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vegan cooking

Super Easy 20-Minute Sticky Orange Tofu

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Put all our prejudices aside and make this recipe. If you used to think tofu is boring, you will be proven differently. We have got the sweet and slightly spicy flavours of orange and chilli combined in a sticky sauce that covers the tofu. Definitely not your average tofu.

Orange Tofu is a dish that originally is made with chicken instead of tofu and therefore also called orange chicken. Orange Chicken originated in China, where it is rarely found in traditional restaurants today. It got really popular in the US through Panda Express. There the chicken is battered, then fried and then tossed in a orange sauce, which thickens and caramelizes. 

What’s special about this dish?

It is a vegan version if the orange chicken and a mich healthier one too. It is not battered and deep fried and also not tossed in a sauce loaded with white refined sugar. It is a much healthier, easier and quicket version of the original and still tastes really intense and good! So you could say that it rather is a Chinese inspired dish and less the original one.

Is this dish healthy? 

Yep yep. What is it made of? Well our main ingredient is tofu. Tofu is really high in protein and also comes with some fiber. Then our main „ingredient“ is the orange sauce. This is mainly made from freshly squeezed orange juice, which is a vitamin C bomb. Then we have some soy sauce, vinegar, fresh ginger and garlic and some honey, plus some cornstarch in which the tofu is tossed and then fried in a little hot oil.

Contrary to regular orange chicken, we have rather little fat here because instead of deep frying it, it is simply stir fried in a pan. Also, we are using honey instead of white refined sugar. Honey still contains sugar but less per 100g in comparison to regular sugar and it actually comes with antioxidants. 

How to make this dish:

This is super simple. So, we start by pressing the tofu. To do so we just lay some kitchen paper beneath and on top of a block of tofu and them let something heavy press it down for a few minutes. This will make the liquid drain from the tofu so it gets crispier in the pan later on.

Next we just chop it up into about 1 cm sized cubes. These are then tossed in some cornstarch. The cornstarch binds the remaining liquid and kind of forms a crust when frying. After that, the tofu is fried in some hot oil from each side for about 1-2 minutes till crispy. 

In the meantime we combine the orange juice & zest, soy sauce, honey or maple, cornstarch, ginger, garlic and vinegar in a bowl and then pour it over the tofu and let it simmer on low heat for a few minutes. Because of the cornstarch the sauce will thicken and the honey makes it caramelise. That already pretty much is it, we now only have to divide it onto plates or bowls and garnish with some greens!

Meal prep friendly

You can easily make this dish in advance and reheat it. If you have a stove I would prepare everything in advance and store the tofu and sauce separately and heat it up together whenever you want to have it. If you do not have a stove when eating it, you can simply heat it up in the microwave all together. Maybe you’ll then need to add a little water.

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Super Easy 20-Minute Sticky Orange Tofu

Easy, delicious and healthy. A vegan and lighter version of the american-chinese classic and let me tell you, it at least is as delicious!

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Chinese
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 2 servings

What you will need

  • 300 g tofu
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch
  • some rice or quinoa to serve with

For the sauce:

  • 1 orange zest & juice
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 cm ginger
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 60 g honey or maple
  • 1 tbsp vinegar

How to

  1. Lay the tofu onto some kitchen paper and cover it iwth some more. Lay something heavy on top and let it press for abou 5-10 minutes, so as much liquid as possible goes out in order for the tofu to become crispy when frying. Then cut into 1 cm sized cubes and toss it in the cornstarch

  2. In the meantime grate the orange, then press it. Combine it with the remaining ingredients for the sauce.

  3. Heat up the oil in a pan and fry the tofu on each side for about 1-2 minutes until crispy and golden. Turn the heat down to medium heat and pour in the orange sauce. Give everything a good mix and let simmer for about 3-4 minutes until it has thickend a bit.

  4. Serve with some rice or quinoa and garnish with some cilantro! Serve and enjoy!

Honestly, this dish is so quick, so easy to make and so good! You’ll really, really love it and it is so so simple! I hope you’ll like it as much as we do and have a great time cooking it!

Enjoy!
Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Potato and Asparagus Salad with herby vinaigrette

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Salad does not have to include greens and be boring all the time. By far not. As much as we love some refreshing and light salads, sometimes we are craving something more filling and heartier. Not saying it needs to be less healthy. Like this one. So good. So refreshing. So filling. Perfect lunch as is or ideal barbecue side! Amazing.

Spring is, fresh asparagus and fresh herbs for me. The colours and smell of them just really make one smile. Asparagus is so healthy and versatile too! You can make a soup, a risotto, just plain with potatoes or hollandaise sauce, whatever you want and it tastes amazing when prepared the right way.

Green, white or pink?

Asparagus is really high in fiber and has a reasonable amount of protein for a vegetable. Also, it is packed with folate and very low in calories. No matter, which one you prefer, white or green (or there even is pink one, which I have never tried but is super cool!), they are all pretty similar in nutrients. The white one just has a more intense asparagus taste, while the green one is milder. In this recipe I like to use both, because they add different flavours, textures and colours, but if you do not like either at all, you can only go with one type.

Are potatoes even healthy?

But asparagus is only half of the deal. As good as it is, it is not super filling. But since we want this to be a filling dish, with some good carbohydrates, we still need some potatoes. I know that there are a lot of saying that claim that carbs and potatoes are bad but they are not! They are loaded with incredibly nourishing vitamins, a lot of fiber and minerals. Potatoes actually are a super food! And Carbohydrates are everything else than unhealthy. They are the main source of energy for our bodies, which means they should make up more than half of our diet. They are essential for us!

Which potatoes should I use?

The best potatoes for this recipe are baby potatoes (Bauernkartoffel in German). Why? Because you can eat them with the skin on and they are small. Therefore you do not have to peel them or cut them smaller, which is way more convenient. If you cannot find them anywhere, you can substitute them with others, but it will be lot more work.

Last but not least: the perfect vinaigrette

What would a salad be without a decent vinaigrette? Not a salad, just some veggies. I believe that in most dishes, the real flavour comes down to the sauces. Just like here. You could cover everything with a hollandaise sauce but this would not just make it pretty unhealthy but also would not taste as good. The vinaigrette here is very simple and rather light. It is a mix of lemon juice, parsley and olive oil. The lemon and a freshness, the herbs some greens and flavour and the olive oil helps the potatoes not to stick together and also adds a bunch of flavour. Together it tastes amazing and so fresh. The combination with the asparagus, potatoes, and dishes is just amazing!

When and how should we eat it?

You can enjoy this salad when it still is warm or you can also enjoy it cold, which makes it a great leftover. Unlike most salads, you can add the vinaigrette here beforehand (if you want to repurpose it as a leftover) and do not have to wait until just before you want to eat it. If you want, this can be a main dish, and if you wish you could add some boiled eggs or cottage cheese to it. But this also works great as a side dish that packs carb and veggies in one! Love to serve this at a barbecue or with a nice piece of meat or fish!

I hope that you enjoy this recipe and will have fun cooking!
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Potato and Asparagus Salad with herby vinaigrette

A super refreshing and delicious spring salad that will nourrish you and fill you up! Soft potatoes with some delish asparagus and a refreshing herb vinaigrette! Toatlly delish!

Course Appetizer, dinner, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 199 kcal

What you will need

  • 600 g baby potatoes
  • 600 g asparagus (mixed white and green)
  • 100 g radishes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • juice from 1 small or 1/2 large lemon
  • 1 tbsp parsley chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar

How to

  1. Bring two pots with water to a boil. Salt both. In one pot add the baby potatoes and boild for 20 minutes.

    In the meantime, generously peel the white asparagus, about 2 times around the stalk. Chop about 2 cm off the ends of both, green and white asparagus.

    In the empty pot add the butter and sugar and the white asparagus. Let this boil for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. Then add in the green aspargus and cook for another 5 minutes. The total cooking time of the white asparagus is between 10 and 15 minutes.

  2. Once the potatoes are done cooking, let them cool a little bit. Then half them or cut them into three pieces. Add them into a bowl. Finely grate or chop the radishes and add aswell.

    When the asparagus is done cooking, also cut it into about 2-3 cm sized pieces and add them aswell. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

    In a bowl combine the parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Add it to the other vegetables and mix through.

    Serve and enjoy!