Vegetarian Dinners: Week 1

This week, I made three vegetarian meals.

Tuesday: Almond-crusted tofu with steamed broccoli and rice

For this recipe, I adapted a recipe for Eating Well's almond-crusted chicken fingers to make it vegetarian.  I had tried the recipe once before with chicken, and David ended up liking it a lot, so I thought that he might like the tofu-version as well.  I only used about 1/8 teaspoon of garlic salt instead of the prescribed amounts of salt and garlic powder (since I'm worried about my salt intake).  I ended up liking it a lot, but I can imagine that someone not accustomed to eating tofu might find it to be a bland, lesser version of fried chicken.  I used half of a 16-ounce block of tofu and cut them into eight squares. I was worried that it wouldn't be filling enough, so I prepared lots of broccoli to go with it.  As it turns out, half a block of tofu was plenty for me and David, which is fortunate, because I used the other half to make...

Wednesday: Spice-crusted tofu with roasted zucchini and rice

This recipe is also from Eating Well.  I found it while searching for recipes that would be beneficial to those looking to lower their blood pressure.   The recipe uses spices like paprika, cumin, and coriander, as well as a glaze made from lemon juice and honey, to make up for the lower amount of salt. 


Thursday: Roasted Vegetables with Quinoa and Spinach in Sesame Dressing

I cut up thick pieces of carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower, drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled it tiny bit of flaky sea salt (which apparently isn't as bad as table salt, according to this article).  I got the recipe for the spinach with sesame dressing from "Let's Cook Japanese Food!" by Amy Kaneko.  I just got a bag of microsteamer spinach from Fresh and Easy (you can pop the bag in the microwave and steam it - as easy as making popcorn!) and squeezed the water out before tossing it in the dressing from the cookbook.  Recipe below:

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Sesame Dressing for Spinach
Adapted from "Let's Cook Japanese Food!" by Amy Kankey

1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sake (I didn't have any, so I omitted it)

In a food processer, grind the sesame seeds into a rough powder.  Add the sugar and grind again briefly to combine.  Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.  Add the soy sauce and sake and stir to mix well.  Add the spinach and mix to combine the dressing throroughly with the spinach.  The spinach should be generously coated but not wet.

Serves 2 generously as a side dish.

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All in all, I spent about $12 on dinner ingredients this week ($25 total after I bought groceries for breakfast and lunch), which is not too shabby for two people.