Tag Archives: tofu

Baked ‘Eggnog Custard’ Pie

15 Dec

When it comes to holiday pies, I’ve always expressed my dislike of pumpkin pie as the standard for the season. Don’t get me wrong, it smells amazing, but the texture is absolutely not in line with what texture I think it should be. Plus, I find most other pies to be much more enjoyable, especially creamy, custard style pies. There’s something nice about a baked fruit pie, and of course pecan pie has a very special place in my heart, but a custard pie can steal the show.

What would be a better combination than my favorite holiday drink and the texture of a custard pie? Probably nothing. In fact, I enjoyed this pie so much I made it twice, and ate it for breakfast for a week. Topped with coconut whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg, this is like the solid version of eggnog.

In testing this recipe, I found a combination of starches wasn’t quite enough to set the custard, but then remembered my shelf stable Mori-Nu tofu in the pantry. Suddenly, I realized the combination of tofu, starch, and eggnog was going to be the answer. The creamy texture of Mori-Nu Silken Tofu makes this pie especially dreamy, and adds complete plant-based protein to the end product. Plus, the flavor of the tofu perfectly blends with eggnog without overpowering it. I’m always sure to drain my tofu before using, as added liquid in this recipe can make the pie not able to set properly.

Since this recipe relies on the heat from the oven to set the custard, prepping the pie includes pouring a liquid into a baked crust. Be VERY careful moving this to the oven, since the liquid can spill easily. Trust me, I made this mistake during recipe testing, and while my kitchen smelled of eggnog for a while, it was just not a fun mess to clean.

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Vegan Baked Brie

15 May

This recipe for vegan baked brie is so authentic, you could take it to your Francophile best friend’s house, serve it for book club, and not a soul would know the difference. We’re utilizing some uncommon ingredients to achieve this texture, similar to my recipe for mozzarella and cheddar. Since I wanted a milder flavor for this baked brie, I used my favorite tofu, Mori-Nu Silken Tofu Extra Firm, to balance out the strong cashew flavor.  I love that Mori-Nu is a complete protein, so you can still get protein without the dairy. I think you’ll find that the ease of using a shelf stable tofu like Mori-Nu for this recipe makes the several hour wait to eat worthwhile! And its velvety texture contributes to the creaminess of this delicious plant-based “cheese.” Now into the good stuff.

The first steps of this recipe tell you to blend all of the ingredients until completely smooth in a high speed blender. If you don’t have a high speed blender, you can soak the cashews ahead of time to make your blending easier. I’d like to make a note here that a high speed blender can get this mixture up to a temperature so that the tapioca starch and kappa carrageenan begin to do their starchy magic. Don’t be alarmed if this happens, it will get heated completely through in the saucepan anyway!

Since tapioca starch and kappa carrageenan have different activation heats, we will need to heat our mixture completely up to above boiling for it to properly set. I cook my cheese over medium heat in a non stick saucepan while constantly stirring to avoid the mixture breaking. The cheese will begin to curdle slowly, then as each starch gets activated, it will smooth out into a creamy, stretchy sauce.

After cooking, our cheese mixture needs to cool and solidify a bit. The coconut oil in this recipe will help it firm up upon refrigeration, so don’t be worried if the texture seems too loose when transferring to a lined bowl. It may take up to four hours for your cheese to fully “set”, but since we’re cooking it in a puff pastry, you can skip this step as soon as the cheese is firm enough to “plop”.

When cheese is fully set, just wrap in a vegan friendly puff pastry and bake until puff pastry is golden brown, and the cheese will simply melt inside of the crust. This is the part where your own creativity can come in, puff pastry can be shaped in a variety of ways, and its excellent topped with a sweet jam or fresh herbs. Change it up to your liking! Click below to go to the recipe.

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Edamame Flavored Tofu Dumplings

27 Dec

In between the holidays and the new year, I tend to get a bit restless and sluggish about cooking. It just seems like the days between Christmas and the New Year are made for lazing about and not really doing anything. But I am always in the mood for dumplings, especially when they are light and fresh and come in a crispy rice paper wrapper. With a bit of leftover veggies and a box of shelf stable Mori-Nu Silken Tofu from the pantry, these come together so quickly, and without the hassle of folding dumpling wrappers. The wrapping method for the rice paper dumplings is very similar to how you would fold a burrito, just pull all the sides in fold until you have a small packet to cook. Since the rice paper wrappers are already moistened before wrapping, there’s no need to add water into the pan to steam the dumplings, simply crisp and enjoy!

