Vegan/Lactose Free Manicotti

Every Wednesday I will be bringing you what I will be calling Cutting Board posts.  I will be creating and showing recipes that cut back costs and calories.  Healthy food does not have to be expensive!  So here we go...

In another desperate attempt to get my family to open up to the idea of tofu as an edible food option, I turned to my latest copy of Everyday with Rachel Ray, which was showing a vegan stuffed shells recipe in the early pages of the issue.  The recipe below is an adaptation of that recipe.  Believe it or not, this is actually cheaper to make than the cheese version!  The tofu cost $5.98, while the 4 cups of mozarella and the ricotta would normally run me approximately $9.00. The tofu is much lighter on the calories, and you also will not have the calories from the eggs, which normally get blended with the cheeses! 

I serve stuffed shells way too often, and my family knows the taste like the back of their hands, so I opted for manicotti, which I don't make too often - mostly because I hate filling them (there is a tip down in the recipe)! I figured they wouldn't notice the new flavor and will just think that I am seasoning them differently. 

I nearly got away with it this time.  They scarfed them down piping hot, and dad went back for seconds!  They later realized, I suppose upon reflection, that something was not "right" and forced the secret out of me, because, well, I am just a horrible liar!  What it comes down to, is that these were delicious, especially piping hot out of the oven!  My family would have loved them, and I could have made them again if they hadn't been so suspicious...oh well!

Vegan/Lactose Free Manicotti
Yields 5 - 6 servings

Ingredients 
2 pounds firm tofu
2 sprigs fresh oregano
4 medium garlic cloves, chopped
Juice of two lemons
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1 jar of meatless spaghetti sauce
1 package of manicotti noodles, cooked, drained, and run under cool water.
1 Ziploc bag with a corner cut off, or a piping bag


To Prepare the Manicotti
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, puree 1 pound of tofu, the leaves of 1 sprig of oregano, 2 garlic cloves, and the juice of 1 lemon.
3. Repeat the process in step one with the remaining tofu, oregano, garlic, and lemon juice.
4. Combine both batches of tofu in a large bowl, and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour half of the jar of spaghetti sauce into a large casserole dish, and spread it out evenly. 
6. Pour the tofu mixture into the Ziploc or piping bag, and squeeze the tofu into the manicotti.  The most effectively way to fill the manicotti is to fill the pasta half way from one side, and then fill in the other side.
7. Continue this step while laying them in the saucy casserole dish.
8. Once you have filled all of the manicotti, top them with the sauce.
9. Bake them for 20 - 30 minutes, or until they are bubbling and hot.
10. Sprinkle the entire casserole dish with some fresh oregano before serving!

Tofu and Four Bean Chili Topped with Banana and Mango

You guys have probably noticed a trend this week of me trying to trick my family into eating vegetarian dishes, and tonight was finally the night it blew up in my face.  Don't get me wrong, the chili was delicious - I had a heaping plate, my dad had 2, and my sister whined the ENTIRE time she ate her bowl of it!  My dad had no idea until my sister got suspicious and dug through the top of the trash bag to find the tofu container.  He then proceeded to act disgusted while she ate a muffin and stopped eating her chili.  They have put their feet down that vegetarian week is over, but unfortunately for them, I bought the groceries on Saturday.  They are at my and the kitchen's mercy until Friday!  I guess it wouldn't have bothered me so much if they weren't so mean about it.  I mean really...is one vegetarian dish a day that horrible?!  Nonetheless, dinner was really yummy, and I enjoyed it!

Tofu and Four Bean Chili Topped with Banana and Mango 
Yields 8 - 10 servings

To Prepare the Chili
1. Start to heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan.
2. While the oil is heating, grate your block of tofu on a cheese grater.  If you don't want to grate it, you can break it up by hand, and then break it up more when it is starting to fry. I like grating because it makes the size of the tofu consistent...there's some mild OCD at work!
3. Add the tofu to the hot oil, and fry it until it just starts to brown a little.

4. Add a hot chili seasoning packet to the tofu and cook for a little bit longer.  Remember, when you are cooking tofu, it takes on the flavor of what you are cooking it with, so the more you cook the spices into it, the less it is going to taste like tofu!

5. Once the spices and tofu have started to brown, add a can of tomato puree or sauce (approximately 30 ounces worth).
6. Add a mild chili seasoning packet to the pan and stir well! 

7. Add in 1 can of dark red kidney beans, 1 can of pink kidney beans, 1 can of black beans, and 1 can of cannellini beans.

8. Stir everything together and let it simmer over low heat.  Be sure to stir it every now and then so it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn!

9. While your chili is simmering, dice one banana, and an equal bit of mango.  Serve this on top of the chili!  For some reason these two fruits manage to compliment the red sauce really well.  If you don't want to go the route of chopping the fruit, you could buy a pineapple or mango salsa to use!