Zesty & Spicy

If you like food, we'll get along *^_^*

Mango & Persimmon Smoothie

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I bought a pack of rock hard fuyu persimmons, a few days ago, thinking it would take at least a month before they start to softened.  Surprisingly enough, they only took a few days leaving me with 10 ripen juicy and custardy persimmons to bake with.  One of Max favourite way to start the day is with a fresh smoothie that is both sweet and filling so here we go!

The mango really balance the extreme sweetness of the persimmon while adding a little “zing” to it.  The softened oats are there to add a silky texture and give you enough consistence to make it a perfectly filling way to start your day.

Hope you get to try it *^_^*

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Basic Burmese Tofu (Chickpea tofu)

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Burmese tofu was such a revelation…

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On my quest to become 80% vegetarian (i’m saying 80% because I love food too much and I can conceive cutting so many things from my diet), I’m searching for protein alternatives that aren’t made of soy.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE regular soy tofu but researches shows that it can be bad for you health.  Even worst, it’s also bad for the planet and as new obsessed gardener, I take these things to heart.  If you are curious to learn a little bit more about the whole soy problematic, I found this very well written and informative post from Wellness Mama and I have to admit that I’m hoping that it will maybe change some of your culinary habits.  After all, we only have one planet, let’s take care of it as much as we can *^_^*

Now, what is Burmese tofu?

It is a “tofu” that is made of besam flour (Garbanzo Bean flour) aka chickpea flour.  It has more in common with polenta because of the way it is made but also because of the soft texture of the end product.  Don’t worry, you can still use it as you would do for regular soy based, tofu.  Fried, grilled, in soups or in salads, you wont be missing ideas once you taste it… well, I hope so *^_^*

This is not an original recipe, only my own twist on this Burmese cuisine classic.  One thing I learned from all my failed attempts at making the best batch of burmese tofu is that it’s all about the ginger powder!  Ginger will absolutely “neutralize” the rough chickpea after taste and leave you with a silky smooth tasting tofu.  Also, the longer you cook and stir it, the firmer it will end up.  So take it as a mini work out and don’t cheap out on the stirring time!

You can keep your Burmese tofu in the fridge, in a plastic bag, wrapped in absorbing paper.  Once every 2-3 days, change the absorbing paper to avoid a quit mild formation.  I usually keep my tofu for 2 weeks in the fridge.

Hope you like this recipe *^_^*

Basic Burmese Tofu (Chickpea tofu)
 
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Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of chickpea flour
  • 3 cups of COLD water
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt
  • ½ teaspoon of turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon of onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon of ginger powder
  • 2 teaspoons of sunflower oil (or any oil that doesn't have a strong taste)
Instructions
  1. - Take a medium sauce pan on the stove, add inside all the dry ingredients. On the side, prepare a square 8x8 (or any other shape mood you want your tofu to have in the end) lined with absorbing paper (scott towel type)
  2. - Open the heat on Medium/High. ½ cup at the time, add the cool water and whisk every time to make sure there isn't any clumps of flour of spices left.
  3. - Never stop stirring/whisking the mixture.
  4. - Once you start feeling it thickening, and there is barely any foam left, the mixture will be silky looking and you might start breaking a sweat. Set 10 to 15 minutes on the time watch and keep stirring vigorously, making sure to often scrape off the sides of the pan to bring everything back to the middle and avoiding too much "drying" and firming up on the sides. If you find that it's boiling too much, reduce the heat of the water to medium.
  5. - When the full 10 to 15 minutes is done, the texture should be much thicker and almost gelatinous. Pour inside a flat bottom dish, lined with absorbent paper towel and leave in the fridge till it harden
  6. - Cut in the desire shapes and make your favourite recipe with it! Place the left over in a plastic bag, each piece of tofu wrapped in absorbing paper.
  7. - Replace the absorbing paper every 2-3 days.

 

Sweet Potato, Spinach, Broccoli Risotto

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I hope you’ll enjoy this fun vegan and gluten free risotto, perfect for a busy week night and a next day lunch! 🙂

Sweet Potato, Spinach, Broccoli Risotto
 
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Ingredients
  • 4 cups of hot water
  • ½ cup of Glutenberg/Chartier maple beer **
  • 1½ cup of shredded sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup of finely chopped spinach
  • ¾ cup of finely chopped broccoli
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 cup of Arborio rice
  • 2 big fresh garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
  • Garnish idea:
  • Finely chopped basic leaves
  • **  The recipe calls for ½ cup because that's all I have left in my fridge but you could easily add one full cup of beer (and or white dry wine if you can find this beer anywhere) and remove ½ cup out of the water quantity.
Instructions
  1. - In a flat bottom pan, on the stove top, at MEDIUM/HIGH heat - Start by adding the tablespoon of olive oil with the garlic.  Wait till it start sizzling, then add your raw, uncooked Arborio rice and stir well to make sure the all little grains of rice are well covered with the oil and garlic.  Keep stirring non stop for an extra 1 to 2 minutes while making sure that nothing is sticking at the bottom of the pan.  If it does, lower the heat a bit.
  2. - Pour the beer and keep stirring while all the rice absorb the precious liquid.
  3. - Start adding your water, add the first cup, keep stirring constantly, add the veggies all in one shot and keep adding the rest of the water ½ cup at the time.  The whole process should be about 15-20 minutes maybe less.
  4. - Never stop stirring while everything get's absorb and when you're getting close to the end of your water and the texture is getting nice and creamy, start lowering your heat to MEDIUM/LOW.
  5. - Stir in the nutritional yeast, add the salt and pepper and you're done!

Basil Tea Cookies (Gluten Free)

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Just the perfect butter cookie texture with the delicious aroma and flavor of the basil.  For everybody who had an over flow of fresh basil last summer and made my recipe for BASIL SUGAR, this is the recipe I told you so much about.  These gluten free butter cookies are just out of this world and even Max who usually the type of guy who’s gonna go for the big double chocolate cookies with a ton of fat and calories beg for these ones…

Give them a try and you’ll see 😉

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