Vegan Egg Fried Rice

Well, I suppose I am being a bit cheeky calling this "egg" fried rice as there is nothing eggy about it, I've not used the "vegg" or even black salt here - tofu fried rice would be more apt but I have completely based this recipe on the process of egg fried rice so we'll stick with that! 

I used to LOVE egg fried rice back when I was vegetarian, and that's despite not even being a huge fan of eggs! I remember when I was pregnant with my son I had massive cravings for it and made it through huge bowls of the stuff, especially in those last 2 months ;-)

I'm quite particular about it too, and I'm clearly not the only one - the article I've based this recipe on contained a huge list of comments about what people think should or should not be in egg fried rice. For me, it's onions fried until sweet and golden brown, definitely peas, definitely NOT carrot, seasoned simply with soy sauce and a bit of black pepper and spring onion only thrown in at the end.

That just leaves the main ingredient - egg. The type I used to make involved making a large flat omelette and dicing it up and adding it to the fried rice. This would have been quite easy to veganize by simply making a thin tofu omelette and dicing it up the same way but I came across this Guardian article on the perfect egg fried rice and decided to try a different way. 

The article author tried several different methods of making egg fried rice but settled on Ken Hom's way of pouring over beaten egg and stirring it in vigorously until EACH grain of rice is absorbed  with egg and you have a vibrantly yellow coloured rice with NO noticeable bits of egg in there at all. I loved this idea! Plus, I figured it would be a perfect method of cooking egg fried rice using silken tofu instead of eggs. *whispers* It's also a great way of secretly getting some tofu and thus protein into unsuspecting family members - ssshh!

I first made up my "eggs" by blending firm silken tofu with turmeric, salt, pepper and as Mr. Hom adds it to his eggs - toasted sesame oil. This really adds to the end flavour of the dish and is a most welcome addition.

I was too eager to try this rice right away and I didn't have any cold leftover rice to use so I just cooked up some basmati rice fresh. I then fried some onion until golden, added the rice, peas, soy sauce and some of the tofu egg mixture and fried it up. I ended up with what can only be called a congealed mass of rice porridge - sticky and mushy BUT my God it was absolutely delicious!! As Ken Hom insists you use cold leftover rice I cooked up some more rice, cooled it quickly and got it in the fridge to try again the next day.

Second try I used the cold rice and only half of the amount of tofu egg mixture that I used the first time so it wouldn't be as 'stodgy' and the texture was perfect!  It had intact individual grains of rice each coated in the yummy sesame/tofu egg mixture but this time the flavour wasn't as "wow" as the first dish. I realized this was because when I halved the amount of tofu mixture I also halved the amount of flavour going into the dish.

So....

The third attempt I made the tofu/egg mixture again but doubled the flavourings of turmeric/salt/pepper and toasted sesame oil to ensure that the flavour in the end fried rice is spot on, and finally.....success! This was just perfect - the flavour in this fried rice is incredible - lusciously rich due to the seasoned tofu (with absolutely NO taste of tofu anywhere) and the texture was spot on - no congealed mass of rice porridge this time! I don't often use the word perfect in my recipe titles but after so many test runs for this one, it feels right :-)

Note - you can also make this with brown basmati rice, it tastes great and best of all you don't have to use cold rice if you are using brown. Just boil, drain and rinse and you can use it right away with no stickiness :-) Personally, I stick with white as it's how I prefer my "egg" fried rice but it's another option for you!

Perfect Vegan Egg Fried Rice

Serves 2

• 150g (2/3 cups) dry weight white basmati or jasmine rice - you'll need 350g or 2¾ cups cooked rice.

• 1 Tbsp peanut oil

• 1/2 cup/ 70g/1 small diced white onion

• 1/2 cup/75g frozen peas (I like petite pois here)

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce

• 1/3 cup/22g spring onions, chopped

• 1/2 cup/125ml of the tofu/egg mixture - recipe follows

Tofu Egg Mixture - note: this makes enough for 4 servings of egg fried rice.

• 300g firm silken tofu (UK/IRE readers - I use Clearspring Organic Tofu)

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 1/8 tsp finely ground black pepper

First, make the tofu egg mixture by blending all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. You may have to shake the blender a couple of times and stop and scrape down the sides but it will get going. Please note that the mixture will taste too salty and strong at this point but don't fret - it all gets toned down in the final dish! Use right away or transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed. 

