Italian Tofu & Bell Pepper Skewers

Prep time: 2 hours

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Serves 3-4):

• 1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed
• 4 bell peppers, seeded
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
• Grilling skewers

Method:

1. Dice the tofu and peppers into 1-inch squares.
2. In a Ziploc bag, mix together the rest of the ingredients.
3. Toss the tofu and bell peppers with the marinade in the bag and let it rest for 2-4 hours.
4. Preheat your grill to around 400 degrees.
5. Put the ingredients on the grilling skewers.
6. Grill for 10-15 minutes, turning the skewer sticks every few minutes to a different side.
7. Remove from the grill. Serve hot.

I try to cook things that don’t involve chocolate; they aren’t my favorite but I do. But most of the time I just go out to eat instead. Chipotle and Indian food are favorites of mine. If I could cook as well as either of those then I’d have enough material for a whole other blog.

Since I’ve gotten tired of paying for rice and beans I’ve started to look for recipes online to teach me how to replicate my favorite over-priced takeout food. Chana masala is my go-to Indian entree and the Smitten Kitchen recipe seemed easy enough to tackle for a beginner in Indian food like me.

In short it was delicious. Despite the fact that I cut about every corner, using ginger powder, garlic powder and onion powder instead of the fresh varieties and leaving out the few ingredients I didn’t have, somehow this was still flavorful and aromatic. There are certainly more authentic recipes for Indian food on the internet but it can always be helpful to choose something within your comfort zone when you’re trying something new. 

I added some diced and boiled potatoes to the mix and I would recommend to anyone to do the same because what’s Indian food without potatoes? I would have made more of the sauce since I had quite a few chickpeas to use up; you can always save the leftover sauce and pour it over vegetables or drink it on its own.

Do you have a favorite Indian dish?

Real Italians look away; this recipe definitely isn’t for you. Otherwise keep reading.

Now that it’s getting darker earlier and earlier I can’t help but be lazier when it comes to cooking meals. I’ve been looking for simpler things I can throw together in 10 minutes or so that still pack a lot of flavor. I’ve started keep a tube of pre-cooked polenta(the horror!) around to heat up in sauce whenever I need a quick Italian fix. Gourmet? Not at all. But it’s healthy, gluten-free, and much cheaper than take-out options.

This is hardly a “recipe”; more like a list of ingredients to throw together for a quick meal. If you’re not a vegetarian, you can skip the eggs entirely and use a meat sauce instead. But I think there’s nothing better on a cold night than warm marinara sauce and runny yolks.

I’d generally say to expect 3-4 polenta slices, 3/4 cup sauce, and 2-3 eggs per person but you can customize this to perfectly fit your appetite.

Polenta And Eggs

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• Pre-cooked polenta
• Marinara sauce
• Eggs

Method:

1. Add enough marinara to fill a frying pan.
2. Slice the polenta 1/2 an inch thick and spread it out on the sauce in a single layer.
3. Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium in a covered pan, flip, and cook another 2-3 minutes.
4. Move the polenta onto a dish but reserve the sauce in the pan. Add a little bit of water if it looks dry or is thinning.
5. Poach the eggs in the tomato sauce until the tops are cooked but keeping the yolks runny.
6. Serve the poached eggs and marinara sauce over the plated polenta.

Of course if you have time you can cook your own polenta and make the marinara sauce from scratch. But then again if you have time for all of that something tells me you aren’t looking at this recipe.

“Are falafels gluten-free?”

It was a good question. I had no idea. To be honest, falafels were one of those foods I’ve wanted to try for a while but I’ve never gotten while out because I’ve heard conflicting answers on whether it’s gluten-free or not.

Well, sadly they probably aren’t. Most of the recipes I’ve found online use flour as a binder, and if they’re fried in oil that’s also used for chicken fingers or other breaded items that would make them contaminated. The good thing I learned is that they’re incredibly easy to make gluten-free. I was considering making them with chickpea flour for a while and when I heard that reader Carolyn has had success with that, too, I felt good enough to try it out.

All you really need to make these are a food processor and an oven. I didn’t fry them mostly because that’s messy and I don’t like cleaning surfaces, you know? Also, they end up healthier this way—double plus.

I didn’t know what a falafel was supposed to taste like when I first ate a bite so I wasn’t sure how I’d know if it was a “good falafel”. Well, I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I think the fact that I went back to finish it off at 10pm when I’m usually not a savory person at all says something. I started off with this recipe and went from there. I would gladly make these again and maybe finish them off with a little oil in a pan to give them a brown crust.

Gluten-Free Baked Falafel

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 6 falafels):

• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 small clove of garlic
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons oregano, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 2-3 Tablespoons chickpea flour

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, blend the onion, garlic and olive oil until the garlic and onion are minced.
3. Add in the chickpeas and lemon and blend until the chickpeas are pureed.
4. Add in the parsley, oregano, salt, cumin, and coriander and continue blending to incorporate them in.
5. Add the chickpea flour in a tablespoon at a time until the dough thickens enough that it can be shaped and won’t stick to your hands or a utensil.
6. Form 6 or 7 balls of dough and place them on a lined baking tray. You can flatten them into patties if desired.
7. Bake for 40 minutes until the outside starts to brown turning them halfway through.
8. Remove from the oven and serve hot.

Another good question: Is falafel the singular or the plural? or both?