Barbeque Tofu over Tri-Color Hot Quinoa

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Here comes summer! All the goodness, heat, and spice of BBQ fused with stir-fry-like Tofu and Scallions over a hot bed of sweet and savory tri-color Quinoa. So packed with protein that even Popeye has switched to this dish! Enjoy :)

This is an A+ meal. That means CalorieCount.com thinks that this meal is utterly amazing and fabulous for your body. It's the perfect serving size for lunch or dinner -- at just over 300 calories (based on 4 servings per recipe), this dish will keep you full and satisfied. It will also deliver about 30% of your recommended daily fiber intake, almost 70% of your daily calcium requirement (wow!), and about 20 grams of protein. That means slim body, strong bones, strong muscles. What's not to love?

I guess I should also mention how delicious this dish is. Eat it hot if you can. The dish is already hot (spicy), but when you mix the southern barbeque flavor with hearty quinoa, you get a truly delicious treat that will make you smile. Just have a glass of milk ready if you're going heavy on the cajun spices!

BBQ Tofu over Tri-Color Hot Quinoa

Servings: 4-6
Calories: 318
Prep Time: Overnight (suggested for Tofu) or 30 minutes (but a loss of flavor!)
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ingredients: 

• 1 block Firm or Extra Firm tofu (generally about 80grams)
• 2 tablespoons BBQ Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
• 1 tablespoon Chia Seeds (optional)
• 1 cup Tri-Color Quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups Water
• 1 tablespoon Cumin
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Pickle Juice (left overs from a jar of pickles) OR 1/2 cup Broth (Vegetable or Chicken broth)
• 1/2 tablespoon Cajun or BBQ Seasoning (depending on your flavor/spice preference)
• 4 stalks of Scallions (Green Onions), chopped until about 1/4 inch from the roots

Directions:

1. Press Tofu. Remove Tofu from packaging and wrap in a clean kitchen towel (you may choose to add a layer of paper towel before the kitchen towel). Then, press the tofu by putting large books or something else that is heavy and flat on top of it. Make sure to put this on a cutting board that will catch any excess water. There is not much, but there is some. Pressing tofu overnight causes the holes or pores in the tofu to expand, meaning that the tofu will pick up the most flavor the following day while cooking. If you're in a pinch, you can press the tofu for only an hour or two.
2. Cut and Marinade Tofu. Cut tofu into bite size pieces. Then, in a tupperware container or large bowl, gently toss tofu with 1 tablespoon of BBQ Sauce and a few pinches of Chia Seeds (Chia Seeds optional).
3. Cook Quinoa. Combine Quinoa and water and bring to a boil, then add cumin and cinnamon, cover, and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, still covered. Before serving, fluff gently with a fork.
4. Cook Tofu. In a wide skillet, over medium-high heat, pour a thin layer of pickle juice/broth (this helps keep the tofu from sticking without using olive oil). Add Tofu and use a spoon or brush to add a light layer of BBQ sauce, then sprinkle 1/2 of the dry Cajun/BBQ seasoning on top. After 5-7 minutes, or when the Tofu begins to golden on the bottom, flip each piece, brush additional BBQ sauce, and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 of dry seasoning on top. Add chopped Scallions into the pan to finish cooking with the tofu. After another 5-7 minutes, remove from heat and place on top of plated Quinoa.
5. Top with any additional BBQ sauce and seasoning you desire!

Sriracha Polenta with Kale Chips

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This dish is not for the faint of heart. Grilled polenta slices look like corn bread but taste like the smooth-talking cousin of Quinoa; crispy Kale chips add a delicious, salty crunch; and Sriracha adds the flavor of fresh hot chilies and sweet garlic. It's hot, hot, hot! 

A few weeks ago, Justin and I had dinner with my parents in Wicker Park and I had my first taste of Polenta. "What is this stuff?" It looks like cornbread... but tastes like Quinoa. Whoa. Insert my "OMG" face here. You can bet I went back for seconds on that one...

Since I'd already had the good fortune to meet Polenta, it seemed like fate had intervened when it caught my eye at a recent trip to the supermarket. You mean it's already made and rolled up in a tube? Score! [Go ahead. Call me lazy. Do it. My boyfriend is taller than your boyfriend.]

In need of a quick dinner fix one night, I popped out the Polenta, ripped up some Kale, and went heavy on the Sriracha. My tongue may or may not still be burning. I can neither confirm nor deny... because I can not feel my tongue! Alright, I may be slightly dramatic. All I'm saying is... have some milk on hand; this dish is not for the faint of heart! [Or you can skip the Sriracha... if you absolutely must!]

Sriracha Polenta with Kale Chips

Calories: 30 each

Prep Time: 2-5 minutes

Cook Time: 10-16 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• Polenta (prepared, bagged in a long roll)
• Sriracha Sauce (to taste)
• 1 Recipe Kale Chips (requires 5 large leaves Kale, 1 tsp Olive Oil, and 2 pinches Sea Salt or Garlic Salt. Feel free to cut the Kale Chip recipe in half, or just have the leftovers as a side with the Polenta!)

