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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

It's All About Balance

I try to squeeze in most of my food groups with every meal (except for fruit, which I drink in my morning juice). Sometimes, the balance doesn't always work so well, but last night's dinner was pretty food pyramid-friendly. My protein and green veggies combined for this Swiss Chard & Baked Tofu:

This is my favorite way to prepare chard. I first tried the recipe (which I found here) last spring when I was doing a week-long local eating project. I had bought Swiss chard for the first time at the farmers market and didn't know what to do with it. I stumbled on the baked tofu and chard idea while googling. This batch of chard also came from the farmers market.

Warning: The tofu in this dish is not heavily seasoned, and that's kinda how I like it. But I also like raw, unseasoned tofu, so you might want to add some soy sauce to the marinade if that's your thing. I'd like it that way too. I'm not very picky.

On the side, I probably downed a couple servings of carbs with this Cheesy Stovetop Rotini from The Uncheese Cookbook:

It also had red bell pepper and walnuts, so that's more veggies and protein (plus awesome omega-3's). The sauce was very unlike my own recipe for cashew cheeze sauce, which is much heavier on the nooch. I liked the Uncheese version, but it was definitely different. It didn't contain any butter or oil, and the taste of tahini outweighed the nutritional yeast flavor. Good for mixing things up a bit.
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19 comments:

  1. Recipe manApril 30, 2009 at 12:48 AM

    i try to keep my balace with a combinations of Dal Lentils or Mush Beans with rice and a good salad on the side. many indian and Farsi recipes are pure vegan and produce a well balaced meal.
    I eat every now and again some tofu and soy products. i try to eat many foods so i wont get tired of it..

    thanks

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  2. noraApril 30, 2009 at 1:25 AM

    Everything looks absolutely gourmet! :)
    I find myself trying to balance our fruits/veggies/whole grains/protein almost every day, like among my 3 meals. Like, I always go for 2-3 servings of fruit, 4-6 of veggies, 2-3 of grains, and 2-3 of protein per day. I don't know if that's right, but it seems to work for me. Am I obsessive for generally trying to keep that up? Haha, please say no! If it makes me seem less crazy, I won't pass up good food that doesn't fit into the day's plan...

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  3. noraApril 30, 2009 at 1:26 AM

    *balance out

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  4. jbApril 30, 2009 at 1:59 AM

    This looks like such a delicious meal! I, too try to balance all my meals, but sometimes my weekends turn into a baking fest, which results in me eating about a pound of sugar in two days, so I have to refrain a bit during the week

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  5. The Voracious VeganApril 30, 2009 at 3:12 AM

    Mmmmm....what a delicious dinner. I just love the way that pasta looks, so creamy and yummm!

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  6. AnonymousApril 30, 2009 at 5:53 AM

    I like raw tofu too! Or even baked plain. I think it tastes delicious that way.

    Mmm, great meal. I love simple dishes like that...especially when they contain greens!!!

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  7. LisaApril 30, 2009 at 6:06 AM

    that sounds like a great meal! Greens, pasta, and tofu. What a delicious combination.

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  8. miss vApril 30, 2009 at 7:33 AM

    totally freaky! i just made baked tofu on a bed of sauteed chard last night. took lots of pics and planned to post it soon. so weird!

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  9. MacieApril 30, 2009 at 8:02 AM

    Looks great! I am totally with you on the whole "lightly seasoned" tofu thing. I could eat it raw, I swear.

    If there is a hell, I'll have a soy allergy there.

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  10. A_and_NApril 30, 2009 at 9:14 AM

    i am not a raw tofu person or a marinated tofu person. i am a fried tofu person :) i like the combination of nuts and pasta. thats always great flavor!

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  11. AnonymousApril 30, 2009 at 10:31 AM

    I always try to maintain balance at my meals too. My only exception is breakfast, because I don't normally have veggies with my oatmeal or cereal. I make up for it later in the day though.

    The rotini from the Uncheese Book sounds interesting. I can't believe I still haven't gotten around to buying that book yet.

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  12. AnonymousApril 30, 2009 at 11:46 AM

    Every time you make an uncheese recipe I tell myself I need that book!

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  13. MeloMealsApril 30, 2009 at 3:49 PM

    Looks like a perfect meal! I adore tofu and greens.

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  14. AApril 30, 2009 at 4:11 PM

    Yeah!! I'm all about trying to balance every meal. Sometimes I hit all the groups and sometimes I don't..... but the challenge is fun! :)
    Your rotinni looks out of this world! Mmmm!
    -A

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  15. CynApril 30, 2009 at 7:01 PM

    Everything looks so good! That pasta looks so creamy and yummy, and chard is pretty much my favorite thing ever. It looks great with that tofu. I'm always trying to keep my meals balanced too, although lately I'm trying to up my veggies more.

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  16. ErinApril 30, 2009 at 7:23 PM

    You're inspiring me to go on an Uncheese kick of my own, there are so many things in that book that I want to try but never have. Then again, I could say that about a LOT of the cookbooks I own.

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  17. AnonymousApril 30, 2009 at 7:24 PM

    I'm going to try that tofu recipe. It sounds yummy! And that pasta sounds good too. I love cheesy noodles!

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  18. Melisser; the Urban HousewifeMay 1, 2009 at 4:50 AM

    Oooh, tofu & chard is SO vegan, hahaha! It sounds crazy good to me though!

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  19. SheridanMay 1, 2009 at 2:07 PM

    I definitely want to try the baked tofu and chard! That looks and sounds delicious!

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