Pesto Tofu, Vegetables, and Brown Rice

No, really, hear me out.  I was going to do a stir-fry originally, but that would have involved buying a new bottle of teriyaki sauce.  Things evolved, sales on cabbage happened, and I ended up making this.

This recipe works equally well with chicken, but I had tofu on the meal plan.  Pesto drowns out everything, so it doesn't really matter what the protein is.

What struck me when it was on the plate was how inexpensive the meal was.  It looks fancy, but only cost me a few dollars on the day for four servings.  Getting every ingredient from scratch, you're looking at about $9, or $2.25 per serving, and half of that cost is the pesto.  It fills the plate and the cabbage roasts into something that feels hearty.

*1 C brown rice
1 small cabbage
3-4 large carrots
olive oil as needed
salt, white pepper, and granulated garlic to taste
*1 block extra firm tofu
*1 C pesto
lemon wedges for serving, optional

1.  First, start making the rice according to package directions.  Brown rice takes a minimum of half an hour, usually 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup and less sticking.

2.  Peel off the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut in quarters, and remove the toughest parts of the core.  Peel the carrots, trim off the top and bottom, and cut into large chunks, about 2" long and halved.  The goal is for them to roast in the same amount of time as the cabbage.  Rub with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and arrange on the baking sheet in an even layer.  Sprinkle with salt, white pepper, and granulated garlic to taste and roast until softened and the edges of the cabbage are browned, about 30-40 minutes.

3.  Drain the tofu, cut into 8 rectangles, and pat dry.  I tried getting all fancy with the pesto by putting a tablespoon on each piece, then gave up and added it all to the pan.  Warm in a skillet over medium heat, adding a little more oil if your pesto is on the dry side.  Turn over to heat both sides.

4.  Plate with a scoop of rice, one wedge of cabbage, several pieces of carrots, and two pieces of tofu per serving.  Drizzle with some of the warmed pan pesto and serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)

Sweet Potato Biscuits

I'm always glad when I Google an idea and find a recipe from a familiar source.  Preppy Kitchen made these, and the recipe looked like what I wanted to make.

Yes, it's awfully close to Passover to be making a dozen biscuits.  In a few days, I'm going to move the turkey to the fridge and defrost the chest freezer.  The biscuits I don't have with the steak are going to be breakfast with some Lil' Smokies as the protein.  Passover eggs are going to be the most precious ingredient this holiday.

This is the first jar of home-canned sweet potatoes I've opened.  I still have a few par-steamed ones in the freezer, but I wanted to try the recipe with these.  Drained, they mashed into a cup of purée in seconds.  It was fantastic!  I'm going to be looking for recipes to use sweet potato purée now.  Because I was using powdered buttermilk, I saved the water from the jar and topped it off to be what the recipe called for.  Taking into account the extra water in the canned potatoes, I just made 1-3/4 cup total for the two ingredients.

The only issue I'm having with the original recipe is the yield.  These were 12 huge biscuits.  I usually make a biscuit or scone recipe with 2 C flour for 12, so I'm going to say you should get 18 out of a 3-cup batch.  I could have made sandwiches on these.

3 C flour
2 Tb sugar
1 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 C cold butter, cut into cubes
*1 C sweet potato purée (about 1 15 oz can potatoes, drained)
3/4 C buttermilk

1.  Preheat oven to 425º.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the butter to make flakes.  You can use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers.  I like the finger option.  It's soothing to squish the butter into the flakes, and you can catch any hiding chunks.  Just don't work it too long, or the warmth of your hands will melt the butter.

3.  Stir together sweet potato and buttermilk, then add to the flour.  Stir just until it comes together into a shaggy dough and picks up all the dry flour from the bottom of the bowl.

4.  Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead lightly until uniform, maybe 10 strokes.  Don't overwork, or the biscuits will be tough.

5.  Pat into a sheet 1" thick.  You can use a 2" round cookie cutter, or do what I did and pat it into a rectangle on the baking sheet and score it into squares.  If using a cookie cutter, assemble the scraps and keep cutting out biscuits until all the dough is used.  For scoring, separate the squares slightly, so they will barely touch once they expand in the oven.

6.  Bake about 20 minutes, until the bottoms are just starting to brown and the tops are firm.  I did think the recipe might be a little heavy on the butter, but once the biscuits cooled it was the right amount that I didn't need to add more at serving.  Maybe I'll cut back by 2 Tb next time.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  You can store these at room temperature for up to two days, in the fridge for about five, or freeze for longer storage.

Makes 18 biscuits 

Difficulty rating  π