Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Roma Tomato & Basil Baked Tofu

Okay, THIS is what I'm talkin' about. I really switched gears with today's lunch as I try to eat healthier in my quest to shed 40 pounds as quickly & safely as possible. Most of my recent lunches have been way too heavy on the simple carbs and fat so I really went out of my way to minimize those things today. Yesterday, as I was driving home, I had no idea what I was going to bring for lunch today. So I stopped at the local health food store to see what I could find that might be interesting, and healthy at the same time. I was snooping around in the cooler when I rediscovered something that I had seen in the past, and always wanted to try, but never did.

If you remember an earlier post where I tried to make some Barbecued Tofu, then you might remember that I was not too happy with the texture that I got when I fried it in a skillet. I mentioned that maybe I would have liked it better if I had baked it and then Isa confirmed in the comments that I would have gotten a much better texture if I had done that. (Isa posted in my comments, WOOT!) I remembered seeing some type of flavored tofu at the health food store in the past that was already packaged soaking in different types of marinade. I thought that I would pick up one of those since they were already marinated and then just slice it up and bake it. Well, I found the package that I was looking for, I picked it up and read it, and I was completely amazed. White Wave's Roma Tomato & Basil Baked Tofu was not simply packaged in marinade, it was actually already baked and ready to eat. I couldn't believe it. This was great because now I could taste baked tofu that has been prepared properly and know what kind of texture I should be shooting for when I prepare it.

I took the stuff home and opened the package. I assumed it was one big block and that I would have to slice it up. Wrong again. It was already sliced into 4 perfect slices. This stuff required absolutely no work on my part. I love it. I heated a couple of the pieces up last night and tried them and they were very good. I definitely like the texture of baked tofu better. Now I know what it is supposed to look and taste like. So I am really fired up about making some on my own now. Although, there are a few other flavors of the White Wave stuff that I would like to try sometime too. This is good stuff and I highly recommend it.

In the other large container, I've got some Steamed Mixed Vegetables. And then in the smaller containers I've got some Edamame and a Carrot Salad that I just whipped up with some of the chopped carrots that I had leftover from where I made all of those Carrot Cake Cupcakes this weekend. Most Carrot Salads that I have seen before have had slaw-like dressing in them, which for me would mean stirring some Vegenaise and some sugar together. But, since I wanted to eat healthier, I remembered some comments to a post somewhere way back where I had made slaw and someone suggested that I could make it healthier by just using Apple Cider Vinegar instead of the Vegenaise and all that sugar. So that's what I did here. I just stirred in a little Apple Cider Vinegar, not too much, and tossed in some raisins and sprinkled the top with the tiniest amount of chopped walnuts. I guess I could have left the walnuts off, but there's probably not enough on there to even add up to half of a half of a walnut piece. And the cool thing is, this actually tastes good. The sweetness of the carrots & raisins really goes well with the WHANG! of the Apple Cider Vinegar. I'm gonna' make some more of this when I get home tonight because I still have a lot of chopped carrots left over.

So there's lunch for Tuesday. Definitely healthier than what I have been bringing. I am also happy to report that I squeezed my 30 minute walk in today during lunch hour also. I don't know if you saw it in the comments, but in addition to eating better, I am committing myself to walking at least 30 minutes 5 times a week (Monday through Friday) to help me lose weight at a decent pace. So far, so good.

Thanks for stopping by today. See everybody tomorrow!
STEAMED MIXED VEGETABLESCARROT SALADROMA TOMATO & BASIL BAKED TOFUEDAMAMEFORK & SPOON

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Luck to you! It seems so easy to gain weight but unreasonably hard to loose it. I have faith in you and I know you can do it. I will follow your progress. Looks like you are on the right track.

Also did you get to try some of Meloni's soap? I am just curious about then fragrance and texture.

I look forward to seeing what creative ideas you have this week. JD

Anonymous said...

