Hello everyone, Jess here.
Happy Meatless Monday, everyone! Tonight as my counterpart Sarah was off serving up 700 servings of decadent goodies at the Taste of Chelmsford event, I was cooking up something new.
Recently, I tried a dish at Life Alive in Lowell. If you haven’t gone, I recommend giving it a try. Their yummy sauces have a way of making simply prepared vegetables dance on the palette. I was inspired to try to recreate one of the sauces used in their dish the “Swami”. After a quick Google session, I realized I was far from alone in my attempt to reverse engineer this sauce. It has a really great blend of flavors that would compliment just about any fresh veggie.
I tried a couple of versions, and most enjoyed this one by Andrea Lucas.
- 2 tsp fresh ginger
- 2 lg garlic cloves
- 2 Tbs white miso paste
- 1 ½ Tbs honey
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar (mirin may also work)
- 1/3 cup cold water
- ½ cup canola or other oil
A quick pulse in the Vitamix and this was good to go! (I’ll need a few more recon trips to Life Alive to get the taste just right, but this is definitely a great sauce!)
I quick fried some drained tofu cubes in just a little bit of olive oil. The key to a crispy and deliciously golden tofu is to make sure it is adequately drained of water. I will allow my tofu to drain in the fridge on a plate lined with a dedicated tofu towel for a full day before cooking it, and have found that this method makes a big difference.
For veggies, I quick marinated some sliced shiitake mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil combined with a teaspoon of soy sauce. Slivers of julienned beets and an onion also joined in.
About 8 minutes into the sauté, I added chopped bok choy, starting with the white parts (which take a little longer to cook) and then quickly adding the green.
Here was my bowl. The tofu was served on a bed of quinoa, topped off with the veggies, and a handful of raw cashews and sprouts for a bit of fresh crunch.
Here was Glen’s bowl. He went for the “runner-up” sauce that I made, and added slivered almonds to the top of his. It was quite good and he even enjoyed the beets (this is unheard of!)
Hope you like this as much as we did! Until tomorrow, sweet and savory dreams!