Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Crispy Baked Spicy Tofu. The best. Vegan & GF.

by Filed Under: Asian inspired, Gluten Free, Tofu, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free

Good day sweet friends! Today for my food prep I finally decided to document my go-to spicy baked crispy tofu cubes. I haven’t made this in about 2 months… with the move, cooking wasn’t a priority. I go back to work this week and I wanted to fill my fridge with tons of easy and quick meal ideas.

Okay less ramblings… let’s get to this!

Ingredients:
2 extra firm blocks of Wildwood tofu (drained and no need to press)
1/4 cup of liquid aminos
1 tbl of avocado or whatever oil you prefer
Depending on your spice preference, use 2 tbl to 1/4 cup of spicy chili paste (I get mine at Target or the Asian market)
1 tbl of smoked paprika
2 tbl of cornstarch
4-6 cloves of chopped garlic
1 nub of fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Get a baking sheet ready to go. This is one of those toss it all in the bowl and mix. I add all of the sauce/marinade components and whisk. Then I cube my two blocks of tofu. Add to the bowl and toss to coat ensuring the cornstarch powder is blended well.

Once your oven is preheated, with a slotted spoon remove the tofu (attempting to drain as much of the marinade as possible) and add the tofu to your baking sheet.

Bake for 25-30 minutes tossing occasionally. The edges should be golden brown and crispy yet a soft interior. Remove and allow to cool completely before putting in an airtight container with a lid for storage in the fridge.

I add these cubes to power bowls, salads, pastas or eat straight out of the container. I hope you enjoy!

~ox

— Knead to Cook

Mushroom recipe for those who hate mushrooms.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free

I’m not a mushroom fan however I know the vast benefits to them. Vitamin D source. They contain two high concentrations of powerful antioxidants are known to support keeping us young! These powerhouses, ergothioneine and glutathione, are also known to protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases in a recent study conducted by Penn State University. They support your heart and your mind. Can assist in bone strength. And they support your energy levels. Now to get over that texture thing…

We moved! We downsized much of last year and decided to sell our house and move into the city. I’ll cover this in the future in a multiple post series but for now, we are settled and a local restaurant/adaptogenic coffee/tea joint in my neighborhood was teaming up with a local mushroom farmer to offer shares to pick up. I jumped at the chance. New year… I’m working on eating more mushrooms for my health. I venmo’d the farmer & last Saturday picked up my share of mushrooms. One pound to be exact. We had oysters, chestnut, lion’s mane… and others that I don’t know or remember. But here’s a pic of all of their glory!

I mean come on… they’re beautiful! Okay so my recipe is a loose version meaning add more or less spice. It’s a very flexible process. Let’s go!

Ingredients:
1 pound of mixed mushrooms, chopped fairly thin (think thinner – crispier)
1 tbl of a neutral oil, I used avocado
1-2 tbl of a spice blend you love – I used a fancy old bay inspired seafood spice blend
Pinch of salt
2 tsp of liquid smoke

Method:
Heat a good, thick pan – I used cast iron with the oil you prefer, over the flame to get it quite hot. CAREFULLY add your mushrooms avoiding spatter as much as possible. I cannot stress this enough. I add the seasoning mid way through cooking. And again, go heavier or lighter depending on your spice level you prefer. I’m normally very heavy handed. I cooked, for several minutes before stirring. Repeat until the mushrooms are cooked down a lot. I probably cooked them for 12 minutes or more. The edges get very crispy. Then add the liquid smoke. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Then remove from heat and allow to cool in the pan. Now taste test and if they need more time, cook longer. I added these to pasta, to my salad… just snacked on them. So damn good! One word of advice, don’t store in a container, just put in a bowl and store without a lid. They soften a lot when a lid is placed on them. If you need to re-crunch them back up day 2 (yes I know re-crunch isn’t a word) add them to your air fryer at 350 for 4 minutes.

— Knead to Cook

Smoky lentil stew. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Gluten Free, Indian-inspired., Pantry, Soups, Vegan, Wheat Free

Going to be super honest, I’m sharing because this has been our go-to weekly meal prep idea this fall but I’m not spending the required time to stage and make this post picture perfect. Life is busy, hectic and crazy. We are in the midst of selling our lives, packing what’s left and getting ready to move. Blogging recipes has not been on my radar with all that going on plus working. However, this one is too good not to share so let’s go!