There are 2 options for the rice - using cold leftover rice for the optimum texture or with a few tricks you can make it fresh with only slight stickiness - a slight compromise for rice straight away :-)

If you have time to plan in advance, then wash the raw rice really well until the water runs clear, this is to remove all the excess starch. Bring a large pot of just lightly salted water to the boil and add the rice. Give it a stir, put the lid on, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10 - 12 minutes until tender, giving it a stir a couple of times. Note - make sure you don't over salt the water, the rice will absorb too much and the end dish will be too salty - the egg mixture is seasoned enough.

Drain in a fine sieve and rinse well with hot water. Shake off all excess water then spread out on a large plate to cool quickly. Stir the rice a couple times to help it cool down fast and once at room temperature tip the rice into a bowl, cover and pop it in the fridge. Make sure you get it into the fridge within an hour - health and safety and all that!

If you need the egg fried rice today then you also wash the raw rice well, cook as above, drain and rinse with boiling water but then pop it back into the pot and heat, stirring gently on low heat just until all excess water is gone and the rice looks dryer. If you do it this way make sure your stir fry is ready for the rice once the rice is cooked.

To make the fried rice: heat 1/2 Tbsp of the peanut oil in a large wok on high heat and add the onion. Fry until soft and golden brown. Add the other 1/2 Tbsp of oil and let it get hot, now add the rice and fry until the rice is well coated in oil and hot. Spread it out to make sure it all gets cooked, if it starts to stick, turn the heat down a bit. Add the peas, give it a stir then add the 1/2 cup of tofu mixture. Stir gently whilst frying until each grain of rice is coated and the mixture cooks down and looks drier, this takes maybe 5 minutes, you'll know when it's done as each grain of rice won't look so wet. Also, don't worry if the mixture sticks here and there, my wok ends up in a right state after this :-D Stir in the soy sauce and fry for another minute or so then turn off the heat and stir in the spring onion. Split into 2 bowls and serve immediately!

♥

Nutritional Information: based on 1 serving.

Calories: 439

Protein: 14.2g

Fat: 13.4g

Sat Fat: 1.7g

Carbs: 68.5g

Sugar: 3.7g

Fibre: 3.0g

Sodium: 1087mg

To Accompany this Dish:

Crispy Fried Tofu
in
Spicy Teriyaki Sauce

Veggie Spring Rolls
&
Soy Mince Wontons

Sparkling Cherry Limeade

Another cherry recipe! I have very few drink recipes on the blog, something I should really work on....those I do are mostly alcoholic as well :-) Well, this one is alcohol free and healthy to boot! Simply fresh cherries, fresh lime juice, a minimal amount of sweetness and sparkling water. It's really refreshing and very *adult* like - I love that it's not overly sweet, even a bit tart....sigh, coming from someone who grew up drinking the sickly sweet orange/grape and lime Crush, this is a major development!! Plus, the whole recipe is only 86 calories, only 43 a glass :-)

Sparkling Cherry Limeade

makes 2 (or 1 large!)

• 3/4 - 1 cup fresh sweet cherries, washed and pitted

• 1 lime, juiced - sieve out bits

• 1 Tbsp syrup sweetener - I use light Sweet Freedom, you can use light agave or maple syrup instead.

• sparkling water

Place the cherries, lime juice and syrup into a blender and blend until smooth. Push through a fine sieve and discard the pulp. Distribute between 2 medium sized glasses and top up with chilled sparkling water, giving it a good stir. It will foam up, just let it die down and top up some more. Taste, and if you would like it sweeter simply add more syrup - a lot of the sweetness will depend on the cherries. Add some ice and if you like a slice of lime and a cherry for decoration :-)

Note - the "concentrate" does not keep well so use it right away!

....and a first for the blog - photo's taken OUTSIDE!! In typically comedic fashion I was literally running around trying to take these pictures outside fearing the fleeting Irish sun was going to disappear on me....

Son: "why are you running around???" 

Me: "I'VE GOT TO GET THESE PICTURES TAKEN BEFORE IT CLOUDS OVER!!!"

Son: "good luck with that...."

♥

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Cherry Vinaigrette

It might be hard to believe that cherries are one of my absolute favourite fruits given the almost complete lack of any cherry recipes here. Thing is, I love them so much I just want to eat them - using them in a recipe feels like a waste! 

That being said I bought a little *too* many cherries a while back (yes, even for me!) and looked into some recipes to make with them. As I'm dieting at the moment I didn't want to go down the sweet route and came across this cherry vinaigrette recipe.

