Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Archives for August 2020

The easiest crunchy baked tofu.

by Filed Under: Air Fried, Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free

Good morning sweet people! Last week, before my latest and greatest knee procedure, I experimented with making some crunchy baked tofu and it came out so good – I had to share. I’ve made 2 batches & my husband & I cannot get enough. You can easily prepare in a sauté pan, bake or even air fry. Even the leftovers are insanely good! I add to my salads pretty much daily. And I’ll proclaim the wonders of this specific brand of tofu. If you cannot locate it, you must purchase an extra firm block of tofu. That’s key!

Ingredients:

1 block (if you are making more just double or triple the recipe) of Wildwood extra firm tofu, sliced into 8 or 10 “steaks”
1/3 cup of dijon mustard
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp cayenne or chili powder (whichever you prefer)

Method:

Take a baking sheet lined with either a Silpat or parchment and set that aside. If baking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

I remove the tofu from it’s package and set on a paper towel before slicing. You don’t need to press this tofu. Slice and set aside.

Into a larger mixing bowl add your cornmeal, paprika, garlic, salt and cayenne or chili powder. Whisk to combine.

On my cutting board I laid out all of the tofu slices and with a pastry brush – brushed a thin layer of dijon on the one side of the tofu. I carefully placed the coated side down into the cornmeal mixture. While that’s down, brush the dijon on the other side and flip. Place the coated tofu on the baking sheet and repeat until everything is coated. Depending on the thickness of your coating (dijon) you may need more or less. I was pretty thin with it.

I sprayed the upward side with a bit of avocado oil. If baking, bake for about 12-14 minutes then flip. Cook for another 8-10. Remove and serve or store when completely cooled, in an airtight container in the fridge. When I go to reheat I will pop in the air fryer for about 6 minutes at 350 degrees.

I also eat these cold.

If air frying, I would go for 6-7 minutes at 375 degrees and flip. Keep a watchful eye. I feel like every oven and air fryer is so inaccurate with temps.

If you prefer to make this in cubed form, I would suggest slicing the tofu into cubes. Into a large bowl add your dijon and thin out a tiny bit with water. Add your tofu cubes and toss to coat. Then spoon in batched, into your cornmeal mixture. Then spoon onto your baking sheet. Bake for less time, but toss often to ensure even baking.

I apologize for not having pics of the dredging but I was alone and I needed both hands. The next round of making these I’ll recruit Bill to help.

Enjoy!

~ox

— Knead to Cook

Oatmeal blender pancakes. Vegan & GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Vegan, Wheat Free

Every once in a blue moon, I flat out crave blueberry pancakes and with an abundance of them in my fridge, I went for it. These came out perfectly, are gluten free if you require that and are so hearty and delicious. I ate 2 plates post a long ride on my Peloton and it was pure heaven.


Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats
2 cup of plant based milk, 1 or 2 tbl if the batter is too thick
1 ripe banana
2 tbl of your choice of sweetener (maple syrup or sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbl of ground flax seed
1 tbl hemp hearts
2 tsp of ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 cups of fresh blueberries but whatever berries you wish to use
Method:

Place all of your ingredients through salt into your blender (start with 2 cups of milk). Blend on high for 1.5 minutes or so. Remove and you can easily add berries to the blender and gently stir with a long spatula or spoon.

Preheated a cast iron pan on the stove and sprayed with oil. Once hot (medium heat) ladle some batter into your pan. Cook for a minute or 2 (you’ll see bubbles start to surface) and flip. Cook until your desired color is achieved. If your batter gets too thick, simply add a tbl or two of your chosen milk to loosen the batter up.

I prefer to use organic, certified Glyphosate free oats by One Degree.

I cook until a lovely golden brown and serve. You can also freeze but allow to cool prior to packing up and freezing.

Happy weekend friends! ~ox

— Knead to Cook

Vegan frosty smoothie bowl.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Fruit, Gluten Free, No bake/cooking required!, Nuts, Raw, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegan, Vitamix

I’m admittedly not a summer weather fan. It’s been an oppressive 90+ degrees for an endless stretch of time. For dinner most nights, I’ve been opting for this very chilly & refreshing bowl. It’s protein-packed, flavor packed and it tastes so indulgent! I hope you enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:

Skant 3/4 cup of unsweetened nut or oat based milk of choice
1 scoop of your favorite protein powder (I use either vanilla or chocolate)
1 tbl of your favorite nut butter OR 2 tbl of an organic powdered nut butter if you prefer
1 frozen banana
Pinch of salt
8 – 10 ice cubes
Optional:
1 tbl of raw cacao (if using a vanilla protein but want chocolate flavored)
If using vanilla protein and you want a strawberry bowl (add 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries).

Method:
Into a blender add your milk through ice cubes (see notes about optional flavors). If using additional berries, add them too!

Blend, you may need to stop and scrape the sides down often. Blend until smooth and creamy. Spoon into a bowl and top with whatever you love!

My faves:
Organic bran flakes
Granola
Pomegrante seeds
Cacao nibs
nut butter
berries
seeds
nuts
Enjoy immediately!


~ox

— Knead to Cook

Homemade fruit & herb infused alcohol.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Cocktails, Vegan

My husband was inspired by a friend’s of ours to try making this liquor on his own. We had been over their house for a properly social distanced dinner outside and they brought out a passionfruit liquor that they had made. She happily shared the recipe and I wanted to pass it along on the blog. Bill, of course, made his own versions – 2 in fact, but seriously the options are endless. The original recipe was share multiple times over and again, I don’t know the origin. I’m sorry. This recipe yielded 2 separate bottles of different flavor profiles. You can easily just make one larger batch or divide up.

Ingredients:
1 litre of alcohol (we used Everclear)
1/2 litre of fruit/herbs of choice
2 litres of water
1.5 kg sugar

Method:

Again this is to yield one larger batch and how the original recipe was written.

Place in a one litre bottle: add fruit (sliced or pureed), and 1/2 litre of alcohol. Infuse for 15 days, occasionally swirling around in the bottle. After the 15 days, filter the fruit out and discard.

Make your simple syrup by adding the sugar/water to a pot over medium heat. Whisk until combined and remove from the heat. Allow to cool.

Add the remaining alcohol and simple syrup you made. Let stand another 15 days then filter before adding to a clean container for storage. Best stored in a dark, cooler location. This will easily last years! Makes a great holiday gift.



Bill made two flavors:
Strawberry & basil
Watermelon & mint

My friend’s have made raspberry, passionfruit, peach etc.

Because I don’t drink alcohol, Bill thought the watermelon and basil was a bit too sweet but again, that’s preference. He normally isn’t a sweet kind of person. But everyone loved the flavors etc.

Cheers! ~ox

— Knead to Cook