Golden Bowl: Take Two

I've had a hankering for cabbage lately, but I'm not really in the mood for anything spicy or Asian. I thought about the kind of food that I would like to eat and that turned out to be "comfort food". Many people's definition includes such items as macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, chili, etc., but I've never been a mac n' cheese eater (not even before I went vegan), and I don't really care too much for pasta-heavy dishes. For me, comfort food means a return to the ingredients and flavors I'm most familiar with. The ones I grew up eating: onions, celery, mushrooms, carrots, beans, rice, potatoes...

So needless to say, I've been eating quite a few of these Golden Bowls. This version here is a winter-version of my other Golden Bowl recipe which features summer squash. It has all the items I want, regular ol' vegetables, a little salt and nutritional yeast for flavor, and tofu for protein. Also, the veggies are a little beyond crisp-tender with just the right about of bite to them without being soggy.

This recipe will serve two as a main dish when served with a cooked grain. Of course, I often just pile the whole skillet into a tupperware container and take it to work with me. It's super easy to make and it comes together in a flash.

Golden Bowl II (or, Attack of the Late Winter Vegetables):
1/2 a carton of extra-firm tofu, pressed and drained 15 minutes, cut into small cubes
2 c. green cabbage, cored and shredded
1 c. celery, sliced on a bias (about 3 stalks)
2/3 c. sliced white button mushrooms (about 4-5)
1 large carrot, sliced
1/2 a red bell pepper, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
2 Tb. nutritional yeast
Bragg's liquid aminos and/or salt

1. In a large skillet sprayed with some nonstick, saute the tofu cubes over medium-high heat until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally with a spatula. Once golden, sprinkle the cubes with some Bragg's liquid aminos (as desired) and set aside. Before cooking the veggies, you may need to wipe out the skillet.

2. Respray the skillet with some nonstick, add all the veggies and saute for five minutes. Add the tofu cubes back to the skillet and continue cooking the veggies another 2-3 minutes, or until the cabbage is mostly soft with just a little bit of crunch.

3. Turn off the heat and toss the veggies/tofu with the nutritional yeast plus some more Bragg's/salt to taste. Enjoy!

I love my golden bowls!

This particular version has: 384 calories, 15 grams of fat, 17 grams of fiber, 34 grams of protein, your entire RDA of Vitamin A and Vitamin C, plus a third of your daily iron and calcium. If you eat the whole thing by itself. Which I do. Every time. So good. Although I'm not gonna lie, I gotta take one of those Beano meltaways before I do. Darn cruciferous vegetables...

                                                                                           Noochy goodness.

I've also been juicing more, just like I said I would! I got a new juicer (one of them Breville juice fountains, though not the super-expensive ones) and gave my old Juiceman, Jr. (which worked really well actually!) to my parents who still juice quite a bit (I'm so proud!). Amber recently shared a juice recipe on her blog, Almost Vegan and it's a pretty famous one that's been making the rounds for quite a while. And for good reason. It's delicious!

It's a basic mix of kale, celery, cucumber, green apple. lemon, and ginger. It's addiciting and I feel so vibrant after drinking it. In fact, I drank it at 7 pm and actually rolled around in bed all night because I was so wired! I couldn't sleep at all. I just had way too much energy! I'm real excited to begin starting my mornings with one of these because they make me feel great.

I have a lot of good recipes to share with you all. More healthy comfort food for sure. I made vegan reubens last night and they were awesome (and I followed that up with a reuben salad today!). I also have a recipe for mocha chip muffins (probably gluten-free, though I know for sure I'll be doing some GF baking), sun-dried tomato pesto, and I'll be trying my hand at doing some Ethiopian cooking in my own kitchen. I'm seriously craving some Blue Nile right about now. Have a great night!