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Thanksgiving meal planning: Moist Tofu Cornbread #glutenfree #dairyfree #vegan

Moist Tofu Cornbread

As an Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leader,  I know that the Thanksgiving holiday is especially hard for anyone who’s gluten free, has food sensitivities or allergies, or are just trying to eat healthy since everything seems to have wheat flour, cream, sugar, butter and nuts. That’s why we’ll be having a chat at Udi’s Gluten Free  Community next week on Wednesday, November 7 at 8 pm EST to discuss the challenges Thanksgiving brings. You can find the chat here. Hope you can join us!

It’s also why I’d like to share a recipe I got from Simply Soy, a wonderful cookbook put together by the Soyfoods Council. It was given to me earlier this year when they invited me to Iowa to learn about soybean production and the benefits of soy in your diet.


Planning a southern Thanksgiving

I’m making a southern-style Thanksgiving this year as it’s our first year living in Georgia. To me, nothing is more southern than cornbread dressing with the turkey, so I’ll be making Bon Appetit’s Cornbread, Sausage, and Pecan Dressing, but using pine nuts instead of pecans since my daughter’s allergic to nuts.

Unfortunately, most cornbread mixes contain wheat flour or “from scratch recipes” contain milk or eggs. Instead, this recipe from Didi Emmons, author of Entertaining for a Veggie Planet, uses tofu to make a dense, moist bread, and I’ve substituted an all-purpose gluten free baking mix for the flour. You can make it in any size pan, including an 8-inch square or round cake pan. It’s also a great cornbread for vegans as it contains no butter, dairy or eggs.

Moist Tofu Cornbread

Moist Tofu Cornbread

Recipe courtesy of the Soyfoods Council

Yield: 12 slices

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose gluten free baking mix
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh or dried rosemary, optional
  • 8 ounces firm water-packed tofu, drained
  • 5 1/2  tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or oil a 9×5–inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, all-purpose gluten free baking mix, baking powder, salt, and rosemary. Mix well.
  3. In another bowl, squeeze the tofu through your hands until it is the consistency of scrambled eggs. Stir in the oil and 1 cup water. Add this to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. (The batter will be very dry.)
  4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 45 – 50 minutes.
  5. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then rap the pan sharply to remove the bread, and cool the bread on a rack for at least another 20 minutes before slicing.

________________
Disclosure: As a Udi’s Gluten Free Community Leader I’m compensated for my time and efforts on their behalf.

I was invited to an all expenses paid editor’s trip by the Soyfoods Council. All experiences and opinions are my own.

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Posted on November 2, 2012 in Featured,Recipes,Thanksgiving and tagged as , , , ,

Zucchini Bread Pancakes #secretrecipeclub #glutenfree #dairy free

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Today’s Secret Recipe Club recipe should be perfect for anyone with too much zucchini in the garden and too much zucchini bread in the freezer. That was the case with Andrea of Adventures in All Things Food when she created her recipe for My Zucchini Troubles Turned Zucchini Bread Pancakes. Since we had no garden this year, I went and bought a zucchini. In case you have to do the same, one smallish zucchini makes about 2 cups of shredded zucchini. So much for eyeballing it because I bought three! Oh well, another excuse to make more pancakes!

I made a few substitutions to make these gluten free and dairy free, but feel free to use Andrea’s original recipe. My kids ate their covered in flavored applesauce. I used tofu sour cream on mine. Delish!

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Adapted from Adventures in All Things Food, who originally adapted it from Smitten Kitchen

Makes about 9 to 10 pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups packed zucchini, shredded and patted dry
  • Cooking spray
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons agave nectar
  • 1/4 cup tofu sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup gluten free all purpose flour mix
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 lemon, zested

Directions:

  1. Grate your zucchini first, pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture and set aside.
  2. Preheat your pancake skillet. Coat with cooking spray when heated.
  3. In a medium bowl combine the eggs, oil, agave, tofu sour cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk well.
  4. Stir in the shredded zucchini.
  5. In a large bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients, minus the lemon zest.
  6. Add the wet mix to the dry mix. Add the zest and fold everything in till all ingredients are moistened.
  7. Pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter in your pre-heated skillet.
  8. Cook until golden on one side and steam bubbles start to form on the top.
  9. Flip and wait till the other side turns golden brown.

