Our Veggie Kitchen

It's fitting that my last post this month is a sauce. Because, over the last year, some of my favorite creations have been sauces and gravies. I have always been a huge fan of sauce. In fact, I once lobbied the USDA to include gravy as a food group. Needless to say, it didn't work, but I still cherish a virtuous sauce above all else (I'm only kinda kidding).

Here are a few of my favorites from the previous year:
Yummy Sauce - One of my favorites. It's amazing on beans & rice and I use it liberally on vegetables, potatoes or as a salad dressing. When I make this, I can't keep it in the fridge.
Almond Mushroom Gravy - mushroom gravy thickened with almonds? Yep. And its uber thick and great on seitan cutlets, tofu, or whatever. Drink it if you like.
Marsala Sauce - I used to love Chicken Marsala, but you don't need chicken to make this a heavenly dish. I made it here with pan fried tofu.
Cilantro Chutney - A yogurt based sauce sauce with plenty of cilantro and mint. This is surprisingly versatile and I'd put it on anything Hispanic, Southwest or Indian and plenty of other things too. It's fun to experiment.

Pepita Mojo (below) - This idea came to me from one of my friends, Dani. She made this mojo sauce with lots of cilanto, citrus, hot chillies and olive oil. It tasted like spicy candy and I've made it a few times since. I made several attempts to thicken it and to cut back on the calories a bit. I finally landed on ground pumpkin seed and it was smashing (literally). The pumpkin seeds give it a great toasted flavor, thickens the sauce and tones back on the heat. Its delicious.



Pepita Mojo
6 cloves garlic
3 serrano peppers, halved and seeded
3/4 cups pumpkin seeds
1 tsp cumin seed
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
1/2 tsp salt

Arrange the garlic, peppers and pumpkin seeds, cumin on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for about 10 minutes. Stir the mixture around after about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for another 5 minutes.

Add the pumpkin and cumin seeds to a spice or coffee grinder (in batches if necessary) and blend. Add to a blender with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a container and serve or refrigerate. Makes about a cup.

8 Servings: 39 cal (1g fat, 7g carbs, 2g protein)

I've been making lots of salad dressing. And since I need an excuse to eat all my dressing, I've been eating lots of salad too. I love adding cold, baked tofu to salads and this is the one I've been making. The marinade is amazing and, when baked into tofu, adds a subtle sweet & citrus flavor.



Sweet Lime Tofu
1 lb tofu, drained
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 lime, zested
1 lime, juiced
1 large clove garlic
1 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
dash cayenne pepper, more to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch to 1 inch cubes. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour them in a 9 x 13 casserole with the tofu cubes. Toss to combine and bake uncovered at 350 degrees. Gently toss every ten minutes until the tofu is browned on all sides and the moisture is baked off.

4 Servings: 109 cal (6f fat, 5g carbs, 7g protein)