Tag Archives: miso

Oct 24 2012
Leave a comment
Cooking

Easy Miso Tofu

Maybe it’s the change of season, but I have found myself yearning for comfort food. I’ve been thinking about one dish in particular for the past few days: my Mom’s baked catfish. How could I recreate this dish, vegan-style? Pretty easily!

First, I grabbed a block of tofu and pressed it overnight using my TofuXpress. Then, I scored the tofu and let it sit in some miso paste and chopped green onion for several hours.

I cooked the tofu by baking the entire block in a toaster oven at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. While it was baking, I took some brown rice and quinoa that I had in the fridge and heated them together in a pan, seasoning it with soy sauce and some garlic powder.

It really was as simple as that! I definitely want to tweak the recipe a bit, be more fancy with the seasoning and really crust some of that miso on there. But this hit the spot and satisfied my catfish craving. –Melissa

 

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Jun 22 2012
6 Comments
Snacks, Thoughts

Move over lunch meat, it’s TEMPEH!

Tempeh is a vegan food product made from fermented soybeans. Before you turn your nose up at the idea of something being fermented, remember you’ve probably eaten a number of other fermented products including all alcohol, leavened bread, yogurt, buttermilk and cheeses. Fermentation adds a number of unique compounds not normally abundant in soy, in particular B vitamins. Vegans don’t always get enough B vitamins so it’s good to know good sources of these crucial nutrients along with protein, iron, calcium and trace nutrients like isoflavones and flavones that studies suggest may have preventative effects for heart disease and cancer.

We’re eating some tempeh that I see at a lot of supermarkets here in South Florida. It’s pre-marinated in a variety of flavors. We especially like this one (shown below)

I usually treat it like bacon except that it’s actually good for you.

I browned it lightly in a non-stick skillet and wrapped it up in a cabbage leaf with greens, bell pepper, and some Follow Your Heart sesame miso dressing that we’ve been enjoying for salads.

I’m a big fan of tempeh and I hope you’ll get to know it a little better if you’re not friendly already. It’s awesome!

This is Christie, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jun 16 2012
3 Comments
Dining Out

Domo Arigato Blu Fish Bistro

Japanese restaurants are among the safer places for vegans to choose when dining out. Miso soup, salad with citrus-ginger dressing, tofu and/or veggie makis, udon, etc… all goodies to choose from. When I’m at work and am craving sushi for lunch, I’m glad that I can hit up Blu Fish Bistro.

Blu Fish has a Vegetable Bento for $10 at lunch, which includes your choice of soup or salad. The miso soup is very good: let’s face it. It’s kinda hard to screw up miso soup. If you choose salad, you won’t be sorry. The house dressing is very fresh and tasty.

The bento includes veggie tempura (traditional tempura is vegan but egg is sometimes used; ask if you want to be sure), fried rice, your choice of 3-piece mushroom or asparagus roll, and fried tofu with a sweet/spicy sauce served over a bed of vegetables. Unlike most tempura sauces I’ve had, the tempura dipping sauce at blu fish is thick and flavorful. I love it. I don’t know what secret sauce they use for the tofu, but it’s perfectly sweet with a little kick. The paper-thin slices of avocado and tomato between the tofu slices are a nice touch.

Non-vegans should be happy about the quality of the food and the freshness of the fish. I’ll also say, for the record, that they have one of the best California rolls I’ve ever had. But those were in the pre-vegan days. If we ever go to Blu Fish together, I will watch you eat a California roll.

I love it when I can enjoy a vegan restaurant meal! Domo arigato! –Melissa

Pssst! Click here to Like Turning Veganese on Facebook!

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
May 08 2012
Leave a comment
Lazy Vegan, Snacks, Thoughts

The Other Lazy Vegans: SALAD!

We decided to give Follow Your Heart’s sesame miso dressing on some spinach, bell pepper and VegCuisine’s Mediterranean herb feta. We’ll tell you more about VegCuisine’s cheeses in the Cheese Post 2.0 because today we’ll tell you about the salad dressing.

Brent and I are both fans of the flavor. I do think that it’s terribly high in calories for ‘health’ food so I can recommend it for being vegan and having ingredients that aren’t too processed but I suspect most of you who are comfortable cooking can make something better and better for you at home. Munch away!

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Dec 29 2011
1 Comment
Cooking, Recipes

Miso Soup

This is one of the more simple soups I make for work.

The ingredients can be found in the ‘ethnic’ section of your supermarket, online, or in your local specialty market. Miso paste, tofu, and seaweed are my requisites. I add scallions, chives, garlic, and/or carrots when I have them but they’re not really necessary. I combine 1 liter of water and 1.5 tablespoon of miso paste. I heat it until the paste is dissolved. I add one and a half handfuls of dried seaweed and half a block of Chinese-style water packed tofu, diced into 1/3 inch cubes. If you can’t find dried seaweed, spinach works well too.

I’ll add a tablespoon of minced garlic, 1-2 shredded carrots, 1/4 cup of diced scallions or chives if I want. I’ll add up to another 5oo mL of water and salt to taste. I also like to mince some dried red peppers for spice. I like spicy food.

This is Christie, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , ,
%d bloggers like this: