Nasoya

Chipotle Tofu Tacos with Jalapeno Cashew Crema

January 26, 2016

How ready are you for the Super Bowl????

I’m so totally stoked since The Pats are out. #sorrynotsorry

The Super Bowl is happening on my last weekend in Boston so I am ready to enjoy it with Price. And that means with plenty of food and beer. And we’ll probably be packing in the basement while it’s on the wall from the ceiling projector.

Do you have a projector? If not, you should get one. It makes watching everything from the news to movies to sporting events that much more awesome. I mean, how can you not love watching Al Roker broadcast the weather in life size form on your wall?!?!?

Anyway, since I’m all about tacos with my Taco Tuesday posts I am making them left and right. I think they are great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And snacks in between. ha! So, I have the best arsenal of taco recipes right now. Just you wait!

Honestly, one of my favorite taco, or taco bowl, options is tofu. I sometimes just get bored with ground meat or chicken. And there are days when I have not planned out in advance properly to slow cook some carnitas. So tofu to the rescue.

It takes on so much flavor that it’s the perfect sponge for fun spicy flavors. But what if your toddler has yet another cold, you have something that has been lingering for 2 weeks now, and you just can’t even… You turn to Nasoya’s TofuBaked tofu.

I was able to whip up these tacos in practically no time by using the Chipotle seasoned tofu. It made me think that these would be perfect to serve for a party, especially a Super Bowl party as they are easy to assemble, are affordable, and everyone loves tacos.

I served the tacos with the most delicious jalapeno cashew crema and quick pickled onions. Both will change your life. Don’t be scared off with the cashew crema. It is legit awesome. You won’t miss typical sour cream from the consistency and flavor from it. It’s my new dip and dressing for everything in life.

Now, you absolutely can make these delicious tacos with ‘regular’ extra firm tofu. BUT, I swear by this TofuBaked from Nasoya. Seriously. Save yourself the effort and time of draining, drying, and seasoning up that tofu for these tacos. Yes, you can totally do that. It’s really not that hard, but I am at the point in my life when I take logical shortcuts when I can. #momlife

And this totally is one of them!!!

Besides these tacos, you can make awesome salads with this Chipotle Nasoya TofuBaked tofu, or any of their other varieties. In fact, I am going to have a salad topped off with the tofu today at lunch. I swear! I’ll even IG it. It just makes things easier at work when I don’t need to worry about how I will be adding protein.

I swear you’ll be adding tofu to your tacos all the time now!

Chipotle Tofu Tacos with Jalapeno Cashew Crema

Makes 8 tacos, Crema Recipe makes 2 Cups

For the Tacos

2 8oz packages of Nasoya TofuBaked Chipotle Tofu
16 corn tortillas
olive oil
Serve with argula, torn cilantro leaves, sliced grape tomatoes

For the Crema

2 cups raw, unsalted cashews, soaked for 3 hours, drained
1 jalapeno, stemmed & seeds removed
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the quick pickled onions

1 red onion
1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar

Process

Begin by making the crema as this needs 3 hours to prep. In a bowl, cover the cashews with water and let soak for at least 3 hours. Drain. Combine the drained cashews and jalapeno in a food processor or blender and pulse until a paste forms, scraping down the sides as needed. With the machine running, slowly, add in the lime and 3/4 – 1 Cups water until creamy, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside and store in a sir tight container for up to 1 week.
Make the pickled onions at least 1 hour prior to serving. Peel, then halve the onion, then slice into 1/4″ thick (max) slices. Combine the sugar and vinegar together in a bowl or in a large mason jar until the sugar is dissolved. Add the onion slices, stir as needed to completely cover. Set aside and store in a sir tight container for up to 1 week.
To make the tacos, slice each piece of TofuBaked into 4 long strips. Quickly heat in lightly oiled pan over medium heat. (The tofu is already prepared so you are just warming through.)
Over high heat, warm the tortillas in a skillet until warm, soft, and there is some slight char on the tortillas. I suggest using a cast iron grill pan. Or warm directly over a gas burner flame. Spray or lightly coat with oil.
Assemble the tacos by layering 2 warm tortillas together, lay down some arugula, then the warmed tofu, add a few slices of the pickled onion, and sprinkle with the tomatoes and cilantro. Then drizzle the crema over it all.

Crema adapted from Chef Marcela Valladolid, Quick Pickled Onions sourced from Bon Apetite

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This post is sponsored by Nasoya, but all opinions are expressly my own.

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa and a Creamy Lime Drizzle

February 3, 2014

I’m skipping this week’s edition of Monday Munchies post to bring you a great recipe and GIVEAWAY!

I’ve been on a taco kick recently. In 1 week I had tacos 3 times. 3 times!! But the best part was that each were so different. I just love how versatile they are. I made ground turkey as the filling, then I had fish tacos when my mom and I were out to lunch when she was visiting last week, and then I made these tofu tacos. Each were so good in their own way.

Have you ever made tacos with tofu before? I never had but once I saw this recipe I knew I had to give it a try. I’ve used Nasoya’s great Organic non-GMO tofu in endless stir fry’s but I figured that I would change things up and give this recipe a try.

Boy, it did not disappoint!

The tofu was firm, crispy, and flavorful. It was great for a filling as a taco. In fact, it kinda reminded me of fish tacos. The texture was light like fish and it had a nice crisp coating on the pieces as well. No, it didn’t taste like fish so I wasn’t fooled there but the way that tofu absorbs flavors is spot on in that is soaked up the umami rich Worcestershire sauce and then it became best friends with the cumin in the dredge. Bestest of friends. (ugh, where is my mind?)