I had seen multiple versions of these rice paper dumplings making the rounds on social media, but when I saw Mori-Nu Silken Tofu released a new bunch of flavors (Yuzu AND Edamame) I knew they would be a perfect addition to these. The pop of green from the edamame-flavored tofu is gorgeous and the flavor compliments the shiitake mushrooms and soy sauce perfectly. If you would like to substitute, I’d recommend using the Mori-Nu Silken Tofu Extra Firm.

You can add in as many vegetables as you like to this-it’s a very versatile way to use up leftovers from veggie platters and vegetables that didn’t quite make the cut for your charcuterie board. If these dumplings don’t strike your fancy, I’d be happy to recommend trying my mapo tofu dumplings.

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Mapo Tofu Inspired Dumplings

30 Jun

My kids and husband can all attest to my unending love of dumplings, gyoza, potstickers, ravioli, and any other foods that include a filling stuffed inside of carbohydrates. For Mother’s Days, I often request a bag of premade dumplings and feast on them all day and night.

But the premade version could never compare to these!

This recipe was a combination of leftovers that needed to be used up (dumpling wrappers and mapo tofu) but I loved them so much I started making them regularly. These mapo tofu inspired dumplings combine all the spicy, sweet, and umami flavors I love about mapo with the comfort of a bite sized wheat wrapper.

As usual, I’m using my favorite Mori-Nu Silken Tofu for this. I love having their tofu on hand for dishes like this because it stays fresh on the shelf and it has the perfect texture for slipping into some crispy and chewy dumplings. Unlike water packed tofu, Mori-Nu Silken Tofu doesn’t require a lot of pressing or draining to cook which makes it more accessible and quicker to prep!

There are many types of wonton or dumpling wrappers you could use for this, just be sure to check the ingredients for eggs! If you can find round wrappers, those will work as well, just do a traditional crimping fold to keep them shut.

For my mapo tofu I always use ground Szechuan pepper and a spicy broad bean paste. My brand of choice is Lee Kum Kee, but there are many different options you can use-just adjust the taste based on your spice tolerance!

For folding these, it’s quite simple, just wet the edges of each wrapper, fold corner to corner, and then gently pinch the outside tips together (see above.) You can also look up videos on YouTube for different folding methods if you’d like another shape of dumpling.

Make sure to use a fully hot skillet and a neutral oil for cooking these. The splash of water in the pan helps steam the wrappers and gives them a soft texture, but will splatter everywhere if not covered. I love my cast iron skillet for cooking these because it holds so much heat and the bottoms crisp up perfectly.

Click on read more below to get the recipe!

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Menemen Inspired Tofu

21 Feb

A friend sent me this recipe from Serious Eats and I knew it was going to be breakfast today. Smoky, slightly spicy, and perfect for soaking up with a bit of bread. I might not ever eat anything else for breakfast ever again.

I had never had menemen before, but it’s reminiscent of shakshuka. Something about tomato dishes packed with flavor makes for such a nice savory breakfast. The fact that I can pull most of the ingredients for this out of my cupboard is super easy, but I can’t wait to be able to make this with fresh garden tomatoes over the summer.

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Tofu Omelet

8 Aug

Every time I’m at a hotel, I wish there was a totally vegan breakfast buffet. Does this exist somewhere? My favorite thing is the folded omelets in the steamer trays. Something about the perfectly sized bits of yellow is so enticing. I’ve been spending a lot of time cooking up breakfasts on weekends and these omelets have become one of my favorites, since it’s so quick to throw together and very little clean up!

I’ve been obsessed with the recipe for tofu eggs from Post Punk Kitchen, which is what inspired this omelet recipe.  This is such an easy breakfast with some pantry ingredients-you can absolutely put anything you want in it. My favorite options include spinach, tomatoes, peppers, black beans, any variety of vegan cheeses, or zucchini.

