Tofu Spring Rolls

Tofu Spring Rolls

I love spring rolls! They are such a light but filling treat. The idea for spring rolls had manifested in my mind weeks ago. And the other night, I was sitting at home doing homework when I was suddenly overcome by the sudden urge to cook. (SHOCKER!) Knowing that I had ample supplies with which to work from (I had just gone shopping), I immediately set up my workspace in the kitchen to whip up a few of these babies.

My workspace included: A large, shallow bowl for dipping the rice paper rolls into, a pot of water for the rice noodles, and a pan for sauteing the tofu block that I had already pressed. The rice noodles take only minutes to prepare. They only cook for about 6 minutes in the boiling water and then you can just drain the water out and set them aside until you're ready to use them. Next up: the tofu: Into the pan went a marinade mixture of soy sauce, toasted sesame seed oil, a pinch of ground ginger and a splash of EVOO. The tofu, which I had already sliced into long, thin strips, was next in the pot. A few minutes on each side and then into a dish with a paper towel to drain off the excess liquid.

As for the rice paper rolls, all you need to do is make sure you have a dish that is large enough to hold whatever size your wrappers are. I happened to use a glass pie dish with about a 1/4 inch of water. The sheets of rice paper only need to sit in the water for about 45 seconds to a minute. Careful though: If they sit too long they will become mush! After you soak the wrapper, you should remove it from the water and lay it onto a flat surface. Now you're ready to add the stuffing and roll it up.

The insides of a spring roll are entirely up to the chef making them and also whatever happens to be at his or her disposal. In my case, I happened to have a bag of shredded broccoli, red cabbage and carrots, as well as a small head of lettuce. Into the spring roll it went with a few strips of the marinated tofu, a small handful of the rice noodles and a few pieces of lettuce. I rolled it all up and that was it! SUPER simple!

As for a dipping sauce, I simply seasoned some Hoisin sauce with some chili oil until it was just spicy enough and I was good to go. Seriously it was THAT easy.

Alright folks, that's all I have for you for now. Stay tuned...more vegan goodies to come!

Walnut Chocolate Fudge

Today I made fudge! I have never made my own fudge but I had the sudden urge to try it today and I am quite pleased with the results:


Yum! It was SO easy! In fact the hardest part was probably being patient since the cooling time takes a couple of hours. Other than that, it's a snap!

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Recipe:

Yields 2 to 3 dozen fudge squares

12 oz nondairy semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons of non-dairy butter plus 1/2 tbsp for greasing the pan
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 non-dairy milk
1 cup chopped walnuts or any other nut that you prefer

Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with nondairy butter.

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a double boiler. (If you do not have a double boiler, you can easily create your own by placing a small saucepan inside a larger pot that's filled with a small amount of water.)

Heat the mixture on medium heat. Stir constantly so that you do not to burn the chocolate. Keep heating until the mixture becomes smooth. Add the nuts and briefly stir once more.

Pour the hot mixture into the prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly for several hours in the refrigerator.

After thoroughly chilled, remove the pan from the fridge, cut the fudge into small squares and enjoy with friends!

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This recipe was very simple. It definitely made me think about other fudge variations that I could try. Perhaps something with coconut or peanut butter? Hmm... What are some of your favorite fudge flavors?

Almond and Peanut Butter Truffles

My mom's birthday was this weekend and I wanted to make an extra special treat for her. My brother had already baked a 2 layer red velvet cake with fondant icing so I needed to come up with something else that would delight her just as much. Behold tantalizing Almond and Peanut Butter Truffles!

Flavors include: Peanut Butter with Cocoa Powder, Peanut Butter with Toasted Sesame Seeds, Almond Butter with Cocoa Powder, and Almond Butter with Unsweetened Coconut and Almond Meal

These were super easy to make and definitely tasty! Looking at the picture, they kind of look like mini doughnuts. Despite my love for good ol' chocolate, surprisingly my top favorites were the coconut and toasted sesame seed ones. Deee-lish! Def try these if you can. You won't be sorry!

Truffle Recipe:

1 cup of nut butter
1 tablespoon Soy Protein Powder
1 teaspoon sugar
Different ingredients to coat the truffles in

In a medium-size bowl, mix together the nut butter and the soy protein powder. I actually used my hands for this bit to get it really well blended. Add in the sugar and continue mixing thoroughly.

Roll the mixture into 3/4 inch balls and place on a piece of parchment paper and set aside for rolling.

Roll the truffles in any assortment of coatings. Some suggestions include: toasted sesame seeds, unsweetened coconut, almond meal, or cocoa powder. Since I made both almond and peanut butter truffles, I also added either an almond or peanut to the top of the truffles respectively so that tasters could easily distinguish which flavored treat they were about to enjoy.

If you aren't going to serve these immediately, I suggest putting them in the fridge to firm up for a bit. If you absolutely can't wait though, go ahead and dig right in! I won't tell. =)

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Before I go, I will leave you with this photo from my mom's birthday dinner:


These are the rather awful fortune cookies my family received after we finished dinner at a local Chinese food restaurant. My dad got the "You look pretty" one & my mom got the "if your desires are not extravagant..."
Um, all I have to say is EPIC fail and Happy Birthday Mom! =)