More from the Secret Recipe Club!

Want to join the Secret Recipe Club? You can sign up here.

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Posted on October 15, 2012 in Breakfast,Featured,Gluten Free,Recipes,Veggies and tagged as ,

Tofu Sour Cream #NAKANORiceVinegars

Tofu Sour Cream

As promised in my Healthier Lemon Pasta post for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, here’s my version of Tofu Sour Cream is based on this recipe from the Vegan Epicurean. I made the following changes to her recipe:

Vinegar: I used NAKANO Natural Rice Vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar. I find that NAKANO’s rice vinegars have a milder flavor and are less acidic, which I like. You could have a little fun with this recipe and use some of NAKANO’s flavored vinegars, too, like Roasted Garlic or Red Pepper, for a fun flavor twist.

Tofu: I was confused over tofu the Vegan Epicurean used, since I’m not familiar with Mori Nu lite silken tofu (firm). Is it firm or silken? After doing a little research, I found out that all of Mori Nu’s tofus are silken and come in soft, firm or extra firm. However, other brands’ silken tofus are actually soft tofus, which are good for soups, dips and smoothies.

I ended up using Nasoya’s Silken Tofu, so the consistency of my sour cream was very runny. This was fine for my Healthier Lemon Pasta, but next time I want to make something the consistency of sour cream, I’ll use a firm tofu. I also changed the amount of tofu used since I like using the full tub. Have a few ounces left over of tofu means I have to remember it’s in the refrigerator and use it in a recipe before it goes bad. Usually, I forget and find a science experiment waiting for me in the far reaches of the fridge. Hate that!

Lemon zest and lemon juice: I cut back on both ingredients and still could taste the lemon. That was fine since I was using it in a lemon flavored dish. However, next time I may cut back even further. I love lemon, but it doesn’t go with everything.

Tofu Sour Cream Natural

Recipe based on one by the Vegan Epicurean

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

  • 1  package of firm tofu, preferably organic (14-16 ounces)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons NAKANO Natural Rice Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon agave
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • finely grated zest of 1/2  lemon

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process several minutes, until very creamy and smooth.
  2. Firms up when chilled. Refrigerate sour cream until it is ready to be used.

Connect with NAKANO

Sign up for Mizkan’s “Splash Recipe Club!”. When you join the club you get exclusive recipes, access to special features and more! Each month one new member could win a $150 leading up to a grand prize of $600 in March 2013. You can also connect with NAKANO on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.

_____________________
Disclosure: Mizkan, the parent company of NAKANO, provided compensation for this post. All opinions and experiences are my own.

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Posted on September 11, 2012 in Featured,Recipes and tagged as , ,

Meatless Monday: Gluten and Dairy Free Lasagna

Gluten and Dairy Free Lasagna Due to our impending move, I've been trying to use up food in my pantry. I was amused to find three types of lasagna noodles - gluten free, whole wheat and no cook - in the cupboard. This has inspired me to make a  Meatless Monday lasagna dish for those of you who are gluten free and avoiding dairy products.

If you’re Italian-American, and make lasagna for Thanksgiving, this is also a perfect dish if you have family members or friends who have milk allergies or who are vegan. I’ve created this recipe to fit into a large square Ziploc® VersaGlass™ container. Double it to fit into a regular lasagna pan.

I was pleasantly surprised how well this lasagna turned out. The "ricotta" layer was delicious and tasted like the real thing. The kids agreed and asked for seconds!

Finally, while the Nutritional Yeast Cheezy Sauce is yummy, it’s a bit odd and unattractive looking. (That’s why I photographed it this way instead of showing you a neatly cut slice.) Even after cooking, it’s still partially liquid and the color isn’t quite the same as melted mozzarella. Instead, you may want to use a vegan, casein free almond, rice or soy cheese to cover the lasagna before cooking.

