, ground flax seed, chili powder, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, and soy sauce.

4.  Kneed ingredients with your hands until well combined.  At first it will seem to be very crumbly and like it isn't going to stick together.  Just keep at it.  The kneading will activate the vital wheat gluten, and it will become cohesive.

5.  Split mixture into five equal parts.

6.  Heat the skillet on medium low.

7.  While skillet is heating, shape portioned mixture into oval shaped patties and place into skillet.  Add 1 TBSP of water and cover.  Cook first side five minutes.

8.  Flip patties, add 1 more TBSP of water, cover and cook patties for five minutes more.

9.  Remove patties from skillet and set aside.

10.  Turn heat up to medium, mist pan with olive oil, and add onions.  Stir frequently until onions are translucent and begin to brown around the edges.

11.  Add garlic and sauté for one minute more.

12.  In a blender put tomato paste, soy sauce, flour, water, onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend until smooth and well combined.

 13.  Pour into skillet, stirring together with onions and garlic, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened.

14.  Add patties back to the pan and cover with gravy.

15.  Cook over low heat until patties are warmed through.

Enjoy!