I made a few personal changes and came up with this - it's lovely! A really sharp vinaigrette with just a hint of cherry taste, that little bit of sweetness from the cherries a real nice complement. I tend to always stick to my all time favourite balsamic dressing for most things but this will be a welcome summer addition :-)

Cherry Vinaigrette

• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tsp syrup - I use light Sweet Freedom, light agave or maple syrup can be used instead

• 60g or 1/3 cup washed, pitted and chopped sweet cherries

• ½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/8 tsp salt

• freshly ground black pepper - I used 3 grinds

Add all to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour through a sieve to remove any bits and that's it! Recipe makes a fairly small amount but it's quite a strong dressing, only a little is needed :-)

Now, I'm only blogging the dressing here as really, I like it just with crisp bright green leaves of romaine but cherries and walnuts go beautifully together! Whatever salad you choose to have this with, I highly recommend adding some toasted walnuts....a crumbling of the baked almond feta wouldn't go amiss either :-)

Mixed Greens, Toasted Walnuts and Cherry Vinaigrette

♥

Nutritional Information: per 100g of dressing.

Calories: 593

Protein: 0.9g

Fat: 60.2g

Sat Fat: 8.6g

Fibre: 1.8g

Carbs: 19.4g

Sugar: 16.6g

Sodium: 501.5mg

Dark Chocolate filled Raspberries

Just an idea for you today rather than a recipe - these are absolutely delicious, super easy and really quite a healthy sweet!

I saw the idea of filling strawberries with chocolate on Pinterest and as someone who has always loved chocolate covered strawberries I thought this would make an even easier way too eat them. You pare out a hole from the strawberry and fill with dark chocolate. 

It was good but was a bit fiddly with all the paring out, plus my strawberries were too big to eat in one bite which meant they were just as messy to eat as the chocolate covered type, you know, with chocolate crumbling everywhere!

Enter raspberries - bite sized and no paring necessary! Perfect. I've always loved dark chocolate and raspberry together so this was an easy match.

Simply melt some dark vegan chocolate of your choice, I used the microwave to melt and used 50g of chopped chocolate but only used about 20g. Scrape it all into a ziplock baggy, placing this in a mug or glass makes it easier, then snip off the tiniest of corner of the bag. 

To make them easy to fill I placed my raspberries in an empty ice cube tray - 2 fit upright in each cube hole. Then simply pipe the chocolate in. When done place in the fridge to set - mine were set in about an hour.

They work out at about 5 calories each - nice :-)

♥

Smoky Potato, Cabbage and Chickpea Skillet

I whipped this up for lunch the other day with some leftover bits I had in the fridge and it was so quick (about 15 minutes), easy and delicious! Recipe is based on and adapted from Heidi Swanson's White bean and cabbage from Super Natural Every Day. If you've been following my blog for any length of time you'll know I love her. Easily my favourite blogger and cookbook author, simply everything I've ever made by her has turned out and been stunning, most have become regular staples in our house.

I made quite a few changes to this one only because I suppose I was in that mood - changing things about a bit, quantity wise and with what I had on hand. Mostly, I have added a smoky aspect here using smoked paprika and smoked sea salt as those flavours go so beautifully with cabbage and potatoes. Further, I used chickpeas as I had some leftover in the fridge but also as I prefer them to white beans in this type of dish. Lastly, I grated some Vegusto mild over top in place of the parmesan and it just finished the dish off perfectly. It has a sharp taste reminiscent of an extra mature cheddar and was gorgeous with this. 

Smoky Potato, Cabbage and Chickpea Skillet

serves 1

• ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 70g baby new potatoes (about 2), scrubbed and diced tiny - leave skins on.

• 1 shallot, halved and sliced thin

• 50g tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 100g cabbage, thinly sliced

• ¼ tsp smoked sea salt

• ½ tsp smoked paprika

• freshly ground black pepper

• Vegusto mild or piquant, finely grated - cheezly parm would be nice too.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, skillet or as I used, wok - but make sure you have a lid or something you can fashion as a lid. Add the tiny diced potato, ¼ tsp of the smoked paprika and 1/8 tsp of the smoked sea salt and stir. Pop the lid on and fry gently, removing the lid now and again to give it a stir, until the potato is cooked and getting slightly crispy, about 5 - 7 minutes.

Add the shallots and chickpeas and fry until the shallots are soft and the chickpeas are heated through and getting slightly browned. If it seems a little dry pop the lid on to let things sweat a little.

Add the cabbage, the other 1/8 tsp of smoked sea salt and the other ¼ tsp of smoked paprika and stir well. Add a splash of water - about a tablespoon and fry over medium heat until the cabbage just starts to wilt and any excess liquid is cooked off.

