Recipe: Tasty and Hearty Vegan Sandwiches

One thing that always seemed to be missing for me with sandwiches as a vegan is mayonnaise. It brings a moistness to a sandwich that is hard to obtain without mayonnaise. I have tried different items like Vegannaise or Earth Balance spreadable vegan butter and they are good but my favorite vegan sandwich condiment is hands down Hummus!

My favorite hummus is the Mediterranean Hummus at Trader Joe's. I have recommended this hummus to many people and people who don't even like hummus love this hummus. Second up is the edamame hummus at Trader Joe's. Again, this is a type of hummus that doesn't even taste like regular hummus.

So, here are a two variations of my favorite hummus sandwiches:

Classic Vegan Sandwich

Mediterranean Hummus from Trader Joe's

Tomato

Red/White Onion

Avocado

Spread as much hummus as you like on the bread and add as much of the ingredients as you want and you're done. Delicious!

Edamame Hummus with Avocado Sandwich (great for kids!)

1/2 avocado

1 - 2 tbspns edamame hummus

2 slices of bread - my favorite bread is Milton's Whole Grain Bread

Just spread the hummus on the bread, add the avocado and you're done.

- This is a favorite of my two year old daughter because it's easy for her to wrap her mouth around it and it's very tasty for only having two ingredients.

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Tofu Stir Fry

Sweet and Sour Tofu Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1 pkg of Organic Firm Tofu - previously pressed and frozen (click here for instructions on freezing tofu)

1/2 bottle of Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce

1 Bell Pepper

1 White Onion

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 can of pineapple chunks

Rice or Quinoa - as much as you like to have with your stir-fry

Instructions:

Stir fry garlic and onion for about 30 seconds and then add in bell pepper. Stir fry for another minute then add in pineapple chunks, tofu and sweet chili sauce.

Serve over rice!

Cooking With Frozen Pressed Tofu ...Way More Convenient!

I have found that I can just never make tofu taste like it does when I eat it at restaurants.... until now. I've tried this new method a number of times now and it has come out tasty every time.

First, I take a block (or 2,3 or 4 blocks!) of organic firm tofu and I press the whole block for an hour.

For those who don't know how to press tofu, you take the tofu and wrap it in a dish towel or paper towels and then set it on a cutting board.

I then stack about 5 other cutting boards on top of it. Some people use a number of canned goods on top of one cutting board in order to weigh it down. Whatever you need to do, just make sure the tofu is evenly pressed down between two solid surfaces.

Once it has pressed for an hour, I slice it in two by cutting through the middle lengthwise. I then cut it into about 6 or 7 strips in both directions so that I end up with little 1 inch cubes.

I then scoop all the cubes up and throw it in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer.

When I am ready to use it (after it has frozen), I just take it out of the freezer and I put it in my vegetable steamer and steam it until all the little cubes break apart and they are no longer frozen.

Then I put about a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan and I saute the cubes over medium heat for about 7 minutes.

Then I let them marinate in whatever sauce I chose for a few minutes to soak up some flavor and then mix them into a noodle dish or just serve them as a side by themselves.

They are moist, not too flavored and have a nice texture! Even my husband who can't stand tofu has decided that tofu prepared in this way is edible. That alone is a big thumbs up for this method!

Another reason I like this method of preparation is that I can prepare multiple blocks of tofu at a time and then just have them on hand in the freezer. Before when I would make tofu I would have to remember an hour before dinner to start pressing the tofu. This way they're ready to just pop in the steamer and then saute!