Lemony Herb Tofu

To accompany the rice in the previous post, I made up some tofu to get cooked on the barbecue. We barbecue year round - yes, even in the snow - but outdoor cooking and summer are made for each other. Not only does it keep the heat of cooking out of the house, it's just another reason to spend more time out in the sunshine. Outdoor cooking is much more enjoyable in the summer than in the winter. Just ask Jim - HA!

Since vinegars or sweeteners are not allowed while on the cleanse, I improvised with what I could use. The results were better than expected. 

Lemony Herb Tofu

1 (14-16 oz) block extra firm tofu
½ cup lemon juice
1-1½ tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. Italian seasoning
5 cloves garlic, pressed
¼ tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

Press the tofu to squeeze out any extra water. Cut into 6-8 slices, depending on how thick you like them. Place tofu slices in a single layer in a small shallow non-metallic dish. 

In a small bowl, wisk together all of the remaining ingredients. Take out a couple of tablespoons to reserve for brushing while cooking. Pour the rest over tofu slices, turning to coat all sides with marinade. Wrap dish with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. 

Lightly oil grill and preheat to medium. Cook tofu slices, brushing lightly with reserved marinade, about 4-5 minutes per side or until nice grill marks appear on surface. 

Brown Rice Pilaf

Brown rice is one of the food items listed as "most recommended" during this cleanse. Plain ol' rice on it's own isn't very exciting, but when you do this to it, it turns into amazing.

I've been making versions of this pilaf for years. It's really quite versatile and you can use whatever you have hanging around in your fridge or whatever you're in the mood for. This is the basic recipe, which is very tasty in it's own right. 

Brown Rice Pilaf

2¾ cups water
2 tbsp. Earth Balance
1 yeast-free vegetable boullion cube* (Alternately, you can use 2¾ cups yeast-free, sugar-free vegetable broth)
freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, pressed
1¼ cups brown rice, rinsed
½ cup finely chopped carrots
½ slivered almonds, toasted
¼ chopped fresh parsley
2-3 green onions, sliced

In a large saucepan, bring water, Earth Balance, bouillion cube, salt, pepper and garlic to a full boil. Add rice, return to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes. 

Stir in carrots and let continue to simmer for another 10-15 minutes until rice is tender and broth has been absorbed. Stir in remaining ingredients. Put lid back on the pot, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. 

Serves 6-8

*If you use a low sodium vegetable broth, you may need to add a bit of salt. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. 

Chickpea & Squash Patties

In trying to keep this cleanse as exciting as possible for myself and especially for Jim, who is doing it for the first time, has proved to be a bit of a challenge. We don't have normal work schedules and trying to get some sort of eating routine in place during this time has been a bit of a challenge as well. But I think we have succeeded on both counts. We may have been eating our breakfast at 11am and our dinner at 9pm, but at least we've been consistent. 

When I did this cleanse the first time, I sourced out a few good recipes on-line and had them printed off and ready to go. Lucky for me, I'm a cookbook junkie and have a lot of veg*n cookbooks that I was able to find some more suitable recipes in. Then while shopping at Goodness Me! I found the cookbook that accompanies the cleanse. So I added that to my collection. One of the things I tried this time around was 'Chickpea & Squash Patties'. Now, squash is not something that either Jim or I much care for, but the recipe only called for 1 cup and gave a tip to look for already cut-up squash in small packages. Even the cut squash was more than we would ever eat, then I had a brilliant idea. Use a sweet potato instead! It worked out wonderfully I'm glad to say. 

Just like the Slow Cooker Mexican Tofu, this surprised me at just how delicious it was. And to my delight, Jim REALLY liked these. He even ate more for breakfast and suggested I make them when we're off the cleanse. The cookbook suggested Lemon Tahini Dressing be served on the side.

It didn't seem to really compliment the cakes. When I started to whiz the dressing together, I decided not to put in all the milk required to thin it out because it would have become too runny. By doing that, it may have made the tahini flavour overwhelm the sauce which in turn didn't seem like a good fit for the cakes. It wasn't bad by any means, just not a good compliment in our opinion. 

The original recipe is available on their Facebook page but this is what I did. 

