Tot Failure

I'm not really sure what possessed me to try Cauliflower Tots, but I did.

So I'm a native Idahoan.  Tater Tots were invented here.  Why mess with perfection?   But I was on the store to buy cauliflower to roast. And had considered mincing some up  to replace rice for a stir fry I was planning on.  When I decided to make a sandwich out of a portabello mushroom, I was reminded of a recipe I had seen someone post about tots made out of cauliflower.

So I reviewed a dozen recipes, all the while, in the back of my head asking "Why?"
They were either full of fat from cheese & bacon, making the equal or higher in calories than the original.  Or they had crunchy ingredients like bread crumbs that pushed up the carb count.  Or both.

I focused on texture and finding a balance between fat and carbs.   I chose to hand chop my cauliflower to keep the texture chunkier. I also steamed it in the microwave for 3 minutes rather than boiling it. This was a 1 pound head.

  I used 1 cup panko breadcrumbs for crunch.  And 1 ounce of very finely shredded asiago cheese for flavor. I also added a spoon of fried garlic for both flavor and crunch.

I added 2 eggs for a binder. The texture was too loose, so I rolled it sushi style in waxed paper and put it in the freezer for 10 min.

 That didn't help. They didn't firm up.  It was a complete and utter disaster. 

I tried making balls, using a measuring spoon as a mold, as well as just mushing it together with my finger tips.  I must have spent 20 minutes trying to make blobs that would stick together. 

 Instead of baking 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven, it took over 40 minutes at 450 to brown these up.

They were tasty, but not worth all the work.

Dips.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a post about my friends.

High protein bean dips are amazing.  I love making homemade hummus.  By making it from scratch, I have lots of adjustments I can make, besides the fact that it is a fraction of the price of pre-made. 

My Iraqi restaurant owner spilled the beans and gave me the secret of insanely smooth hummus.  After soaking the beans, he removes all the outer skins on every bean.  I am not that patient.  But I cook mine from scratch and add 1/2 the garlic in the cooking, which mellows the garlic flavor.  Then I "rub" the skins of the beans when they are soaking in water.  My goal is at least 50% peeled beans, which is enough to make it really smooth.  And I freeze it in 1/4 cup portions. 

 This combo is Black beans with home made pico de gillo. 

Once again, I am cheaper than I am lazy.  This is just 1/2 onion, 2 tomatoes, 1 jalapeno, and either cilantro or parsley ( I make a batch of each since hubby is a cilantro hater.) I was going to buy pico for this challenge,but the $4/pound price was off putting.  The scratch version was less than $2/ pound, and I could adapt to our variable taste with less onion, and cilantro vs parsley.

 I fell in love with a carrot/ginger soup and decided to replicate that flavor with some red lentils.

And this is how it turns out.  I freeze them in 1/4 cup portion cups from the local restaurant supply store. By mid day they are soft enough to scoop.  With veggies or whole grain crackers.  15 carbs/ 1/2 cup. Plus what ever you're dipping with.  The high fiber content drops the net carbs even more.  But more importantly, it is yummy and keeps you from being hungry or blood sugar spikes.
Enjoy.

Soy

 Tofu.  BLECH.  I have had a lifelong battle trying to like soy products.  It's mostly about texture.  I love edemame.  I'm pretty good with the TVP that is supposed to be ground meat. But tofu. Blerg.

 So here is evidence that I made something with tofu that I actually ate (and don't hate).

So remember that my purpose on this challenge is to eat a plant based diet, not to avoid meat products.  So I marinated the firm tofu (that I cut in 3 slabs) in a mix of beef broth, chicken bouillon powder, with some soy, Worcestershire and sesame oil for 5 hours.

 I patted it dry and added a sprinkle of corn starch to make a nice light outer coating.

 Fried it in oil until crispy.  Still squishy inside, but a nice outer texture and good flavor. 

 As compared to this pre-made product I bought at the local Asian market.  It smelled and tasted like Play-Dough. 