I had JUST discovered your blog a few weeks before the seitan tutorial way back in the day, so I was a little sad when they ended! I kept checking back, hoping to find some new posts... I read all the archived entries... I waited... and then today, when I was reading a post on a vegan LJ community, I saw a link to your site, and I thought, "could it be??" And it was!!

Glad you're back!! :)

Anonymous said...

I really like that kind of carrot salad. I use walnuts too, and dried cranberries instead of raisins.

Kayla said...

Good luck on your weight loss mission. I am on a mission of fitness myself. While not really a weight loss mission (it would be a plus), I am training for a running marathon next January. I can hardly run 1/2 mile at a time right now, but I hope to be able to run 13 straight in 10 months! I follow your posts and always look forward to the next day's lunch. I am always interested in what other vegans put in their mouths everyday. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

I hear you on the carb diet... lol. I try to do better, but it seems so muhc easier to just throw together a sandwich...
This post really inspired me to try harder with my lunches. Thank you =)

Tracy said...

Wow, what a healthy lunch! Staggeringly so, in fact. I wish I liked veggies as much as you do, that's my personal downfall.
You're off to a great start, keep it up!

kennyboy said...

Thanks for all the inspiration everybody. This is EXACTLY why I wanted to post my weight & weight loss goals on here; to make me accountable and to get inspiration. Thanks for all of the nice comments.

And yes, I DID purchase some of Melanie's soap and I LOVE IT. I got one called Iced Black Keemam Tea and it is awesome. It's full of all these big black tea leaves and they kinda' work like an exfoliant when you wash with the soap. There's a lot of mint or menthol in there too which makes it really refreshing. It's my new favorite soap. I've gotta' get to her store and see what else she makes.

:o)

Anonymous said...

On the subject of the texture of tofu. I find freezing it before baking really helps, it makes it more meaty and dence, also added a little oil to whatever you marinade it in really crisps up the outside making it even tastier!

shebytches said...

we should all make a pact to eat better, everyone thinks that vegans only eat like rabbits, and don't relize we have tonnes of bad stuff too, there is still fat and bad carbs... and cheesecake.

you go show them kenny!!!

xo c

Ms. Meander said...

I'd been curious about that baked tofu, after reading this I picked some up at Leo's while I was getting oil for soap. They had packages of 4 baked tofu squares for $2-ish, it didn't say what flavor. Got it home, diced one up into a bowl with some rice and miso soup mix...it was tasty, clearly it was flavored with Chinese 5-Spice on the surface, but it needed LOTS more salt for me! :) I have 3 pieces left, I'll just use a bigger dollop of miso next time to get my salt fix.

kennyboy said...

Hey Melanie!

I got some of your soap and I LOVE IT!

I am coming to your store soon.

P.S. What in the world is "Leo's"?

Ms. Meander said...

Cool, Ken, come on by. I'm open 12:30 to 6:30 during the week, although I do run out between 3 and 4 to pick up kids from school. Have you heard of the Stock Pot, over off of the other chunk of Oakland, near Cheddars and etc.? It's a cash&carry (restaurant supply store) and I get my oils in 35-gallon containers there. Inside of the Stock Pot is a place called Leo's Oriental Market. They have all kinds of ethnic foods there, including African, Indian and of course lots of stuff from the various Asian cultures. I believe it is run by native Koreans, as there is a predominance of Korean food and cooking-related items there, but other countries such as China, Japan, the Phillipines and etc. also have a lot of their staples there. I recommend the little cans of 'tofu skins' in marinade - those are the ShizNit in sushi rolls or even used to make little 'omelette rolls' in place of egg. My stepmom is korean, she often makes those little omelette things with egg filled with fresh sauteed spinach, garlic and onions and a bit of cream cheese; this works just fine using tofu skins, vegan cream cheese.

Sarah said...

looks great! (and i'm still so glad your back to bloggin'!) i've got leftover pregnancy weight to lose, so thanks for your ideas!