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Patties

1½ cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 19-oz. can drained & rinsed), mashed
1 cup grated sweet potato
1 cup grated potato (squeeze out excess water)
1 egg, beaten
3 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp. parsley, chopped
1¼ tsp. lemon pepper
¾ tsp. cumin
½ salt
½ cup oatmeal* (see note)
2 tbsp. chia seeds* (see note)
olive oil for frying 

Mash the chickpeas in a food processor using pulse action. Do not puree. Or use a potato masher and mash in a large bowl.  Add sweet potato, potato, egg, onion, parsley, lemon pepper, cumin, salt and mix throughly. 

Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Form mixture into patties about 4-5 inches in diameter. Fry in skillet until browned, about 4 minutes on each side. 

*Note: I made the mix up the night before and refrigerated it. The next morning more liquid had come out of the potatoes and the mix was kind of sloppy. I added 2 tbsp. of chia seeds and ½ cup of oatmeal and let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes. The chia seeds and the oatmeal soaked up some of the excess liquid and made it easier to handle and to make the patties. They turned out crispy on the outside and nicely soft on the inside. 

Lemon Tahini Dressing (as it appears in the cookbook) 

2/3 cup plain soy milk
5 tbsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup tahini
1/8 tsp. sesame oil

Place all ingredients in blender and puree for 1 minute at high speed. 

That would really make a lot! These are the measurements I used: 

2 tbsp. soy milk (use more if you like it thinner)

2½ tbsp. lemon juice

1 small garlic clove

¼ scant tsp. salt

4 tbsp. tahini

dribble of sesame oil

freshly ground pepper 

I have an immersion blender that comes with a very handy cup attachment with a small, but super-sharp blade. It's like a mini blender/chopper and I find it very handy for smaller measurements. It's also great for grinding up seeds and nuts. If you are in the market for an immersion blender, I highly recommend getting one with this attachment. 

Snap Peas & Carrots

This is a tasty little side dish that I make quite a lot and it's suitable for the cleanse. I stumbled onto the recipe on the Canadian Living site quite by accident. It turned out to be a happy accident.

This takes no time to prepare, has very few ingredients and with carrots and sugar snap peas available pretty much all year round, you can make this anytime the mood strikes.

Sautéed Carrots and Sugar Snap Peas

4 cups (1 pound) sugar snap peas
3 carrots
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
¼ cup vegetable stock*

Trim stem ends of peas. Peel carrots and cut into sticks about as long as the peas and ¼-inch thick. Set aside separately. In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook carrots, garlic, salt and pepper, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add stock; cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add peas; cook, covered, until vegetables are tender-crisp and glazed, about 4 minutes.

* Please see my notes at the bottom of this post regarding vegetable stock if you are doing the cleanse.      

Spuds on the Grill

Oh spuds, how I love thee. Baked, mashed, fried....you are my comforting friend. Potatoes are allowed on the cleanse and one way I like to do them is on the BBQ. 

Take about a pound of potatoes, wash them and cut into chunks. Put them in a bowl and add:

- 1-1½ tbsp. olive oil

- ¾ tsp. onion powder

- ½ tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder

- ½ tsp. salt

- ¼ tsp. zesty pepper medley* or freshly ground black pepper

- ¼ tsp. paprika

- ¾ tsp. dried parsley (or alternately you can use a couple of tbsp. of fresh parsley)

Toss it all to evenly distribute the spices and oil. 

Divide between 2 pieces of aluminum foil, each large enough to wrap the potatoes into a neat packet. I spray the foil with non-stick spray just to be safe. I've had potatoes stick before and then that browned loveliness that is so delicious gets stuck on the foil. 

Sometimes I'll omit the paprika, use just half of the amount of onion and garlic powder and throw a sprig of fresh rosemary into the packet with the potatoes. As they cook, the rosemary releases it's essence and gives the potatoes a nice subtle hint flavour. 

I double wrap and for the second layer I use heavy duty aluminum foil. I don't want the spuds to burn. Now these babies are ready to go onto a preheated BBQ. Jim is our resident barbecuer and he'll put these on the lower rack at medium temperature, close the lid and leave for about 10-15 minutes, then he'll flip them, close the lid and leave for another 10-15 minutes. If you're cooking other things on the barbecue, then these can get moved to the top rack to keep them hot.  

