Mimicking a Favorite

Have you ever tried to mimic that one dish that you think about on a regular basis from your favorite restaurant? I recently put together my favorite elements from a tofu dish I always order at a restaurant down the street. It has all of my favorite elements, and it's a great hearty dish to cook for just yourself, or for loved ones.

Ingredients -

Firm Tofu
Brown Rice
Black Beans (canned are great since you don't have to soak and cook them first)
Tomato Sauce
Broccoli
Swiss Chard
Zucchini

The easiest way to do this is to just make a large batch of brown rice, that you can use with basically any dish (and is a great source of carbs for a workout) to use that as your base. I typically sauté the zucchini and steam the broccoli and swiss chard, and then once they are close to done I put them all in the same pan and I add in the cubed firm tofu. Cook the tofu until the edges are slightly brown and then add in the rinsed can of black beans. I personally make my own pasta sauce, but jarred sauce works just as well. Then comes the fun layering part! Rice first, beans and veggies second with the tofu and top it all off with the pasta sauce. Weird combination you may think, but boy is it a delight! I've tried many different veggie combo's too, broccolini, carrots (if that's what you're into), etc. and everything has been great so far - and you can layer it or cook it all together as seen below. Whatever floats your boat man.

If you finish the veggies off in the sauce it really flavors the tofu - so vibrant!

Layered Version with Broccolini and Zucchini

I could eat this any day of the week - and typically when I make a batch I do eat it 3-4 times during the week. So enjoy vegan friends - I'll cheers to that.