Skip to main content

Tasty Tuesday - Turmeric, Tandoori and Tofu Oh My

Last week I spent a little extra time in the kitchen with the goal of putting together a few new dishes to try out. We've definitely been in a major rut with cooking. I thought it would be fun to try out a few new ideas.

First up was to use up some cauliflower. I love roasting cauliflower and using that for lunches throughout the week. I decided to kick it up a notch though. Usually I just toss with salt and olive oil.

This time I broke out some other spices. I have been using more and more turmeric in my cooking because it has some pretty fantastic health benefits to include acting as a liver detoxifier and as an anti-inflammatory.

Spicy Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
Olive oil
To taste: salt, powdered red pepper, garlic powder, turmeric

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl, toss together the cauliflower, oil and seasonings.

Transfer to a baking sheet and bake approximately 15 minutes, flip the cauliflower and continue to bake an additional 15-20 minutes. 

I loved everything about how this cauliflower turned out. It's great for just snacking on, as a side, or on a salad.

The next meal was inspired by a jar of tandoori spice mix that Jason and I had picked up once upon a time at TJ Maxx. We have a tendency to buy random spice blends and marinades, especially if they sound particularly interesting.

I loved the earthy fragrance of this blend, which includes spices like turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika to name a few. One of the suggestions on the container was to mix the spice with yogurt and marinate chicken. I decided to take that idea and apply it to tofu for a Tandoori Spiced Tofu.

Tandoori Spiced Tofu
Ingredients:
1 package tofu, well pressed
5 oz greek yogurt or a vegan yogurt
Tandoori spice, to taste (you can make definitely your own)
Lemon juice, to desired consistency
Freshly minced garlic, to taste
Freshly grated ginger, to taste
Zest of lemon or orange (optional)

Directions:
Cut your tofu lengthwise then in half to allow the marinade to better penetrate the tofu.

In a bowl, all ingredients (minus tofu) and whisk well. Pour mixture over tofu and allow to marinate at least 1 hour, preferably over night.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Bake tofu approximately 20 minutes, flip and continue to bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until golden and firm.

Because I had some kale on hand, I decided to use kale as one of the sides to the Tandoori Spiced Tofu. Jason had wanted some rice on the side, but was wanting jasmine or basmati, which we didn't have on hand.

I did, however, have quinoa. So I thought that would work well as a mild flavor to accompany the tofu and kale. I thought I would try to carry on some of the tandoori spice flavors into the kale. I also decided to reach for the coconut oil to infuse additional flavor into the kale.

Indian Inspired Kale 
Ingredients:
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
Freshly grated ginger, to taste
1/4 cup orange juice
To taste: salt, coriander

Directions:
In a large, non-stick skillet, melt coconut oil and add in the garlic. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes then add in the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat the kale then cover with a lid to allow to simmer until kale is wilted.

Tandoori Spiced Quinoa
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/4 cup orange juice
2 carrots, small dice
Tandoori seasoning, to taste
To taste: salt, onion powder, garlic powder
1/2 cup frozen peas

Directions:
In a medium sauce pan, combine the quinoa, water, orange juice, carrots and spices, cover with a lid and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes until the liquid has cooked out. Turn off the heat and toss in the peas, cover and allow to sit for approximately 3-4 minutes while peas thaw.


I was pleased with how this entire meal turned out. The yogurt left sort of a coating on the tofu, so I actually think that it would be fantastic to dredge it in some panko crumbs or perhaps ground almonds. The only downfall was that I didn't have more of the kale.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Hump Day and More Pineapples

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too

Hitting the Gym and Lazy Means Creative Tex-Mex Creation

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package