Ingredients:

2 tbl of a neutral oil (I used walnut and avocado)
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 medium carrots, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced (I add if I have it)
6-10 garlic cloves, minced (I lately have been adding whole cloves that are small and about 20 of them)
2 cups of brown or green lentils, rinsed
1-2 large potatoes, cubed (I use whatever I have on hand)
7 cups of veggie broth
2 tbl of Dijon mustard
1 tbl Worcestershire (make sure it’s vegan) sauce
1 tbl smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1-2 cups of fresh or frozen peas

Method:

Into a large Dutch oven or stock pot, add your oil and heat over medium heat. Then add your onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring often, for about 6 minutes until cooked. Then add your garlic, lentils, potatoes, broth, mustard, Worcestershire, paprika, bay leaves, thyme, and Rosemary. Bring to a boil. I only add the peas right before serving so they don’t get mushy.

Once it’s been simmering for about 3-4 minutes, I reduce the heat, cover and let it cook for up to several hours. Right before you serve, add your peas.

Serve with a good crusty bread and enjoy! You can refrigerate the leftovers for a quick and easy meal all week.

Okay back to packing! Love ya bye!

— Knead to Cook

One bowl Pumpkin bread. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Nuts, Quick Bread, Vegan

With listing & selling our house last week, I’ve had no bandwidth for recipe testing to be quite honest. I wanted to make something different and landed on this lovely recipe from Nora Cooks. I made this oil free and adjusted a few things from her original. See notes below.

Ingredient:
1 tbl ground flax or chia seeds
3 tbl water
1 can 15 ounce of canned pumpkin puree
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of applesauce (I used pumpkin apple sauce from Whole Foods) or 1/2 cup of coconut or other neutral oil
1/4 cup of plant based milk
1 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbl ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin spice

Optional:
1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips or walnuts for mixing in
For topping: walnuts, pecans, hemp hearts, pepitas etc.

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray you loaf pan with oil and set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add your ground flax or chia seeds with 3 tbl of water. Stir and allow to congeal for 6 minutes or so. It will thicken up and replace the need for eggs.

In a large bowl, add pumpkin puree, sugar, oil and milk. Whisk to combine. Sift, flour, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice into the wet mixture. Whisk to just combine.

If wishing to add chocolate chips or nuts, add to the batter. Pour into your prepared pan. If using pepitas, walnuts etc. – add to the top of your batter. Bake for 75 to 85 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Every oven is different, I baked closer to 77 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 30 minutes prior to slicing.

Happy weekend!

— Knead to Cook

Upside down apple cake bake. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Snacks, Vegan

When the world leans toward pumpkin, mad respect & I do love it, I’m leaning towards apple. I love apple things. So good. Plus having an abundance of them in my produce drawer… this was a no brainer for me. I made it in my cast iron pan I use for everything & legit it was gone in 2 days! Bill and my dad couldn’t stop. Not a big fan of chatting forever or wasting time so let’s get to it…

Ingredients:

6 smaller Fugi and honey crisp apples, peeled and diced pretty thin
1/3 cup of brown or coconut sugar
2 tbl of vegan butter
1 tbl ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg

Cake batter recipe:
1 cup of whatever plant based milk you prefer
1 tbl of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of oil (avocado, coconut or olive work great)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda


Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your baking sheet with oil & set aside. If using a cast iron pan to bake in omit spraying with oil and just move forward to heat over medium flame to heat up the pan. Add your butter and allow that to melt. Once melted, add your apple slices, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook for about 4-6 minutes, stirring gently. This will allow the sugar to melt, flavors to combine and apples to soften. Set that aside. If using a baking pan, cook the apples in a separate pan. Then add them to your prepared pan and set aside.

Grab 2 mixing bowls. You’re going to mix your wet ingredients first. So add your milk and apple cider vinegar together and stir. Allow that to “curdle” for 1 minute. Then add your oil and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

In your separate dry bowl, add your flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder. Whisk to combine. Then add your dry mixture to wet and blend until just incorporated.

