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Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Quick Microwave Curried Carrot Soup

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Curried Carrot Soup with Sesame Crusted Tofu - Alice DeLuca 2012 digimarc
Curried Carrot Soup with Sesame Crusted Tofu in a blue Heathware bowl

The inspiration for this dish from www.gfzing.com was a trip to the Garden Grille in Providence, Rhode Island.  They make truly delish vegetarian food, much of which they will also prepare gluten free.  This is recipe is NOT one of theirs, it is just inspired by their cooking.  I did not have a chance to try their sesame-crusted tofu, unfortunately.

The soup here is done in the microwave oven, for quick, efficient dinner preparation.

It is easily adapted for vegetarians and vegans – just omit the fish sauce and adjust the salt.

For the Soup:

5 ounces peeled Spanish onion, diced

1/2 ounce (2 cloves) garlic, peeled and diced

1 TB olive oil

3 ounces red bell pepper, diced

3 carrots (about 6 ounces), peeled and chunked

3/4 cup rich coconut milk

1 cup water

2-3 teaspoons gluten free fish sauce (omit for vegetarians)

2 teaspoons gluten free Thai Red Curry paste

1 TB currant jelly

salt to taste (1/4-1/2 teaspoon)

To Fry the Tofu:

1 package of extra-firm tofu, drained and slice the short way in to four slices, then cut the other way to make 8 squares about 3/4 inch thick.

1 teaspoon homemade curry powder (see recipe on this site)

2 TB black sesame seeds

2 TB peanut oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

To make the soup:

In a 1 1/2-2 quart microwavable casserole dish (such as Corningware), place the chopped onions, chopped garlic and 1 TB of oil. Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the cover (to avoid steam burns).

To the cooked onions and garlic in the casserole dish add the rest of the soup ingredients from the red bell pepper through the currant jelly.  Cover and microwave until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.  Allow to rest a few minutes before you remove the cover, to avoid steam burns.

Use a stick or immersion blender to puree the soup. Season with just a little bit of salt to taste. Adjust the sweetness. Set aside.

For the Tofu:

Mix the curry powder and sesame seeds and pat the mixture on to one side of each of the squares of tofu.  Heat the oil and sesame oil in a large, heavy frying pan.  When hot, add the tofu squares, seed side up. Fry over medium heat, undisturbed for 4 minutes.  Salt the tofu squares.  Use a spatula to turn the tofu squares and fry the other side undisturbed for 3 minutes. Salt the other side.  The frying will crisp the tofu, rendering it golden brown.

Remove the fried tofu from the pan.

To Serve:

Reheat the soup briefly and serve 2 squares of fried tofu, seed side up, on each serving of the hot soup.

Curried Carrot Soup with Sesame Crusted Tofu in a Heathware bowl - Alice DeLuca 2012 digimarc
Curried Carrot Soup with Sesame Crusted Tofu in a white Heathware bowl

Serve with lime wedges, and a salad made from chopped arugula, fresh mint, orange juice, olive oil, gluten-free mustard, salt and pepper.

 

 

Potato Salad with Eggs and Carrots

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Potato Salad with Eggs and CarrotsA tasty gluten free potato salad with hard-boiled eggs, carrots and onion.  The cooking is done in the microwave to cut down on the heat in the kitchen.

This is based on the potato salad shown at this webpage: http://www.sachikocooking.com/english/en0106prt.htm, altered to use less mayonnaise and much less sugar.

  • 3 red bliss potatoes – if they are about the size of a tennis ball, the three potatoes together will weigh about a pound.
  • 3 large carrots, grated on the large holes of a box grater
  • 1 cup very thinly sliced onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

 

Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup gluten free mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon gluten free ballpark mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

 

Mix the shredded carrots, sliced onion and salt thoroughly and set aside.  Let this rest while you do all the other preparation, so that the salt can draw water out of these veggies.

Clean the potatoes, pierce each one and remove the eyes, microwave them using the potato setting on your microwave.  Set aside to cool, then peel and chop.

“Hard-boil” the eggs in the microwave, adding 1 teaspoon water per egg.  We use a device called a “Micro Egg” for cooking eggs in the microwave.  With this device, it took slightly longer than 1 minute at 100 power to cook the two eggs in one Micro Egg. Set the eggs aside to cool, then dice.

Squeeze the water out of the salted carrot/onion mixture by putting these salted veggies  in a kitchen towel and squeezing firmly.

Put the squeezed carrots and onion in a bowl. Add the chopped cooked potatoes, diced eggs, parsley.  Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl, then fold the sauce in to the carrot-onion-potato-egg-parsley.  Adjust the flavors, chill and serve.

 

 

Plantain empanadas (empanadas de platano)

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Plantains are  large, very sturdy-looking banana-like fruits one sees in the grocery store produce section.  They can be cooked when yellowish (called green) or when totally black (sweet).  Gf-Zing! finds plantains to be a wonderful, wonderful gluten free starch.

Empanadas are similar to a turnover, either baked or fried.  The dough can be made from flours or from plantains, using one plantain to make two empanadas.

The easiest way to make plantain empanadas is to buy some yellow-green plantains and a piece of mozzarella cheese, then follow the simple directions on this excellent video: http://how2heroes.com/videos/international/plantain-empanadas from the great Mexican restaurant Tu y Yo.  If your plantains are too green, you will have to wait a few days for them to ripen somewhat.  Plantains sweeten and soften as they darken.

The video demonstration shows the plantains being boiled for one hour. If you are pressed for time, instead of boiling the plantains you can use the microwave.  Wash the plantains, then cut off the ends of the plantains. Make a slit in the skin all the way down one side, the long way.  Wrap each plantain in a paper towel and put them in the microwave on the rotating platter, in one layer.  Cook the plantains on the same setting your microwave suggests for “baked potato.”  When cooked, the plantains will be extremely hot. When they are done, use a potholder to place them on the counter and wait until they cool a bit, then unwrap, peel and proceed with mashing (using a potato masher if you don’t have a molcajete), stuffing and frying as demonstrated in the video by the chef from Tu y Yo.

Microwave Chicken Wings

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We acquired a new microwave oven and have been playing around with it – a new way to save energy resources while cooking.

For 1.5-2 pounds of chicken wings, mix the following sauce in a large bowl:

1/4 cup gluten free orange marmalade

1 tablespoon honey

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1/2 of a lime)

black pepper

Remove the wing tips from the wings, and cut each wing in to two pieces at the joint. Mix the sauce with the chicken wings.  Place the wings and sauce in a glass pie plate (in a single layer) and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Microwave for 10 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and microwave for 5-10 more minutes, until cooked through.  Preheat a broiler and broil the wings for 4-5 minutes to crisp up the skin.

If your microwave has an automatic sensor, follow the instructions for cooking chicken parts, remove the plastic wrap half way through the cooking time.  When the wings are done, broil as above.

Use all gluten-free ingredients!