Christmas Dinner

I hope everyone had a merry one. I had a three day weekend, so I had a lot of time to play in the kitchen (and to sit around and do nothing). I made the squash version of Kittee's Crispy Crunchy Stuffed Tofu a few weeks ago, and Jeff and I loved it so much that I really wanted to try the spinach version. If you haven't made these yet, you really should, because they are just SO good. I also made mashed potatoes with chickpea gravy from Vegan With A Vengeance, and roasted some sweet dumpling squash.

The chickpea gravy is always delicious. I could eat a whole bowl of it. We don't use nutritional yeast around here, so I always substitute some tahini in it's place. To me it has that rich, 'cheezy'
flavor that you're going for by adding nutritional yeast. Anyway, I pretty much sub it in any recipe calling for nooch (nutritional yeast for those in the know...).

Gravy simmering.

These cute squash have been sitting around wondering why, oh, why weren't we eating them? I started wondering the same thing considering how easy it is to roast squash. I peeled them and cut them into bite size pieces first, then tossed with some olive oil, thyme, and rosemary. Roasty toasty, tasty.

Sweet Dumpling Squash

The filling for the tofu smelled, tasted, and looked wonderful. I used the last of my cumin in the gravy (I use cumin every other day, so running out puts me on edge...yikes.), and don't currently have any Tony Charchere's, so I added some Sriracha hot chili sauce (the bottle with the rooster) and a little of whatever happened to be by the stove at the moment. I also didn't have any cilantro...yeah, there may have been a lack of planning here.

Spinach stuffing

Tofu ready for breading.

I had never breaded anything the way Kittee instructs before. Why!? Somehow it has eluded me all these years, and it is a sad thing, because it comes out so thick and crunchy! I used a combination of puffed millet and a cereal called Nutty Rice for the 'crunchy stuff'. What I love most about this recipe is how crispy the it turns out with so little oil.

Half gone before it made it to the table.

This was a home cookin' kind of meal. Rich, satisfying, tasty without appearing fussy. I was just cooking for the two of us, so there were leftovers, which always makes me happy. I've never understood people's aversion to leftovers. Midnight snack? Lunch the next day? Perfect.

Multiple vanity shots

Nutmeg didn't eat tofu or mashed potatoes, but don't worry...she was happy and well fed.


Fruity Rabbit