Heirlooms

Now this is a thing of beauty!

After my last post on the Vegan Hundred and reading a few comments on other lists the question came up "what are heirloom tomatoes?" These are heirloom tomatoes. I usually say the uglier the better but it's totally not true. The ones on top look like they have been painted with water colors. These came from the Burlington Farmer's Market. I can't resist, the tomato season won't be around forever.

Beyond the beauty and interesting visuals the taste is amazing. Here is where I say if it's huge and ugly don't be afriad of it. The big ugly ones are soooo good! The little ones you end up eating before you could begin to think of a dish or salad to use them in.

I've grown some of the sun gold, black (the purple-ish ones), and white (the light yellow ones on the right side) cherry toms in my little garden.
These big guys go a purple burgandy but stay half green. They are a good thick tomato. Great for slicing.

Tonight's dinner was crazy good, dispite it's weirdness in places. Scalloped potatoes, beet salad which will hence forth be called weird beets, and crusted tofu with horseradish mustard sauce. The scalloped potatoes relied on tahini for it's creaminess, yummy taters. The beets, are they vegetables or fruit? You really wonder after eating these. The combination of beets, pineapple, walnuts and a little garlic for fun is actually really tasty. Now the tofu, crazy good.

Herb Crusted Tofu with Horseradish Mustard Sauce

16oz extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into 4 1/2" "steaks"
2 Tb corn starch & 4 Tb water
1-2 Tb vegetable oil, for frying
Sauce
1 8oz container plain soy yogurt
2 Tb Coarse Ground Mustard
1 tsp agave (or sweetener of your choice)
2 tsp prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp dried dill
Crust Coating
1/3 c matzoh meal (or fine bread crumbs)
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients and set aside. In another small bowl combine crust ingredients. Spread evenly on a plate and set aside. Combine water and cornstarch in wide shallow dish. Set up your dishes next to the stove, cornstarch, crust, pan. Heatoil in a large skillet over medium heat. Coat each slice of tofu with cornstarch mixture, crust coating and place in the skillet. Cook until crispy, about 3-4 minutes, flip to cook other side. Transfer slices to plates and drizzle with sauce. Or just scoop on that sauce, yeah it's that good.

Dinner tonight was brought to you by:

Rabbi's Roots Horseradish

This is the first time I've used this in a recipe other than a bloody mary. It's great stuff. In the recipe the heat of the horseradish blended really well with the rest of the ingredients, not providing too much heat, just that little something.

Tropical Tempeh

Tempeh is a delicious thing, even more so when you can buy local. Exhibit A:
Rhapsody Tempeh is from Montpelier, VT and is available in 8oz and 3lb packages. The best thing about this delicious package is, not only are you buying a local organic product but it costs exactly the same as the Lightlife tempeh. I have never visited their cafe (in fact I didn't know they had one until I searched for their website) but I will next time we can't think of anything to do on a day off. But really, when you think of Vermont, you don't think tempeh. It's pretty great.

If you're new to tempeh or maybe never had it before this is a good first recipe. The coconut makes it creamy while the lime gives is a bright summery flavor. The sauce for this dish will transport you to a tropical island. Perfect for this time of year when we have had enough of winter but winter isn't ready to release it's grip just yet. Serve this over rice.

Coconut Lime Tempeh with Green Beans & Macadamias
Sauce
1 cup coconut milk
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
3 Tb brown sugar
1 Tb minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne

The rest
8oz tempeh, cut into 1/4" slices then 3/4" pieces
8oz green beans, ends trimmed then cut in half
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb chopped macadamia nuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Stir together sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Place tempeh in bowl and gently stir to cover all pieces. Use a 9x13" pan (glass recommended) to spread out tempeh and shallot pieces. Reserve leftover sauce, set aside. Bake tempeh 20 minutes, until tempeh starts to brown and sauce in the pan is bubbling. Remove from oven and keep warm until needed.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and saute beans about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 3 more minutes. Stir in garlic and heat for another 1 minute. Stir soy sauce into reserved sauce mixture and add to pan, heat through. Add in baked tempeh and gently toss to mix and heat through. Serve over rice.