Eatin' East

You may have noticed that one of my menu-planning tactics is to just pick up one cookbook, and make a whole bunch of dinners from that book for 3-4 days. It helps give me a little focus. Recently I ordered "30-Minute Vegan: Taste of the East," since I liked their "Taste of Europe" edition so much. I've only made a few things, but so far Taste of the East has been quite a hit!

Cauliflower Chickpea Subji and Tofu in Tomato Cream Sauce (Shahi Paneer)

The book suggested serving these two dishes together, and it was a good idea! They really balanced each other : the chickpea-cauliflower dish was light and fresh and full of herby green flavors, while the Shahi Paneer was rich, creamy, and robust.

I loved them together, but I especially loved the spicy tomato dish. The tofu paneers were lightly marinated and then baked before being included in the stew, and they turned out great. Also, I used unsweetened soy yogurt in place of cashews to cut down on the calories, and the meal was just great. I'll definitely make these dishes again.

 Thai Summer Rolls with Nuoc Cham dipping sauce and Lemongrass Tofu Cutlets

Here's an up-close pic of the tofus, cut up for the spring rolls. This was probably my least favorite of the recipes I've tried so far. The tofus themselves are pretty good, but nothing too dynamite.

 Here's my table laid out with all the fixin's! I was happy to finally use some of my rice paper rolls and rice noodles. They have been in my pantry for far too long. Honestly, apparently I sorta stink at rolling up spring rolls. Mine were all loose and weird and hard to eat. How do people make them so snug and tight? The flavor was pretty good, but not really worth all the work. I did like the tart-spicy Nuoc Cham dipping sauce though... and it was super easy.

The most fun part of this dinner was that Mr VE&T and I each rolled our own Spring Rolls. Mr VE&T harkened back to his college days and his rolls all looked like joints, which was sorta funny. I never explored that scene, so mine looked like little burritos (because, I have explored the burrito scene).

Tofu Vindaloo and Saag Aloo 

This dinner was a bonafide homerun. Mr. VE&T pretty much fell in love with the Tofu Vindaloo. It was a super umami blast of rich, intense flavors. I used the Tempeh Vindaloo recipe, but used tofu instead and roasted the tofus for a longer time, so they were more firm, the way we like them.

The Saag Aloo was a good balance with all of its greeny goodness. I used kale instead of spinach, because that's what I had in the fridge. It was super good. But, like I said, Mr. VE&T loved loved loved this dish, and began quoting Shakespeare:

This actually happened!

Ever since then, he has been asking for Tofu Vindaloo again!