Transfer to a bowl and top with a good grating of Vegusto mild and some freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

♥

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 236

Protein: 7g

Fat: 8.7g

Sat Fat: 1.2g

Fibre: 5.8g

Carbs: 30.5g

Sugar: 4.3g

Sodium: 426mg

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Hot Toddy Layer Cake

Well, a bit of a double post for you today as this recipe *is* already on the blog as Hot Toddy Cupcakes. It was my father-in-law's 70th birthday last week and I was thinking what kind of cake to make. He's actually not that into sweet things, especially things with frosting but he did really like those cupcakes when I made them all those Christmas's ago :-)

So, I thought I would have a go making the recipe as a layer cake - and I am so happy to report that it turned out beautifully! Same light and fluffy yet moist texture, nicely clove spiced whiskey lemon cake with a whiskey buttercream frosting. Sigh. This thing broke my diet but it was worth it!

Hot Toddy Layer Cake

• 240ml soy cream

• 120ml rice milk

• 4 Tbsp Irish whiskey 

• 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 

• zest of 2 lemons

• 350g plain flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 4 Tbsp cornstarch 

• 1 tsp salt

• 3/4 tsp ground cloves 

• 160ml vegetable oil

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 320g caster sugar

Whiskey Buttercream Frosting:

• 80g vegetable fat, room temperature

• 100g vegan margarine

• 540g icing sugar

• 2 Tbsp Irish Whiskey

• zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180C and line the bottom of two 7" round cake tins with baking paper and grease the sides. Mix together the soy cream and rice milk then stir in the whiskey and lemon juice, it will curdle! Set aside. 

Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda, salt and cloves and set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and the soy cream curdled mixture until very well blended and sugar seems to be dissolved. It shouldn't look curdled any more. Add the dry ingredients to this and whisk gently until just blended and no lumps remain. 

Fill cake tins evenly and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin then run a knife around the edges, turn the pans over onto a wire rack and peel off the baking paper. Let fully cool.

To make the frosting, soften the vegetable fat first with a fork, then add the margarine and beat until well blended. Add half the icing sugar and all the whiskey and mix well. Add the rest of the icing sugar and mix well. You may need a touch more whiskey and or icing sugar. Just keep adding what you need until you get a smooth spreadable frosting. Now stir in the lemon zest.

Sandwich the cakes together with some of the frosting then frost the entire cake. Decorate with lemon halves and whole cloves.

♥

I'm afraid we were too busy celebrating for me to get a good quality photo of the whole cake - this is the only one I got! Making everyone wait to eat while I set up a photoshoot never seems to go down very well, lol!

I had much better light the next morning :-)

♥

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Tofu Salad Sandwich or Wrap

Tofu Salad with spring onion and celery on toasted wholemeal bread with Dijon mustard, dill mayo and romaine lettuce.

Phew! It's been awhile!!! I do actually have quite a few things lined up to blog but if you visit my daily blog you'll know I've been on quite the calorie restricted diet lately as I'm keen to lose about 8 pounds before my summer holidays. 

(Dieting and blogging recipes do not go well together.) 

In fact I tend to put weight on when I'm actively posting recipes here - all that testing, over and over, lol!

Now, the other thing you'll know if you visit the daily blog is that I've become positively addicted to my tofu scramble, but unlike the post on the blog here I've just been having the scramble without the cheesy chive waffles, roasted cherry tomatoes and spinach. Not that it's not good - I love that meal but I've been needing something quick and easy.

So, I've been having it with fresh basil on top of toasted tomato focaccia bread....(wow!)

 A larger portion with wholemeal toast and steamed asparagus...

 Likewise but with a "non-fat" grilled portabella mushroom...

 Yeah, this was my favourite....

 ....and without the asparagus....

Told you I'm addicted.

Then I started to think about egg sandwiches. Why, I have no idea as the mere smell of an egg sandwich makes me gag and always has, but that tofu scramble is so scrumptious and such a fine replacement for "eggy" things that I thought I would try it.

I have of course made tofu egg-style sandwiches before. I made the dill tofu salad sandwich from VWAV way back when and really liked it but I wanted this one to be more egg salad sandwich like.

I've followed my tofu scramble recipe here but omitted the shallots, let the whole thing cool then added finely chopped spring onion and celery. It's then piled on top of toasted wholemeal bread spread with dijon and dill mayo and finished off with some crisp romaine lettuce leaves. Perfect! Now I have another avenue to feed my tofu scramble addiction :-)

~ Recipe Notes ~

• Yes, the Marigold OrganicVegan Bouillon Powder (the red/orange tub) is a crucial ingredient here. I love the taste and as it already has turmeric in it gives this dish a lovely yellow hue. You can of course use whatever vegan bouillon powder you can find and add some turmeric for colour. If you use a different brand make sure you taste and season as need be.