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This recipe starts with blending all the “egg” ingredients in the blender. As I said in my previous post, I’m particular about how my pantry is stocked, but one thing I always have is a case of Mori-Nu Tofu. Not only is it shelf stable, I can use it in multiple dishes, like mapo tofu, baked tofu, or in place of the chickpeas in my popular chickwheat shreds. You first need to drain the Mori-Nu Silken Tofu Extra Firm.

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Add all the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth. It will seem like a pale yellow, but it brightens up a lot once cooked!

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The next step is to preheat the oven and grease two pie pans. You could also use cast iron skillets or metal cake pans. Any shallow bakeware will work, but glass seems to let the omelets release the easiest.

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After they’re in the oven, prepare the inner ingredients. Since they won’t spend much time in the oven, they will need to be heated thoroughly beforehand. I chose chicken of the woods mushrooms for these, because I happened to come across them while foraging, but any store bought mushroom will do.

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You’ll be able to tell that the omelets are done after the tops firm up. The color will be much more yellow and vibrant.

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After topping with cheese, veggies, and whatever else you’d like, you should put it back in the oven to melt the cheese. I highly recommend serving these with everything you would find at a breakfast buffet-hashbrowns, waffles, toast, bagels, vegan sausages, and lots of orange juice.

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Chocolate Silken Tofu Thin Mint Pie

16 May

Are you like me and have held on to your last few boxes of Mori-Nu Silken Tofu and Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies in case of emergency? Well, I think we’ve hit that emergency threshold with the current state of events. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been craving lots of sweets, carbs, and creamy, comfort foods. I usually make this recipe for summer cookouts or potlucks, but with none of those on the horizon, I’m unfortunately going to have to polish off this whole pie plate by myself.


I’d like to think I’m up to that challenge.
If you’d like to join me, you can find the recipe by clicking more below. 


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Faux King Crab

24 Jan

I could tell a pretty embarrassing story about crab here. I’ll spare you the details and just share this recipe for faux King crab instead. If you say it three times fast, you’ll laugh just as much as you would have at my embarrassing story.

Algal oil is pretty essential for the ocean flavor of this recipe. I don’t really recommend skipping it and it will give you a good DHA boost for the day, but in a pinch you could use a similar amount of kelp powder. It can be found in the Amazon link below or at your local natural food store in the supplement section as vegan DHA or Omega-3. Please see my notes below the recipe regarding tofu/agar.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, I recommend steaming on the stove or in a conventional steamer for the same amount of time. A stove top pressure cooker could also be used.

If you make this recipe, be sure to use the hashtag #fauxkingcrab on Instagram or Facebook, I would love to see your results!

Many, many thanks to Somer McGowan of Vedged Out for assisting in recipe testing for this recipe.

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Tofu Pad Kee Mao

13 Jan

By popular request on my Facebook page, I am sharing my recipe for tofu pad kee mao. I had posted this recipe for pad see ew years ago, which also calls for the same flat fresh noodles. Our store carries them in two pound packages in sheets which I cut into smaller portions. If you can’t find fresh noodles, you can absolutely use dried wide rice noodles.

Traditionally this recipe is made with Thai birds eye chili peppers. I’m currently catering to palates that don’t appreciate spice, so I choose to omit the peppers. If you want to use them, add about 5 or 6 during the cooking step with the other vegetables.

I love using Beyond Meat crumbles for this dish, but they’re not a necessity. Feel free to omit or substitute with your favorite seitan recipe.

Algal oil adds a similar fishy flavor that fish sauce usually adds to the recipe. Flax or hemp oil can totally be substituted for a similar flavor, or you can add your favorite vegan fish sauce.

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Review: Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg

24 Nov

Long before the ages of the new vegan cheeses, there was Follow Your Heart. Their vegan cheeses were some of the first I tried when my husband had gone vegan and I was vegetarian. I’ll be honest, as a vegetarian, I wasn’t impressed.

And then they went and revamped their cheeses.  Holy cow…Have you tried them yet? They are my new favorite cheese on the market. Seriously, put down your phone/computer/tablet and go buy some or order it online.

So naturally when I heard Follow Your Heart was coming out with a Vegan egg, I was intrigued. Anyone who has been vegan for a certain period of time has tried the tofu scramble or chickpea flour omelettes, but there’s just something intrinsically different about scrambled eggs that neither can emulate.

And that’s where VeganEgg comes in.

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