Gluten and Dairy Free Lasagna

Based on recipes from Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce, either homemade or from a jar
  • 1 recipe for Ricotta-Style Filing (see below)
  • 6 to 9 gluten free lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
  • 1 recipe for Nutritional Yeast Cheezy Sauce (see below)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Build layers in your large square Ziploc Versaglass container starting with half of the spaghetti sauce
  3. Add a layer of noodles.
  4. Add a layer of all the Ricotta-Style Filing.
  5. Add a second layer of noodles.
  6. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce.
  7. Cover the lasagna with the Nutritional Yeast Cheezy Sauce.
  8. Tightly cover the pan with foil (NOT the plastic lid!) and bake for 30-35 minutes.
  9. Let the lasagna cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Ricotta-Style Filling

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound firm tofu
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon stevia
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

  1. Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender.
  2. Blend until a fine, grainy texture similar to ricotta cheese is formed. Do not over process or your filling will be too runny.

Nutritional Yeast Cheezy Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 cups unsweetened soy milk
  • 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
  • 3/4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

  1. Stir together with a whisk all the ingredients except for the olive oil in a 1 to 2-quart saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking or stirring constantly.
  3. When the sauce begins to thicken, add in olive oil and whisk until blended.

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Posted on November 14, 2011 in Featured,Gluten Free,Recipes and tagged as , , ,

Saying goodbye to summer – Mixed Berry & Banana Sorbet {vegan friendly, sugar free}

Mixed Berry Sorbet The kids are back to school signaling the end of one of the craziest summers we’ve had in a long time. My husband was laid off in June and he’s spent the summer being a stay at home dad while job hunting. As the current bread winner, I’ve been busier than ever working here at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet (I hope you’ve noticed) and on other freelance work.

It may also be our last summer in Colorado, so we’re trying to savor every last bit of it, from dinners we make from locally caught trout to berries, vegetables and herbs we grow in our yard.

One of the things I wanted to do this summer was make homemade ice cream from our berries. I bought a Cuisinart 2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker last spring with plans to do so, but I didn’t have the time until last week.

Instead of cream, whole milk and sugar, I wanted to use Native Forest Organic Light Coconut Milk and liquid stevia so it would be dairy free and relatively guilt free, too. I did a search and found a recipe for Blackberry Ice Cream from Kristen at Passion 4 Eating. I liked that she used bananas in her recipe, which was perfect because I had a few overly ripe ones in the refrigerator. I substituted liquid stevia for the sugar Kristen used, and played around with ratios and amounts a bit.

The mixed berries I used were mostly raspberries and some blackberries from my garden. You can use any type of berries you like.

Saying goodbye to summer – Mixed Berry & Banana Sorbet {vegan friendly, sugar free}

Mixed Berry & Banana Sorbet

Ingredients

  • 2 small bananas
  • 2 - 13.5 ounce cans light coconut milk
  • 1 3/4 cups fresh or frozen berries, thawed
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid stevia, divided
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Directions

  1. Peel bananas, and toss into a blender with the coconut milk. Blend until combined.
  2. Add the blackberries, 1 tablespoon of the liquid stevia, the vanilla extract and the lemon juice. Blend until the berries are completely pureed.
  3. Taste, add more stevia if too tart. Add a bit more stevia than you think you need as the flavor will change when the liquid sorbet is frozen.
  4. When you’re satisfied with the level of sweetness, make sorbet in a two quart ice cream maker according to manufacture’s directions.
  5. Serve immediately.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes
Nutrition Grade D from CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 1
Servings: 1 3/4 quarts or 20 scoops
  • Serving size: 1 scoop
  • Calories: 39
  • Calories from Fat: 19
  • Total Fat: 2.1g
  • Saturated fat: 1.9g
  • Unsaturated fat: 0.0g
  • Sodium: 10mg
  • Total Carbohydrates: 5.4g
  • Sugar: 2.2g
  • Fiber: 0.7g
  • Protein: 0.7g
  • Cholesterol: 0g

Mixed Berry Sorbet

Should you buy an ice cream maker?

I thought my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker did a good job – the sorbet was creamy though a bit softer than regular ice cream.

