Thursday, November 15, 2012

Spicy Meat-alternative lunch.

Food is food. The combinations are endless as long as you let your fantasy roam.
But, in order to stay healthy, you have to ensure that you always have your serving of protein, greens and carbs.
A good guide is this :

vegetables 50%
protein 30%
starch 20%


To make it a little easier, just make sure the protein you are eating is as thick and wide as the palm of your hand. It's different for each individual. Opt for rice and potatoes for starch, instead of pasta. In my diet I've substituted pasta with rice noodles/egg noodles or rice.

In this case meat-alternatives made of tofu are being used as the source for protein.

You'll notice that in most recipes I will be listing frozen vegetables.
The reason is simple.:

  • Frozen vegetables as cheaper than fresh ones. 
  • They are washed at the collection site right before freezing (with water cleaner than tap water in your home).
  • they are more fresh than "fresh" vegetables since they are frozen right after collecting them
    •  therefore their nutrients are unaltered while for "fresh" vegetables a lot of nutrients are lost in transit.
  • they last a loooong time in the freezer.
this is the final product:


Ingredients
  • firm tofu - half the size of your palm, as thick as your palm.
  • half a tofurky spicy italian sausage - google "tofurky" it's a company name
  • frozen vegetables of your choice - thawed
  • one portion rice vermicelli noodles
  • masala curry powder for marinating the tofu in
  • a smidge of oregano
  • soy sauce to taste
Start by spreading some masala curry powder on your tofu and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. 
In the meantime start making the rice vermicelli noodles in a pot, add some soy sauce in the water.
when they are ready, take it off the stove and drop in your vegetables. They will be warmed up but 
not boiled.

Take your tofu sausage and your masala curry tofu and lightly fry it in a heated pan with olive oil for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending how strong your heat is. It should get crispy on the outside while staying nice and soft on the inside. Sprinkle some oregano over it for the aroma - but careful, don't want to put too much since oregano is bitter!

And that's it!

The spicyness of the sausage is balanced by the vegetables and the noodles. Adjust it to your tastes.
Recipes should be your starting guideline. If you have any ideas then let me know! 
It's a delicious meal for cold days :)




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