You know that sponge-like texture of fried tofu in some Asian dishes?
You get it by freezing and refreezing tofu.
https://garlicdelight.com/how-to-freeze-tofu/
Sound delicious. I often get a deep-fried tofu from an Asian supermarket around here, and i love the chewyness and how the cubes soak up the sauce. It sounds and looks as if i can reproduce that with any firm tofu just by putting it in the freezer. Definitely have to try this out!
Go to an Asian market and pick up some Maesri Thai curry paste (not sure all are vegetarian, but the red curry is) and two cans of coconut milk (the fatty kind with coconut cream, not the lite versions). Follow the instructions on the can and substitute tofu for meat. I generally throw in whatever vegetables I have on hand as well (summer squash, Thai eggplants, potatoes and onions for massaman curry, etc). Serve with jasmine rice (get a huge sack from the Asian market while you're there). Fast, filling, cheap, and easy.
Chicken teriyaki hold the chicken
For the purposes of this recipe I'm going to suggest Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce because it's in pretty much every supermarket rather than giving a teriyaki sauce recipe, those are out there and require some kind of exotic shit you probably can't get in a standard American supermarket. Soy Vay beats the pants off of anything else you'll find there.
Carrots, peas in pods, white or yellow onion, peppers of your chosen variety, broccoli if you want it, and THICC sliced mushrooms to give that kind of meaty kick. Cook to your desired doneness, although I highly recommend leaving everything with a little crunch and not doing the mushrooms to death so they still have a little bite to them. Add rice or noodles as desired. Toss in the sauce while cooking for the last couple minutes, don't just throw it on at the end, that's not the best for the flavor. Also toss the veggies with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, and MSG (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) before putting the sauce in because veggies need seasoning and it'll help things a lot. I don't think red pepper flakes (those things you put on pizza) are really traditional but I like to throw those in just to give it a little spice.
I know this isn't much of a formal recipe, I can give more specifics if needed but that is a great vegetarian dish that I love.
I'm just gonna throw in New Orleans red beans and rice here at the end without going into extreme detail, that's some good stuff too. Rice and beans doesn't have to be terrible.
Vegan egg and tater scramble:
Block of firm tofu, wrap in paper towels for a few hours (with something heavy on it ideally) to dehydrate
Some russet potatoes
An onion (I prefer non sweet)
Black salt, this is important, it's not super cheap but a little goes a long way
Slice up and boil your potatoes with salt and a little baking soda in the water until you can easily pierce them with a fork, remove and put in colander until they're not steaming very much (should take like 5 min, maybe more with many potatoes). Add some olive oil to a big pan, add potatoes, add some salt, and cook until they get a little golde. Slice up the onion while the potatoes cook then throw it in. Cut the tofu into little bits and add to the mix, season with black salt for eggy taste. Break up the tofu cubes with a wooden spoon or whatever if you want them to have that scrambled texture. The tofu onle needs a minute or two, then it'll be ready to serve. Big filling scrambled egg tasting breakfast plate.
You want to get spicy with it? Slice up a jalepeno (or pepper of choice) and a few tomatoes, add to the mix at the same time as the tofu for a much more rich and layered flavor, can even use it as breakfast burrito filling.
Check this site out https://grimgrains.com/site/home.html#recipes
Has some good stuff but also it explains some of the "theory" behind making your own dope meals so you eventually dont need to rely on recipes as much. Specifically which basic grains and ingredients have which nutrients and why you need different nutrients.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/49/c1/ea/49c1ea64e84ec987dc81396ce0142c2b.jpg
Easy instant pot lentil curry, has been a “clear out the produce” standby
https://www.budgetbytes.com/african-peanut-stew-vegan/
West African peanut stew, one of my favorites
Also look into doing steel cut oats in the slow cooker; I’m currently eating the second to last serving of a batch made last week, which was cooked with some dates and cocoa and flax, and to which I’ve added peanut butter and pumpkin seeds (and would add some wild blue berries, but I’m out)
Big recommend to the Minimalist Baker cooking recipes, I started using some of their super simple 10 ingredient 1 pot recipes and they're really good and simple for a person like me who doesn't really care aesthetically for food I just wanted it to be fuel and taste good. I've completely replaced my Chili recipe for their Vegan Chili recipe and haven't looked back since. Other recommends are their potato and lentil soup, and vegan shepherds pie!
Zaalouk is really good. Hard to mess up, you can make large batches of it, and it goes well on rice or pita or regular bread or as a sauce in something else.
Finely chop or mince eggplant, tomatoes, and garlic (approximate ratio of 9:6:1 by weight, respectively). Add enough olive oil to coat everything in a skillet, and simmer it for half an hour, or possibly multiple hours for a slow cooker on the lowest setting. As it starts to reduce, add salt and paprika and cumin, and once the excess liquid has all cooked off, add parsley and/or cilantro and serve.