That **** I put into a stir fry that was so spicy my mouth was numb and I couldn't taste the PlayDoh.

I won't be buying that again.  And it's unlikely I will touch the rest of the package.

 Meanwhile back at the kitchen, another night I decided to build a meal around these "noodles"

Holy moly!  Look at that fiber!!!

 We did soup, salad bar style.  The options were the tofu "noodles", edemame, bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, mini bok choi, Farro, pico de gillo, and the diced tofu or chicken.

Here's my bowl: everything but the farro and chicken.  Topped with homemade chicken broth to warm it all up.

In summary, it's a mixed bag.  The tofu was OK.  But isn't everything battered and fried?  I may use the "Spiced Thin Bean Curd" as a rodent deterrent in my garden. The tofu noodles were good, but need to be eaten in small portions to prevent the Colonoscopy Prep experience.

Farro

Well, leave to me to decide to start a new diet at noon on a Wednesday.  A day that I happen to work until 9pm.  I had picked up groceries on a break in my schedule, but what about prep time?

A few months ago I bought some Farro in the bulk section at Winco, but hadn't tried it yet.  Farro is a form of wheat popular in Italy, with ties to Ancient Egypt.  It's in the family also known as Emmer, Spelt and Einkorn. Apparently, it fell out of popularity due to low yield.

An internet search brought good news that it can be cooked in just 15 minutes.  Here's the article from A Couple Cooks which has some links to additional recipes.  Other articles talk about having cooked it for an hour and it was still hard as a rock.  Looks like I lucked out on having the right kind.

I whipped up a batch with the plan to use it as a breakfast cereal (1/2 cup), warmed up with trail mix (3 Tbs), 1% milk (1/2 cup) and cinnamon.  Nutrition:  350 Calories.  54g Carbohydrate, 8g Fiber, (46 Net) 16g Protein

Meanwhile, I washed a big hand-full of bean sprouts, steamed a head of broccoli for 1.5 minutes in the microwave, and made a balsamic vinegrette.  The veg are topped with 1 cup of the cooked farro and some pumpkin seeds for good measure.  I will warm this up in the microwave and plan to eat this for 2 meals since it's really filling, and my activity level is currently low.

Nutrition (as described): 517 Calories, 95g Carbohydrate, 19g Fiber (76 Net), 25g Protein

I had a sampler portion of the lunch bowl as a late supper.  I love the texture of the Farrow.  It's firm, like an al dente pasta with a nice whole grain flavor. It appears to be a good make-ahead grain so I'll be able to spread it out and have a serving a day in one form or another.

Vegetarian Challenge.

It has been quite a while since I've done a food post on this blog. 

I taunt my family and close friends with food pictures but decided this format may be best for the latest challenge that I set for myself.  I am going to be following a low calorie, predominantly vegetarian diet.  This is sometimes referred to as Flexitarian. 

Primarily, I will be focused on increased vegetable intake.  Also, daily intake of whole grains and legumes.  Inclusion of foods that are good for me that I don't really like (fruit & dairy).  But there won't be a strict avoidance of all, or any one category of animal proteins.  

I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian in my 20's and that left me burnt out on dairy products, eggs and peanutbutter, which I felt at the time, I needed to include to get adequate protein. 

 I headed to our local Asian grocery store to stock up.  Here are 5 kinds of mushrooms.  They have that great Umami flavor that meat usually provides.  All of this variety for only $11

 Next up, some of my favorite veg: baby bok choy, giant asparagus and carrots, pea pods and bean sprouts.  $11.  Plus 2 jicima I forgot to take a picture of for $4.

 Some starches I don't always use.  Red Rice $8, Lentils $2.60, Yellow and red sweet potatoes $3

And a personal challenge.  I never found soy foods that I like.  In addition to the tofu, I found some Tofu noodles and some spicy, flavored tofu.   A $6 gamble.

I'll keep you posted with my discoveries.