To prepare to bake,
Add your cooked apples to the bottom of the pan or if using cast iron just leave the apples in the pan. Spoon the batter over top carefully. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until set when you touch the top of the cake.

Serve warm or room temp. I left this covered on my countertop until the boys devoured the entire thing in 2 days.

Look at that steam rising. So good and perfect served with vegan ice cream.

Hope you enjoy and happy almost weekend!
~ox

— Knead to Cook

Easy stuffed zucchini boats. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Gluten Free, Lentils, Vegan, Vegan Burgers, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free

Good day fine people! I’m on a staycation this weekend as our trip to Scandinavia clearly wasn’t happening amid a global pandemic. So day trips, socially distanced is where we’re at. Lots of hiking with the dogs. Peloton riding. Lots of movement and time outdoors.

Our garden is still producing quite a bit and I whipped up some stuffed zucchini boats for dinner on Sunday and I thought I’d share. These can be stuffed with lentils, meat (if you eat it) or a vegan meat alternative that you have on hand. I had 2 vegan burgers that I used in this for 6 stuffed zucchinis.

Ingredients:

2 burgers (If using lentils or another protein – I used enough for 3 people to eat). Leftovers can easily be thrown into a protein bowl, marinara etc. The size of your zucchinis will vary a lot so this recipe is very flexible.
2 large zucchinis, halves and hollowed out (use a spoon) so there is room for the filling
1/4 of a onion, diced
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 of a bell pepper, diced
1/2 of a jalapeño, seeds removed
You can add whatever vegs you have on hand, just dice up finely and add.
1-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp each of salt, smoked paprika and garlic powder
You can also add some rice or quinoa if you have leftovers (about 1/3 cup)
Topping: vegan cheese for topping

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Decide on your cooking vessel, I was roasting other veggies so I used a baking sheet but a casserole dish or whatever will hold all of the boats. Set that aside.

Into a skillet, add your onion and cook for about 4 minutes until golden. Add the remaining ingredients through spices. Stirring often. Cook until softened. If using a grain of choice, add that to your sauté pan to mix through the filling.

Prepare your zucchini by scraping out the center with a spoon creating a well that you will fill. Then spoon your filling into each boat.

Place the filled zucchini on the baking sheet. Repeat until all are filled. Top with as much cheese as you prefer. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. The cheese should be nicely melted and the zucchini softened.

Enjoy and leftovers can be stored in an airtight container. Reheat and enjoy for future lunches or dinners.

~ox

— Knead to Cook

Kale or Spinach Flatbread.

by Filed Under: Appetizers, Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Quick Bread, Snacks, Vegan

In a wonderful attempt to start cleaning out our garden, my husband had harvested a ton of kale. I made several dishes including this massaged kale salad and a big batch of sautéed kale for bowls. But when I woke up on Monday, I thought I would attempt to use up some of the cooked kale in a flatbread recipe. It turned out so good – we used the flatbreads as pizza crusts and as a side bread for soups, pastas and salads. I’ve since made 3 batches of these and they hold up nicely in the fridge all week or can easily be frozen. Let’s get started!

Ingredient:

2 cups of greens (you can use cooked or raw)
2 cups of ap flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 – 2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
2 tbl avocado oil
1/2 cup of water
Oil for cooking

Method:

Into a food processor, add your greens through water. Process until a sticky dough forms. In the meantime, heat up a cast iron pan with a drizzle of your favorite oil. Turn your dough out onto a floured rolling surface. Coat the dough ball with flour (it will be sticky) and roll out until about 1/3 inch thick or slightly thicker depending on your taste. Divide into 4 sections. Roll until you achieve a flatbread looking oval. Add to your hot pan, working with one flatbread at a time, allow to cook until golden on one side. Then flip. Cooking took me about 3 minutes or so on each side. Remove and allow to cool.

You can use these as a pizza crust by topping with sauce and cheese and baking at a 450 degree oven until the cheese is melted.

We also used on sandwiches, as a bread side for bowls, salads and soups. Also incredible topped with hummus for a snack.


Can’t wait to hear what you think! This recipe can be adapted to most greens or a combination of what you have on hand. Spinach, chard, dandelion etc. would all be fantastic.

~ox

— Knead to Cook

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