I'm making a yummy dinner tonight and wanted to share. It's from the cookbook Eat, Shrink and Be Merry which is the third written by 2 Canadian sisters Janet & Greta Podleski. This one is called Parma Chameleon. Tonight I'm using Pete's Tofu which I've always had good luck with. I like to use fresh herbs and grate my own Parmesan rather than using the stuff in a can. It makes a huge difference in taste. And it's easy to make this vegan buy using rice Parmesan cheese and a mozzarella-type "cheese" equivalent. I will sometimes use water or soy milk instead of the egg anyway. It's just used to get the crumbs to stick to the tofu.
PARMA CHAMELEON
Olive oil cooking spray
1 lb. Firm tofu
1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs*
¼ cup + 2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese, divided
½ tsp. each dried basil and dried oregano
¼ tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1 ½ cups your favorite tomato pasta sauce, divided
½ cup packed shredded light mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a non-stick baking sheet with olilve oil spray and set aside.
Drain liquid from tofu and blot dry with paper towels. Slice block into 6 to 8 equal slices, about ½-inch thick. Lay slices on paper towels and blot again.
Combine bread crumbs, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Place egg in another shallow bowl and beat lightly with a fork.
Working one piece at a time, dip tofu in egg and then in crumb mixture. Make sure both sides are well coated with crumb mixture. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining tofu pieces. (Don’t worry if you have some crumbs left over – you’ll use them later). Spray tops of tofu with olive oil spray. Bake for 8 minutes. Using a spatula, gently turn pieces over. Bake an additional 8 minutes. Remove tofu from oven, but leave oven on
Spray a medium casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread ½ cup pasta sauce over bottom of dish. Lay browned tofu pieces in dish close together and in a single layer if possible. Top with remaining pasta sauce, followed by mozzarella, remaining Parmesan cheese and parsley. If you have any crumbs left over, sprinkle them over the entire dish. Bake, uncovered for 15 minutes. Turn broiler on and broil about 4 inches from heat source for 2 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Calories 247, fat 9.8g, protein 22g, fiber 4.5g
*To make fresh bread crumbs, place a couple of slices of whole wheat bread in a food processor or mini chopper and pulse on and off until soft crumbs are formed.
3 comments:
Interesting. You could also swap the parmesan for nutritional yeast (if you wanted to cut the dairy and the fat in exchange for some B vitamins, including b12). It tastes pretty similar, at least in my experience.
Good luck with your scratching and happy holidays!
I bought some nutrtional yeast, but have yet to use it. I should give it a try really.
The scratching seems to have subsided quite a bit. Could have been a stress related flare up. I was sort of pissed off at the world last week, but I think it's passed. For now.
Happy Holidays to you too!
Good luck with the nutritional yeast. It's also good on popcorn (kinda like cheddar cheese powder).
I've read that, in addition to stress, an imbalance in fat intake can exascerbate eczema, rashes, etc. Basically, the gist is that not enough omega 3s imbalances the immune response and is linked to the overproduction of cytokines (which can produce eczema).
Anyhow, something to consider if you do a lot of cooking with olive oil, say, but do very little with canola or flax oils. Otherwise, Primrose Oil also helps, although I don't know much about it.
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