ginger crunch salad

Overview

Time: 30 minutes
Dishes: skillet, measuring cup, salad spinner

Heads Up! mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles

Hello, hello Dear Readers!

The crunch for this meatless, vegetarian and vegan salad comes in the form of the chow mein noodles, cashews and vegetables. The marinade is made with molasses, which is a good source of iron and the mandarin oranges provides the vitamin C to help absorb the iron. Overall, the ingredients work together not only in flavor, but nutrition, as well.

The molasses offers a slight sweetness and nothing overpowering. If you like a little spice, remember to add the cayenne - it'll give it a little kick! 

If you want to make the dressing have more "body," add a few tablespoons of neutral oil to the marinade. As it is, I left it at a single tablespoon of toasted sesame seed oil because I like my foods with less oil. As always, cook to your own taste! 

Enjoy!

Speedy Cooking Tips:

• Press the tofu while making the marinade.
• Marinate the tofu while preparing the salad ingredients.
• Marinate the cashews while tofu bakes.

 

Ginger Crunch Salad

Makes 4 servings 

moderate 

www.ZsusVeganPantry.com

 Preheat air-fryer to 400-F or oven to 450-F

1. Marinade: Combine the marinade ingredients:

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon tamari

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

 

2. Tofu: Press the tofu for 5 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to the Marinade. Set aside for 10 minutes.

1-pound regular tofu

3. Bake: Add the Tofu (without the marinade) to the air-fryer basket. Cook for 10 minutes. If baking in the oven, add to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

4. Cashews: Add the cashews to the marinade while the tofu bakes. When 10 minutes is up, add the cashews to the basket with the Tofu and bake for another 5 minutes (same for the oven). Set the Marinade aside as dressing.

 3/4 cup cashews

5. Salad: Serve Salad ingredients with the Tofu/Cashews and leftover Marinade as dressing:

4 cups shredded lettuce

4 cups baby spinach

1 cup shredded cabbage

3 scallions, sliced

2 carrots, shredded

1 (10-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained

2 cups chow mein noodles

© 2020 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

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creamy vodka sauce pasta

Overview

Time: 30 minutes
Dishes: medium pot, pot for pasta, immersion blender, stand or personal blender 

Heads Up! Nut milk bag and almonds 

Hello, hello Dear Readers!

This is a family favorite, for sure.  It is a meatless, vegetarian and vegan dish. The creamy tomato sauce over a hearty pasta is pretty terrific and I would classify this as a comfort food. 

I also classified this as easy, but there is a caveat: the nut milk must be made fresh. No processed milk will do this justice, or thicken. Freshly made nut milk thickens as it is heated and gives this sauce amazing body. 

This is the nut milk bag I recommend HERE. It is cotton and leaves all nut meal in the bag.

When you strain the milk, twist the top closed and strain right into the sauce (unless this is your very first time - then strain into a bowl to avoid burning yourself). 

With the top twisted closed, start twisting more, as the bag starts releasing the milk. You can massage the bag so you don't tear it with all the pressure. Once you do this a few times, I promise it gets very easy and intuitive. Think: massage and twist. 

And that right there is the most difficult part of the recipe. I used jarred pasta sauce here because it was more economical at the time. In essence, I doctored it. You can use pasta sauce already prepared, or use canned/jarred whole or diced tomatoes. 

When using whole or diced tomatoes, you don't need a lid, but with sauce that is already blended, use a lid ajar, otherwise sauce will splatter everywhere.

Once the nut milk is added, you simmer it until it thickens. Well worth the forage into the skills of nut milking.

Enjoy!

Speedy Cooking Tips:

• Start the water for the pasta first. The water needs to boil and the pasta will take about 10 minutes to cook.
• Then start the sauce. 
• While the sauce cooks, blend the nuts. Strain it into a bowl if this is your first time doing this; it'll avoid mishaps and give you plenty of time to learn to press milk through a bag.

 

Creamy Vodka Sauce Pasta

Makes 4 servings 

easy

Serve with baked tofu and/or garlicky greens

1. Pasta: Cook the pasta in a medium pot of salted boiling water, until   al dente. Drain the pasta:

12 ounces pasta (rigatoni is good)

2. Sauce: Add the ingredients to a medium pot and cook over medium heat, 15 minutes:

1 medium carrot, shredded

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 (28-ounce) can diced or whole tomatoes

1/2 cup vodka (optional)

3. Use an immersion blender to blend the Sauce.

4. Cream: Blend the nuts and water very well. Strain the Cream using a nut milk bag. Strain right into the Sauce. Compost the nut meal.  

1/2 cup raw almonds

3/4 cups water

5. Return Sauce to a simmer to thicken, about 5 minutes, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

6. Serve: Serve the Sauce with the Pasta.  

© 2020 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

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