I recently tried out two recipes from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook: one great, one bad. The first recipe was the Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Collard Greens and Quinoa:
This tofu dish was delicious- sweet and slightly spicy! The quinoa and sauteed collards were light in flavor, and when I make this again I'd make extra glaze and keep the collards and quinoa simple. The real star was the glazed tofu. Lolo (from the Vegan Yum Yum blog) adds sugar to her sauce for the tofu, which is what makes it "glazey". I rarely add sugar to anything, but after making this dish I've been adding it to my stir fry sauces quite often. I also loved her "tofu geometry"- cutting the tofu into triangles. I am unreaonably finicky about making sure I fry each piece of tofu on at least two sides, and I've found that cutting the tofu into triangles instead of squares really makes it easier to flip the pieces with a spatula.
The other recipe I tried was the creamy broccoli dal, and I'm sorry to say it was very disappointing. I would love to hear whether anyone else has made it and what they thought of it. When I had my first bowl of soup, I thought the spices were lack-luster and the soup was not as creamy and thick as I had expected. I tried the soup again the next day, since broccoli soups tend to be better the next day, but it was just as blah as it was the night before.
Despite my disappointment in the Creamy Broccoli Dal, I still wholeheartedly recommend Vegan Yum Yum's cookbook. Soon after I bought the book, I made the Red and White Cauliflower Bake and the Baked Mac and Cheeze. The Mac and Cheeze was pretty good (although not as good as the real thing), but the Red and White Cauliflower Bake was AMAZING. It has a layer of marinara sauce, then creamy cauliflower, tofu ricotta and finally bread crumbs on top. It was so creamy that eating it felt sinful, but when I calculated out the nutrition facts it wasn't too bad: about 480 when the casserole is divided into 4 large servings.
I recommend you check out www.veganyumyum.com, if you haven't already. If you like what you see, buy the cookbook!
I'm aware of her blog and the rave reviews, and learned that there is a book too, but i have to admit I have yet to make something from either. Its was interesting to read of your experiences re the recipe, of which I have to admit the tofu dish appeals.
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend.