Teriyaki Tofu with Besan Wraps (children friendly food that the whole family will love)
Having a structure to the blog posts is working well so far (this is only week two so lets see if I can keep it up). This week I am posting a meal that I think most children will love. A child friendly meal for the whole family, I can imagine it being a regular on any menu plan.
In the last Vegan Foundation Cooking Course the lovely Cira asked for a Teriyaki tofu recipe and I said I would get it in a blog post soon. I thought it was a great recipe for children too. If you don’t like tofu use tempeh instead and if you don’t like tempeh use any veggies you like.
Serve it with steamed veg and black rice or like I did with wraps and a rice salad and cucumbers or whatever raw veggies your children like.
I suggest black rice as it is packed with iron and it has a great story that you can share with your children when you cook with them. It also has a great colour that is appealing to many children. Black rice originates from China and now is being grown in other countries. In Chinese medicine black rice is thought to thin the blood. It has more antioxidants than blueberries. Has a high amount of iron, and contains more protein than any other rice. In 100g of cooked black rice there are 8.5 grams of protein.
Black rice is often referred to as forbidden rice as for many years the Chinese emperors would keep it for themselves and not let other people have it due to its incredible health benefits. Now it is freely available to everyone and if you are a rice eater it is worth eating it at least once a week instead of the other rices.
Teriyaki Tofu with Besan Flat Breads and Black Rice Salad
Serves 4 people
Ingredients
For the Teriyaki Tofu
700g packet tofu
3 tbsp tamari
3 tbsp brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp agave (you can add more but I found this to be sweet enough)
4 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp cold filtered water
For the Flat Breads
2 cups besan flour
2 cups filtered water
½ tsp salt
Unrefined organic sunflower or avocado oil
For the Rice
1 cup black rice
2 small beetroot peeled and grated
1 large carrot peeled and grated
2 spring onions finely chopped (optional)
For the Cucumber
1 large Lebanese cucumber cut in quarters then sliced
Juice of 1 lime
2 pinches salt
Method
- Mix the besan flour and water together with the salt and stir out any lumps. Let sit until everything else is ready.
- Cut the tofu in whatever shape you wish and place in a baking tray with a splash of organic olive or sunflower oil and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes or until a little crispy.
- Place the tamari, agave and brown rice vinegar in a saucepan and cook on a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Mix the corn starch and water in a bowl and then transfer to the tamari mixture in the saucepan. Stir for a few minutes or until thickened. That’s your teriyaki sauce
- When the tofu is ready pour the teriyaki sauce on the tofu.
- Cook the black rice in 2 cups of filtered water by bringing it to a boil then turning to a low heat. It should take only 20 minutes to cook on the low heat.
- Grate the carrot and beetroot and mix through the cooked black rice. Also mix in the spring onions.
- For the cucumber, place it in the lime juice to marinade.
- To fry the flat bread place a small amount of oil in a small frying pan and spoon in enough of the besan flour and water mix to cover the bottom of the frying pan. Wait 4 minutes or so until it has browned on one side. Flip over and cook the other side just for a few minutes so the flat bread stays soft and rollable.
- Place the flat breads on a plate and put on the table with a bowl of the tofu, the black rice and cucumber and let everyone fill and roll their own wraps.
# If you make this recipe please share on facebook or instagram to #veetsvegancookingschool
The Low Down on the Signature Dish
When I first offered the Three Day Vegan Foundation Cooking Course I kept the signature dish a surprise for participants to find out about when they attended the course. However after a few intakes of the course I realised how essential this part of the course is and that I wanted to let everyone know prior to coming that we make a signature dish.
I love to show off the signature dishes everyone makes on social media and have often had really good feedback from others about the photos. However recently I met someone who said they could never do the course as they were worried about not being creative enough to make a signature dish. In this one interaction I wondered if others were feeling the same way and thought that I may not have explained the intention behind the signature dish well enough.
So here I am giving you the low down on the signature dish component of the Vegan Foundation Cooking Course.
The intention of this activity is for you to work with someone and create something you either may;
a) have always wanted to cook but not had the opportunity.
b) have always wanted to cook but not been confident enough to do it without guidance.
c) want to cook to challenge your skill set.
d) decide to cook there and then at the beginning of the exercise.
e) cook something that makes your heart sing.
Then when you and your partner have decided what it is that you want to cook you are guided to a recipe that will help you create this.
We then go to our local farmers market and purchase the produce and more often than not the ingredients you are looking for are not available so we substitute it with what is available. The idea for this is to show you how you can still easily be able to create a recipe even when the ingredients you need are not available.
It is always a lot of fun and in no way a competitive exercise (like those dreadful cooking programs are). You are given as much help as you request and want and if you aren’t finished at the same time as the two other groups we all chip in and help you. It is a very collaborative experience and done with the support of grounding exercises to keep you very calm and productive in the kitchen.
It is designed to inspire you to experiment in the kitchen when you get back home and know what to do if you can’t find the ingredients a recipe calls for.
Date change for March
The March Vegan Foundation Course has a date change. The new dates are 19th to 21st March 2020.
There are still 6 places left in this course. Hope you can make it or the January or February Vegan Foundation Cooking Course.
Here is a beautiful review left by Joseph who attended the last Vegan Foundation Cooking Course.
“School it may be, but Veet's is a lovely place with a relaxed, homely and ethical atmosphere that is represented in Veet herself. There is no pressure, for she herself stated that one can do no wrong in the kitchen - no need to come in like you're taking a serious school test! The others who attended the course were all lovely, as to be expected of one who pursues the path of veganism.
The days are long, but when morning tea and lunch came around we all sat down to eat and chat like a family, which was really touching. Veet is highly knowledgeable about the workings of a vegan diet; if you're unsure about how it works or not getting enough sustenance, she has the answers. I, for one, came away with more knowledge on protein and complete vegan proteins to feel more full from my meals.
The course even comes with a cookbook and a folder that you can take home with you, and a chart listing the various vitamins and minerals and what vegan foods provide them. Very handy for your fridge wall! Topping this off is a networking with Veet, so you can ask her questions about cooking and whatnot even after the course ends.
Veet is environmentally conscious. The water is filtered, the waste is composted (as it typically is in Mullumbimby, which is excellent and other places should learn from them), the dish wash soap is eco and even the toilet paper comes in the paper wraps and is the kind where some of the profits (50c) are donated to a good cause. Now that's something worth taking in. The environment is beautiful, and there are many B’nBs you can stay in that are very secure and a very short walk to Veet's, around 5-15 mins away. If you cannot make it there easily, Veet will kindly pick you up. Attending the course is almost like a holiday. The actual course is not hard and you do get guidance, for it takes 6 people at the time (module one, as of October 2019 at least) and you do typically work in pairs or threes to complete tasks, instead of being expected to do it all by yourself. That is definitely efficient. As a cooking school and forefront on ethical cooking, this course is a must for anyone who wants to pursue veganism. You will love Veet, the food, the other people and even the singing magpies and the occasional kookaburra that you might see out the window.
Book in today or send me an email with all your questions and I will endeavor to answer them info@veets.com.au
Have a great week everyone
Love Veet