• For those in the UK/IRE I use Cauldron's Original Tofu, it doesn't actually state if it is soft, firm or extra firm but the texture is very soft, but it's not silken so for a similar texture I would recommend a soft, non-silken tofu.

• Egg salad sandwiches mix the mashed egg with mayo - I don't do that here as the tofu mixture is soft and creamy enough. I do add mayo to the bread however, for flavour, but you could always mix it in with the tofu if you prefer or if you have a "drier" tofu.

• I got 2 sandwiches out of this but if I was using larger bakery style bread and wasn't dieting, then I would stuff the whole lot in! So, I would say it makes 2 small sandwiches, or 1 large :-) For the record, it doesn't keep very well as the mixture gets a little 'wet' when it sits in the fridge overnight so I would recommend just making what you need here.

Tofu Salad Sandwich

• 100g soft tofu (but not silken)

• 1 tsp marigold organic vegan bouillon powder for marinade

• 125ml (½ cup) water

• 1 large clove of garlic, peeled and halved

• ¼ tsp marigold organic vegan bouillon powder

• 1 spring onion, finely chopped

• 1 small stalk of celery, finely chopped

• freshly ground black pepper

For the sandwich:

• 2 slices wholemeal bread

• 2 tsp vegan mayo

• 1/8 tsp dried dill

• dijon mustard

• romaine lettuce 

Wrap the tofu in some kitchen towel then wrap in a clean dish towel and place something heavy on top to press, I use a cast iron grill pan. Leave for 10 minutes, change the paper towel and press for another 10 minutes.

In a pyrex measuring jug dissolve the 1 tsp of bouillon powder in a splash of hot water. Fill with cold water till you have 125ml or ½ cup and mix well. Crumble the tofu into this, make sure it is all covered, then cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour to marinate.

Drain the tofu using a fine sieve and get a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Add the tofu, the garlic halves, some freshly ground black pepper and 1/4 tsp of bouillon powder and fry until most the liquid has gone but it's still a bit creamy. Remove the garlic cloves and scrape the tofu into a bowl and leave to cool a bit. Add the spring onion and celery and mix well. Cover and chill in the fridge until completely cool.

To assemble: Toast your bread. This is essential as it makes it easier to eat and you won't have soggy bread that flops all over the place as you try to eat! If you like, spread with some vegan butter, I wanted to keep the calories low so didn't bother. Mix the mayo with the dill and spread on 1 slice of toast. Spread the other with some Dijon mustard. Top with the tofu salad and some lettuce. Enjoy!

♥

Nutritional Information: (just the tofu salad filling, all of it.)

Calories: 86

Protein: 9.1g

Fat: 3.6g

Sat Fat: 0.9g

Fibre: 1.3g

Carbs: 4.2g

Sugar: 1.5g

Sodium: 266mg

Calcium: 126mg

Wrap Version

I made a few changes to make this as a wrap. Here, I didn't marinade the tofu but instead fried the crumbled tofu with extra stock powder then let it cool. I also added some plain unsweetened soy yogurt for a lighter dressing, with added dill. It was equally good :-)

Tofu Salad Wrap

• 100g soft tofu (not silken)
• 1 tsp marigold organic vegan bouillon powder
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1 small stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, halved
• 30g or 2 Tbsp plain unsweetened soy yogurt - you can also use vegan mayo. (I have also omitted it when I've been out of yogurt!)
• ½ tsp dried dill
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 5 grinds of black pepper
♥
• 1 large wrap of your choice
• 1 large leaf of romaine lettuce

Press the tofu between several sheets of paper towel for about 15 minutes. Crumble the tofu. Heat up a non-stick frying pan and add the tofu, garlic halves and bouillon powder. Fry until most of the liquid cooks out of the tofu and it is fairly dry, I like to get some slightly golden spots on the tofu here, you can cook it drier than the version above as you'll be adding a dressing.

Remove the garlic and transfer the tofu to a bowl to cool to room temperature then add the rest of the ingredients, mixing well. Cover and chill in the fridge until cold.

Gently heat the wrap on a dry frying pan just to make it more pliable, a few seconds only on each side - don't let it get too hot. Lay down a leaf of romaine on the wrap then spoon on all of the tofu salad mixture. Wrap as you like, either fajita or burrito style - whatever's easiest for you :-)

Nutritional Information: based on 1 large wrap, will vary depending on wrap used (whole recipe)

Calories: 307
Protein: 15.9g
Fat: 9.7g
Sat Fat: 3.2g
Fibre: 3.3g
Carbs: 36g
Sugar: 3.5g
Calcium: 162mg

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