Vegan Palak Paneer

As I mentioned in Sunday's post, Nasoya was kind enough to send me a handful of coupons for free samples of their tofu products and sandwich spreads. Though I typically buy the generic extra-firm Whole Foods tofu, I picked out a butt-load (well, maybe not a butt-load, but several packages) of Nasoya tofu on my last grocery trip. One such find was Nasoya's Lite Firm Tofu.

Now, I'm not exactly into low-fat eating, but I do like to cut calories when taste and quality aren't sacrificed. After all, eating less calories in one meal means I can eat more dessert later. Thankfully, this lite tofu tastes exactly like the regular Nasoya firm tofu. It has 40 calories per serving versus 80 calories per serving, and I'm honestly not sure how they did that. Judging by the ingredient lists on both tofus, the lite tofu contains a few more added vitamins. But for the most part, they have the the same make-up. Maybe it's magic...

Anyhow, I decided to try the tofu in this Vegan Palak Paneer from 101 Things to Do with Tofu:

I've never had real palak paneer, a North Indian dish typically made with cottage cheese and spinach. But I know this vegan version looks very much like the dairy version, which also contains white cubes. It was super simple, and minimally seasoned. The tofu reaches a firmer, more cheese-like consistency after its boiled for several minutes and then drained in a colander.

I served the palak paneer over smoked spelt, a delightful little chewy whole grain from Germany. Mihl from Seitan is My Motor sent me a bag of it in a care package from Germany last year.

Though I've had the 101 Things to Do with Tofu cookbook since October, this recipe is the first I've made from it. It's a cute spiral-bound volume with mostly vegan (some vegetarian), mostly easy-peasy tofu recipes. Worth checking out for some fresh, new tofu ideas.

Wednesday is the last chance to enter my $25 Vegan Essentials gift certificate giveaway. See this post for details.