It shouldn't come from a bean #1

Here’s a list of things I like to eat: mushrooms, courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, barley, couscous. Here’s a list of things The Scientist doesn’t like: mushrooms, courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, barley, couscous. See what I have to put up with? I love making it sound as though he’s the fussy one given that I cut out several major food groups in one fell swoop : ). Generally he’s happy to eat anything which is filling and tasty, and I’m very pleased that he’s so amenable to being veggie most of the time at home. There are certain things, however, which are just completely abhorrent to him. The things on the list above are some, but he also thinks that there are certain ingredients which food just shouldn’t be made out of. He’s generally to be heard muttering ‘it shouldn’t come from a bean’ darkly to himself when he catches me slipping soya milk into our shopping trolley. This week, The Scientist is away, adding another branch of science to his bow, and while I will miss him tragically, I am taking advantage of his absence to cook up a storm of mushrooms, tofu and other bean-based goodness.

Tonight, I started with Tofu and Vegetable Cacciatore, which I read about on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen (I do cook a lot from other people’s blogs, don’t I?!). It uses defrosted frozen tofu which I had been intrigued about for a while. I’d read in several places that tofu changes its character quite a lot in being frozen, and takes on a much chewier texture. Perhaps it also becomes very troubled and angry too - I don't know. Susan, of Fat Free Vegan Kitchen particularly said that this dish was a good one for frozen tofu, plus it had mushrooms in it, which made it a combi-winner.

Susan’s recipe served 6, and I wanted to make only one portion to allow for further Scientist anti-food later in the week. I didn’t want to leave anything out though, so I just used small bits of each vegetable. I don’t know whether my proportions were like the original, but it both smelled and tasted really good. It’s one of those dishes that you want to sample each bit of with every forkful. The only thing I did differently from the original apart from the scaling down, was to use cava instead of wine, as I had some left from a weekend celebration (of which more later). Slightly unorthodox, I’m sure, but it didn’t seem to have an adverse effect. The tofu was definitely different from what I’ve had before – grainier and chewier, but it gives nice texture to this dish. Susan served hers with spaghetti squash which I liked the sound of, but couldn’t find at the farm shop. I ate mine with pasta, and it was yum. I forgot to take a photo until I’d eaten half of it, it was so nice, so sorry about the rather half-hearted-looking portion! Apparently I don't eat very neatly. I ate it while listening to the soundtrack from Amelie which is one of my favourite films ever, and can’t help but make me happy even when my best beloved is on a train to Sheffield. I am writing this just after eating and am so full I’m not sure I can even manage any of the ice cream I bought today :(

In other news, Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness has now hosted her veggie-themed cocktail party, and it seemed to go very well indeed. Her living room must have been crammed, there were so many people, and I can only pity the hangover she must have had from the combination of drinks people brought. Some of the other dishes looked amazing, and I look forward to trying some of them out in future. I’ve made some blog friends – awwww.