Len's Rice, Kale, Mushroom, Bean & Tofu Dish

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4-6 as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups of cooked rice
Olive or canola oil
Kale
1/2 pound of mushrooms
1 small-med cooking onion (2-2/1/2" dia)
nutmeg
1/2 can drained black beans
1/2 pound tofu (firm or extra firm)
Tamari
Sesame oil
Optional: maple sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Have two cup of cooked rice on hand (brown and wild rice is a good combo, or brown basmati rice).

Using stir-fry pan if possible, add a bit of oil in the pan. Wash enough kale to almost fill the pan - do not dry the kale (remove heavy stalks). Turn on heat, toss kale into oil and keep tossing until kale is well-wilted. Remove kale to chopping board and chop (but not finely). Set kale aside.

In same pan (dry it out first), add oil and sauté 1/2 pound of mushrooms (chopped) and set aside.

Sauté 1 small-med chopped onion in oil. While sautéing, add a pinch or two of nutmeg and other herbs and spices as desired.

Return rice, kale and mushrooms to pan and mix thoroughly. Add 1/2 can of drained black beans and heat.

While this is heating up, cook up 1/2 pound of tou that has been previously cut into 1/2" cubes and marinated in equal proportions of tamari and sesame oil (option: and maple syrup), enough to glaze the tofu.

When tofu has been warmed up and slightly browned, add to the rice/kale/mushroom mixture. Mix and serve.

Note: it's well worth buying a rice cooker if you don't have one, as it cooks the rice perfectly and will keep it warm while you work on other parts of the dish (you can even add cooked items to it like the mushrooms, etc., so they will stay warm as well).

Tofu Mayonnaise

We were making eggless tofu salad, and forgot to buy mayonnaise,

so we made our own quite easily using a box of Mori-Nu soft silken Tofu (tetra-pak, so shelf-safe for almost a year), and a few ingredients we had on hand. This turned out a little bit bland, but you can experiment by changing some of the added ingredients, like adding more Dijon, dill, garlic, capers & fine herbs, chipotle, etc.

½ box silken tofu (or 6 oz soft tofu)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 small garlic clove
2 Tsp Dijon mustard
2.5 tsp fresh lemon juice
salt & freshly ground pepper

Puree the tofu and oil in a food processor until smooth (scrape down the sides). Add the garlic, mustard & lemon juice and season to taste.

Keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Tofu and Kale Quiche

Serves 4 to 6

1/2 teaspoon canola oil
3/4 cup chopped green onions
12 ounces firm tofu, crumbled (Sol brand is just right)
1.5 cup packed finely chopped kale or turnip greens
1.5 cup grated soy cheese
3/4 cup chopped red bell peppers
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
One 9-inch store-bought pastry pie shell (thawed) – make sure to look for vegetarian pie shells (Tenderflake deep dish)

In a small, nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add green onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add red pepper and sauté for 1 minute. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese, and mix together, sautéing until the kale starts to slightly wilt. Remove from heat and mix in cheese.

Transfer mixture to prepared pie shell (see package instructions). Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes - you'll have to experiment with your own oven - ours runs hot so we did it at 250 Fahrenheit.