Anyway… the Nasoya TofuPlus is great to use in recipes like this, as well as stir fries, such as this Spicy Peanut Stir Fry. But if tofu is new to you then you should know that tofu comes in different firmness. You can use something like silken which you can use in these Carrot Cake Squares. Nasoya’s TofuPlus is verasitle so you can use it from everything to breakfast smoothies, grill it and serve it on a salad, to even making dessert with it!

The tofu is great but you can’t ignore that the mango salsa and the creamy lime drizzle add great flavors to the tacos as well. They really pack a punch to tie the flavors of the tacos together. Kinda creates the perfect bite sorta thing. You get the heat and tang from the creamy lime drizzle and then there is great balance from the sweetness from the mango in the salsa. Plus you get some crunch from the red pepper to add some nice texture to the tacos. yum!!

So in conclusion- what? is this a essay or something?- these Crispy Tofu Tacos made with Nasoya tofu are just perfect for a Meatless Monday dinner. Have you done Meatless Monday before? You should give it a try. It’s a great night to change things up to kick off the week. You know, so you can take the week by the horns and kick some butt!

If you want to try these tofu tacos, or other great recipes using tofu, then be sure to enter my Nasoya GIVEAWAY after the recipe!!!

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa and a Creamy Lime Drizzle

Makes 8 Tacos

Ingredients

For the Filling

1 package Nasoya Extra-firm tofu, rinsed and patted dry
2 eggs
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon grill seasoning or seasoned salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons canola oil

For the Mango Salsa

1/2 cup diced mango
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced avocado
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

For the Creamy Lime Drizzle

1 teaspoon lime zest
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon minced pickled jalapeno peppers

8 flour taco sized tortillas or 16 taco sized corn tortillas

Process

Prepare the lime drizzle by zesting the lime rind into a small bowl. Juice the zested lime into the bowl and then add the sour cream and jalapeno peppers. Mix well to combine.
Prepare the mango salsa by combining all of the salsa ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Prepare the filling by slicing the tofu lengthwise into 6 slices, and then quarter each piece resulting in 24 total rectangles; set aside.
In a shallow bowl, beat eggs with the Worcestershire sauce. In another shallow bowl, mix together the cornstarch, grill seasoning and cumin.
Heat oil in large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Dip each piece of tofu in the egg mixture, dredge in the cornstarch mixture, and then cook in the skillet for about 3 – 4 minutes per side (top and bottom) or until brown. Do not crowd in the skillet, so prepare the pieces in batches, if necessary.
Heat tortillas according to the package directions. Assemble the tacos by placing 3 pieces in taco then dressing with the mango salsa and topping with the creamy lime drizzle.

Slightly adapted from Nasoya

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If you would like to win some Nasoya coupons for your own tacos, stir fries, smoothies, and much more, then all you have to do it leave a comment on this blog post telling me how you would use tofu in your own cooking.

For an extra entry tweet the following: “Tofu Tacos? Yes! perfect for #MeatlessMonday. These Crispy Tofu Tacos are a must try! http://wp.me/pzEAP-44I Plus a giveaway!” Come back here and leave a comment telling me you did this.

For an extra entry LIKE Nasoya on Facebook. Come back here and leave a comment telling me you did this.

*While I did receive complimentary product from Nasoya, these opinions are entirely my own.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Open Faced Summertime Tomato Sandwich {& a Nasoya Nayonaise Review}

July 16, 2013

I haven’t been into cooking during the week. I try to do all my ‘big’ cooking done over the weekend and then just make something simple like boxed mac and cheese during the week. It’s too hot. I’m too tired. I don’t care.

But since I can’t live on boxed mac and cheese alone (or can I?), I’ve been trying to make some simple salads or sandwiches, besides PBJ. One that I have been turning to is a summer time favorite… a tomato sandwich.

I just feel that you can’t beat fresh summer produce so you should take every opportunity you can to enjoy it. And don’t mess around with it too much. Some bread, your favorite mayo, fresh greens, and slices of juice ripe tomato. Plus don’t forget the fresh cracked salt and pepper. Really, enjoy the best of every ingredient since there are only 4.

I recently received some Vegan Nayonsise from Nasoya to try. I’ve really been enjoying it on sandwiches, in dips for fries, and on burgers. Yes, I know. Dumb Dumb puts vegan mayo on a meaty burger. I’m pregnant. That’s my free card to do whatever. But really, because it is so good I’ve been putting it on and in all different things. I think that’s really impressive since I ONLY use Hellmann’s. Don’t try to give me Cain’s or Miracle Whip.

So naturally, I was hesitant to try the Original Nayonaise. But I was really pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it. No, this is not your typical mayo since it is Dairy and Egg Free, which means it is not going to taste the same or look the same as a ‘normal’ mayo but it really is very good. I think it is a great solution for someone to enjoy if they are vegetarian, vegan, or have a food allergy.

I had done some side by side comparisons while playing around with the Nayonaise by making some foods with it and some with regular mayo and mixing them up. If you were not really looking out for the difference I think you would not really notice it. The taste is subtually tangier than Hellmann’s, but I don’t think that is a bad thing. I never experienced a funny after taste with the Nayonaise either. I think the biggest difference I noticed was that it has a different texture compared to mayo. When mayo is pretty smooth, it is rather gummy, but I didn’t notice any problems mixing it up or spreading it on my sandwich.

Besides it being a great product for vegetarians, vegans, or people with food allergies, I think it would be great for people who are watching their figure. Compared to the average mayo that has 90 calories, 10 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat per serving, the Nayonaise has only 40 calries, 3 grams of fat, and .5 grams of saturdated fat per serving. The Nayonaise has slightly more sodium with 115 grams compared to 90 grams but overall a very healthy mayo alternative.