A meatless Monday dish that’s big enough to feed a crowd or reheat for leftovers later in the week.
Creamy Chipotle Rice Noodles
Serves 8-10
1 Tbs. olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, halved
2 jalapeños, quartered (if you like your food spicy, use two jalapeños, otherwise, just use one!)
½ large onion, cut into large chunks.
Sauté the garlic, jalapeños, and onion over medium-high heat in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan until they are soft.
In a blender jar, add:
2 cups of hot water
½ cup of raw cashews
3 dried chipotle peppers
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of coriander
½ teaspoon of cumin
1 13-oz. can of Great Northern Beans (drained)
the sautéed vegetables
Blend on high speed until creamy (this works best if you have a high-powered blender such as a Blend Tec or a Vita Mix).
2 16-oz packages of extra firm tofu, rinsed, pressed* and cubed into small cubes.
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. Chicken-flavored seasoning (I use Bill’s Chickenish Seasoning—it’s vegan and gluten-free)
1 tsp. salt
Heat olive oil in the same heavy-bottomed saucepan that you used earlier and then add the cubed tofu. Sprinkle the salt and seasoning on top and fry the tofu until it looks slightly browned.
Meanwhile, boil the water for preparing the Thai rice noodles (I used an 8.8 oz. box of thin noodles) and prepare the noodles according to the package directions.
When the tofu is browned, add:
2 cups of frozen sweet corn
the chipotle sauce and stir well.
Steam two cups of broccoli and add to the mix.
After rinsing the rice noodles, add them to the saucepan and mix everything together and allow it to heat through again (about 5-8 minutes).
Garnish with lots of fresh cilantro
Shopping list:
2 lbs. of extra-firm tofu
1 13-oz can of Great Northern Beans
broccoli
frozen sweet corn
3 dried chipotle peppers
1 box of Thai thin rice noodles (8.8 oz)
½ cup raw cashews
4 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
2 jalapeño peppers
cumin
coriander
olive oil
chicken-flavored seasoning
cilantro
*Tofu tips. The most widely available tofu is ‘tub tofu’ that comes in a plastic tub with water. Make sure you purchase ‘Extra Firm’ if you buy ‘tub tofu’. This kind of tofu tastes best if you drain it, rinse it and then squeeze the water out of it before cooking with it. I usually unwrap the tofu, drain and rinse it, set it on a plate, put a plastic lid on top, and set a gallon of milk on top of the lid. The weight of the jug of milk will squeeze out the remaining liquid (it takes about an hour to get most of the water out). If ‘brick tofu’ is available in your area, it is easier to work with and doesn’t require the squeezing process to make it tasty. ‘Brick tofu’ is super-firm and comes wrapped in a brick with no water.
©2013 Anita Strawn de Ojeda
