I haven’t really been in the cooking mood lately. In fact, my vegan-ish eating experiment took an unexpected turn about a month ago when I decided to start eating a little bit of meat again, after a 120 day hiatus. I will blog about that decision another time, but for now I will simply note that my experiment taught me that I feel much more aligned and balanced with a plant-based lifestyle, which is why I am still about 90% vegan, despite the occasional foray into meat and dairy.
That said, for the past few weeks, I haven’t had it in my to spend much time cooking. I had a big conference in Amsterdam at the end of June and focused my energy on work, writing, household projects and exploring New York City. In the interim, I started doing something very unusual — eating at restaurants and ordering takeout!
Anyway, today I finally got back in the kitchen and whipped up this fab meal up for lunch.
Kale, Tofu & Pinenuts in Tomato Basil Peanut Sauce
Serves 2 hungry people
Ingredients
- EVOO
- Coconut oil
- 1/2 cup of tofu – chopped
- 1/4 sliced red onion
- 1 lemon
- 2 cloves of garlic – sliced
- a handful of pinenuts
- 2-3 cups chopped kale
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- sea salt
- herbes de provence
- Braggs’ aminos
- Peanut sauce
- 2 cups Jasmine rice
- falafel (optional)
Directions:
Cook jasmine rice according to instructions. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan, warm EVOO on medium heat. Add onions, garlic and a squeeze of lemon. After a few minutes, pour in about 1/4 bottle of peanut sauce. Add a little filtered water and vinegar. Add pinenuts, tomato, tofu and a touch of almond milk. Layer on the basil and sprinkle sea salt and herbes de provence to taste. Stir continuously and reduce heat.
While the sauce is cooking up, chop and rinse the kale. Pour 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a medium sauce pan and add the kale. Squeeze with lemon juice and add a little sea salt. Add the kale to the sauce, then add the sauce to the rice.
I complemented this with Trader Joe’s vegan falafel – which really made the dish amazing.
Aware of Awareness 