All done! They come out a nice golden brown and are super delicious. See....this cleansing business isn't so bad, is it? 

* I get zesty pepper medley at the Bulk Barn. It's a nice mix of different peppers. If you don't have it, regular freshly ground black pepper will work just fine. 

Crock Pot Easy

I've had a crock pot for many years and I'm sad to say that it doesn't get used as often as it could. I don't know if it's just me, but I find it hard to really regulate how much it's cooking the food. I know that the longer cooking things go in first and all that, but in the past, I've made things and some of the ingredients are mushy while others are under-cooked. I've found if I'm home and am able to keep an eye on it or to add some ingredients later on in the cooking time I have more success, but the "dump and leave all day" method never really worked for me. Until now. I made this because it fit in with my cleanse but I can see myself making it again at any time. It did take some advanced preparation, but it was easy and delicious!  The night before, I made a batch of salsa. 

Excuse the not-so-good photo. I took it with my phone. Anyway, I adapted the salsa recipe I've used in the past to be suitable for my cleanse. 

Tomato Salsa

3 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup red or green pepper, chopped

1 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

3 tbsp. lime juice 

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped small (I added a few of the seeds for some kick)

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix it all up in a big bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, you'll see that the tomatoes have released a lot of their juice and it will seem kind of sloppy. That's OK. You want all that flavourful juice. Normally, this would get a dash of hot sauce to amp it up, but alas, hot sauce is made with vinegar. That's OK. This is going to get spiced up anyway. 

The dish that uses the crock pot I found while looking around on the Eat Clean site. The original called for jarred salsa, but I could not find one that didn't have vinegar and/or sugar it. I think using home made is better anyway. I increased the amounts and used tofu instead of chicken. When I buy tofu, I usually get extra firm and a lot of the time it goes straight into the freezer. When you freeze tofu, it changes the texture. It gets chewier and more porous. Once it's thawed, it will require some gentle squeezing to get all of the water out. It really holds a lot! 

Slow Cooker Mexican Tofu

1 (14-16 oz) block extra firm tofu, frozen, then thawed 

1 (19 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)

1 batch salsa (above)

2 tbsp. cumin

1½-2 tbsp. chili powder 

1 tsp. salt

few grinds of black pepper

Drain liquid from tofu and squeeze with the palms of your hands. Alternately, you can put the block of tofu on a plate, top with another plate and weight it down with some heavy books or cans and leave for 20-30 minutes. I'm never usually that patient, so I just squeeze it with my hands, but don't twist or squeeze too hard or you'll end up with crumbled tofu. 

Slice into 6-8 even slices and then squeeze the slices to get out the remaining water. You don't need it dry, but this extra step will ensure that you've gotten the majority out. Placing the slices between paper towels and squeezing with your palms is a quick method. 

Cube the tofu and place into crock pot. Add all of the other ingredients and mix to evenly distribute the spices. The tofu will soak up the liquid from the salsa and it may seem dry, but do not fret. Once it's finished doing it's thing there should be some liquid on the bottom of the pot. 

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

Serve over brown rice

Makes 4-6 servings. 

If you want the original recipe, it's here.

Herbal Cleanse

Have you ever done a cleanse? It's not just for spiritual gurus. It's a way to give your body a bit of a break and rid itself of toxins that store up over time, making you feel tired, cranky and generally lethargic. When I first starting looking into doing a cleanse, I found lots of info on the internet - and some of it was downright kooky. There was the ever popular juice cleanse or one where you drank water, lemon juice & cayenne pepper. Give me a break. I wouldn't last a day on that. I need to eat! If I don't get nourishment, I get extremely fatigued, and get terrible headaches. My search continued throughout stores in my city. There were some crazy Jillian Michaels chemical concoctions I saw, but that wasn't what I was looking for either. Then, in the health food section of my local Fortino's, I happened to see an herbal detoxification kit that included a diet plan with lists of foods to eat and ones to stay away from. Upon further investigation, this sounded like what I'd been looking for. And, to make it even better, it's a Canadian product!

So this is what you get in the box - drops to put in your water that are to help with cleansing of the urinary tract, and three bottles of herbal supplements that you take twice a day with meals. One is a natural laxative and since ridding the body of toxins is the focus of a detox, where do you think they're going to go? Not that I want to talk poop, but it is part of the cleanse. I found these very mild, but they did help to keep things easy and regular. Another one of the supplements is to help cleanse the bloodstream and the third helps the liver and gallbladder.  