Directions:

1. Slice and cook Polenta. Slice Polenta into 1/2"-1/4" thick rounds. Place in a lightly olive oiled skillet over medium heat. Continue to check and flip each polenta piece once they begin to brown (about 5-8 minutes).
2. Bake Kale Chips. Use this recipe for Kale Chips.
3. Final Prep! Remove Polenta from the stove and stack two pieces high. Drizzle Sriracha over each stack (careful, that stuff is hot!) and top with Kale chips!

Pumpkin Curry Soup

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[Day Two of The Twelve Days of Pumpkin - Keep up with all 12 days!]

Good morning :)

It is cold in Chicago already and half of the city seems to have the "ick" virus - the one where you don't have much of an explanation other than that you feel "ick" -- or "ugh," depending on your pronunciation.

So, in short, Chicago=Cold+Sick. But not me. Not with this soup :)

The colder it gets outside, the more heat this girl wants in her soup. Gotta get warm from the inside too, you know?

This soup reminds me of a butternut squash soup I was once obsessed with. I used to add cayenne pepper to that one to get the kick I like -- definitely not going to need to add any to this baby! The onion and curry really pop and the thickness of the soup makes it feel like a heavy cream based luxury - without actually being cream based (cream based = bad for you).

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4-6 Servings
Ingredients:

• 1/2 Pumpkin
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 1/2 Yellow Onions
• 3 cloves Garlic

• 1/2 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Curry Powder
• 1/2 tablespoon Cumin
• 2 cups Skim Milk
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 5 cups Cubed Cooked Pumpkin

Cooking Directions:

1. Rinse pumpkin
2. Using a serrated knife, cut the pumpkin in half
3. Using an ice cream scooper, scoop out strings and seeds
4. Cut pumpkin into 6-10 pieces, small enough to fit numerous pieces into a steaming basket.
5. Place in steamer on stovetop. Add water and steam for 15-25 minutes, checking regularly to replace water. Pumpkin is cooked when a toothpick easily pierces its skin.
6. Let cool, then peel or cut skin off and discard.
7. Cube 5 cups worth of pumpkin "meat." Size is not particularly important, as it will all be blended in the end.
8. In a large pot, add butter, onions, and garlic and stir for 5 minutes.
9. Add Chicken Broth, Pumpkin, Curry, Cayenne, and Cumin and cook for 15 minutes.
10. One blender-full at a time, transfer soup to blender and blend, then transfer to a new pot of similar size.
11. In new pot, add milk and additional Curry to taste.
12. Serve. (Optional: Garnish with sour cream, cayenne pepper, and/or basil leaves).

[Day Two of The Twelve Days of Pumpkin - Keep up with all 12 days!]

[Day Two of The Twelve Days of Pumpkin - Keep up with all 12 days!]

Spicy Pumpkin Fries

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Happy fall, folks! And welcome, dear friends, to The Twelve Days of Pumpkins. Yeah, that's right. Twelve days. Before you make the phone call to officially send me to the looney bin, you should know: these recipes are delicious. I have no idea how I pulled off twelve recipes using pumpkins. It's as though a gourmet chef from the food network inhabited my body for 48 hours.

And this, my friends, is a great achievement: it does not all taste the same.  This was initially a concern for me. I figured that 12 pumpkin-based recipes would taste like... well, 12 pumpkin-based recipes. Imagine my surprise to find that these recipes are actually quite varied - from hot to cold, breakfast to dinner to dessert, sweet to spicy, thin to thick, meaty to light... the only element all 12 recipes share is that they are healthy. A good common denominator, indeed.

I've got a few amazing food websites featuring this series over the next two weeks -- I'll let you know where and when so you can stop by their sites and tell them how much you love me. Kidding. Or am I? To kick it off, I'm over at Aaplemint. <---Stop by and say hello :)

So without further blabbing, let's get this baby rolling. "On the first day of pumpkins, your true love gave to you..."

I've always been a fan of sweet potato fries covered in spicy seasonings. This is a new favorite - much healthier than fries, as they are not truly "fried" but are baked instead.

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min


Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons Curry Powder
• 2 tablespoons Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Onion Powder
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• Sprinkling of fresh Black Pepper
• 1/4 Pumpkin

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Peel pumpkin using a potato peeler
3. Cut 1/4 of the pumpkin into fry-shaped pieces (2-3 inches long, 1/4-1/2 inch thick)
4. Toss fries in Olive Oil, Curry Powder, Garlic Powder, Cayenne Pepper, and Onion Powder. Sprinkle with Black Pepper.
5. Arrange fries in one layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
6. Bake for 30 minutes (until soft enough that a toothpick easily goes through)

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Use this link to stay updated on the pumpkin fiasco -- or check out the top right of this page to subscribe to this site by email (meaning you'll get updates when I post) or subscribe to my  newsletter (meaning you'll get emails only occasionally, like when I finish up this series and send out a newsletter with all of the recipes!).

For now: Happy pumpkining to all -- and to all a good night! :)