However, the sorbet turned into a solid mass when put into the freezer. If you have leftover sorbet, you’ll need to thaw it out before serving. If you leave it out too long, it’ll turn into a milk shake. You can either put it back in the ice cream maker to turn it back into a sorbet. Or you can drink it as a shake – up to you!

I’ve also made traditional ice cream using whole milk and whipping cream in the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. I actually had better results with the sorbet as the ice cream was too runny! The recipe I used for the ice cream made a bit more than two quarts, so I feel my ice cream maker does better with smaller batches.

You can’t beat the price making your own ice cream, especially if you have berries or fruit growing in your backyard. What I really like is that you can control what goes into your ice cream or other frozen treats, so you can make sure your recipe fits any dietary needs, food sensitivities or allergies you may have.

You can also make grown up concoctions like frozen margaritas from better-for-you ingredients like fresh lime juice and berries, agave nectar, stevia and organic tequila. Sound like fun? Then go for it!

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Posted on August 23, 2011 in Desserts,Featured,Recipes,Weight Watchers and tagged as , ,

No dairy, no eggs and no sugar raspberry mousse

raspberry mousse

One of the most challenging aspects of eating around my food sensitivities is trying to make desserts that are sugar free, dairy free and gluten free. My first try was a very successful sugar free, dairy free chocolate mousse, which my daughter, Lucie and I LOVE. It was based on a recipe from Clean Start: Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well that used tofu as the base for the mousse.

Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking cookbook

My next attempt at a tofu mousse dessert was a recipe that uses frozen fruit concentrates as a sweetener. Brilliant! It comes from Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking: Over 200 Delicious Recipes to Help You Live a Healthier, Allergy-Free Life by Susan O’Brien.

Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking is one of my favorite gluten free/sugar free cookbooks since it works so well with my food sensitivities. While Susan includes nutritional analysis for all of her recipes, she doesn’t include fiber grams, which you need if you’re doing Weight Watchers. Instead, I’ve used nutritional info from CalorieCount.com, even though it shows this recipe to have twice as much calories, fat and protein than is noted in the cookbook.

Not sure why her numbers are off – or maybe CalorieCount.com is wrong. Who knows?

Raspberry Mousse

Based on the recipe from Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking by Susan O’Brien

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound extra-firm tofu
  • 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
  • 3 tablespoons frozen pineapple juice concentrate
  • 2 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot

Directions:

  1. Cut a slit in the tofu container and carefully pour out the water.
  2. Remove the block of tofu and carefully place it on a pile of plain paper towels – about 4 or 5 sheets. (You can also do this with a clean kitchen towel or plain washcloth.) Gently press the tofu into the paper towels to remove the excess water. You may want to turn the tofu block and “blot” it on the paper towels to remove the water. Do this until your paper towel pile is completely damp. If you want, create a new pile of paper towels and repeat. The more moisture you remove, the thicker your mousse.
  3. Place tofu in food processor and whip until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
  4. Add the raspberries, juice concentrates and the arrowroot.
  5. Blend until smooth.
  6. Spoon into serving dishes, Keep refrigerated until served.

Nutritional information

  • Calories 127
  • Calories from Fat 31
  • Total Fat 3.4g
  • Cholesterol 0mg
  • Sodium 6mg
  • Total Carbohydrates 20.2g
  • Dietary Fiber 3.0g
  • Sugars 15.9g
  • Protein 6.2g

Nutrition Grade A from CalorieCount 

Weight Watchers POINTS = 2

This Mama’s tips

  • Remember to read the labels of concentrate you use as many have added sugars or use a combination of fruit juices. I used 100% apple juice and 100% pineapple juice concentrates. You can use orange juice or other fruit juice combinations that you think would work well with raspberries. Experiment and have fun with it!
  • My kids found the raspberry tofu mousse a bit tart, so you may want to sprinkle on some powdered stevia or drizzle a little agave nectar on their servings. (The adults I served this to felt the sweetness level was just fine.)
  • Remember to dish up small servings as the protein in the tofu really fills you up.
  • You can use fresh raspberries, too!
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Posted on March 13, 2011 in Desserts,Egg Free, Food Allergies,Featured,Food Sensitivities,Gluten Free,Recipes,Weight Watchers and tagged as , ,