The list of "can't haves" was a bit daunting at first. I was thinking "What have I gotten myself into?"  My no-no foods - dairy of course, flour products - that means bread of any kind, pasta, processed cereal, all fermented foods because yeast is a major ingredient in these foods and we're trying rid the body of excess yeast. No fermented foods means more than just sauerkraut my friend. Try vinegars, soy sauce, black tea, miso and certainly no alcohol. In avoiding yeast that also means not eating foods that have naturally-occurring yeasts or molds that appear on their skins. Things like peanuts (and peanut butter), mushrooms (no loss there - blech), grapes, oranges or grapefruits. Also, no sugar or sweetener of any kind or dried fruit because that's what yeast thrives on.  So then that also leaves out tropical kinds of fruits because they are much sweeter. "Domestic" fruits are acceptable, but not too much. 

Still with me. Yea...what the heck am I going to eat? Coffee is allowed, but black, and herbal teas or green teas are allowed. One thing I did learn - black and green tea come from the same plant, but black tea goes through a fermentation process and green tea does not. Because of the fermentation, black tea is off the list. Bye-bye Chai! Even though oranges and grapefruits are out, lemons and limes are in. Thank you! The booklet gives a list of protein foods, starch foods and neutral foods and recommendations of what to eat lots of and what to eat in moderation. 

So....I did this cleanse back in the fall and after the first few days, I started to feel great. I had more energy, I was sleeping better and as an added bonus, I even lost a few pounds. I tried to keep eating well, but then I had some tragedy in my life and eating properly wasn't really on the top of my list of priorities. I indulged in "comfort eating", then sort of went right off the rails and after a while I started feeling all crappy again. So I decided it was time for another cleanse. Jim's doing it with me this time to see if it helps to ease the pain of his arthritis and increase his energy level. 

When I started this I didn't bother taking pictures of what I was making and eating. I didn't figure anyone would be interested, but it turns out some of my friends are interested. Some of what I'm eating is bland and kind of boring and nothing that's really picture worthy. For breakfast I'll have eggs and rice cakes with nut butter or Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Cereal that I add cinnamon to and grate in some apple before cooking. Sometimes I'll throw in a handful of blueberries. Add an apple, a peach or some berries and my day begins. 

I did make a stew that we had for a couple of meals. It was adapted from this recipe, but I added a bit to make it more filling and satisfying. Sadly, I didn't take a picture but there are pictures of the original dish if you click the link for the recipe. 

Chickpea, Quinoa, and Tomato Stew

adapted from The Vegan Chickpea

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red or yellow pepper, cut into small chunks

½ tsp. dried sage

2-3 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

½ tsp. salt (see note below)

freshly ground pepper to taste

4 cups vegetable broth *

½ cup dry quinoa, well rinsed 

1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes, drained, juice reserved

1 (19-oz) can chickpea, drained and rinsed

1-1½ cups fresh or frozen green peas

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Saut­é onion and carrots until onion has started to soften. Add garlic and red pepper and sauté until fragrant, about 3 or 4 minutes.  Add the herbs, salt & pepper and stir for a few seconds, then add vegetable broth and reserved tomato juice and bring to a boil. Add quinoa, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 20 minutes.  Add in tomatoes and chickpeas, cover again and simmer for approx. 15 minutes. Add peas and cook for an additional 5 minutes. If necessary, season with more salt and pepper to taste. 

Serves 6 

* Vegetable broth (and bouillon cubes) can contain yeast and/or sweeteners of some kind. On this cleanse neither is allowed. I was able to find a few options though. Imagine makes one as does Pacific, which it the brand I buy. I also will use bouillion cubes. The only one I could find that was yeast free was made by Go Bio. It's got a pretty good flavour and I actually prefer it to regular bouillon cubes. 

Note: If you do go with the cubes option, you may not need to add the salt. The first ingredient listed on almost all bouillon cubes is salt. I would leave out the salt and adjust, if needed, at the end of the cooking time.  Or let you're hungry eaters salt themselves. 

** If you want more information about the detox program, you can find it at Wild Rose D-Tox.