0 Tofuel: tofu fuel

I was so bowled over by the divine experience of the tofu pudding that I just had to make it again. This time, the base was the same (Morinu firm tofu, 3/4 frozen nana, chocolate mole powder), but I changed the source of protein. Specifically, this morning's one features Vega Complete Health Optimizer (natural flavor) which explains the bile-like, greenish appearance of the pudding. But looks are deceiving; this was one delicious, thick creamy pudding, with a block of chili cherry Chocolove to boot!

The Vega protein powder is derived from a mix of plant sources. Hemp is at the top of the ingredient list, which presumably contributed to the grassy smell/taste of the powder. There's also pea and brown rice protein in there. Compared to Sunwarrior, Vega has a more assertive presence. I quite like the grassy taste of it (something like Amazing Grass powder but less vile) but if you don't, Vega's definitely not for you. Both Vega and Sunwarrior have similar dissolvability. No problems with texture for both brands. The serving scoop provided was humongous (like the size of 3 tbsp?). The recommended serving is 2 (humongous) scoops, which gives 220 kcal and 26g protein, but I only used 1/2 scoop (=1/4 serving) for the tofu pudding, which was satisfying enough.

Apart from the tofu pudding, breakfast featured a tofu (beancurd) tart from Le Cafe. Talk about tofu fuel! It's similar to egg tart in appearance, but much lighter on the tastebuds. Imagine firm tau huay encased in a buttery digestive biscuit-like crust. It's not sweet, and that's what I like about it. If you noticed, there's an absence of oatmeal in today's breakfast. I unwillingly admit that over the years of nearly-daily oatmeal breakfasts, perhaps my tastebuds have become a little bored and jaded. Maybe it's not so much that I love oatmeal but the comfort the "safety" brings. Time to listen to inner cravings and honour the mind & body.

Lunch was also fueled by tofu - Amy's Indian wrap featuring spinach and tofu. I think "Indian" is a misnomer because its non-spicy at all and I wouldn't associate the taste of the wrap with Indian cuisine (e.g. no curry flavour). Nevertheless, the spinach was creamy and the blocks of tofu provided textural variations. Frozen fast food can be so good.

Amid all these, I was rushing to complete my 3-pg essay on pain/hyperalgesia, which I had spent is disproportionate amount of time for 15 marks. That's always the case isn't it? Don't know why I have to be so perfectionist and precise with my wordings. I left house in a hurry at 4.05pm, hoping to make it to school by 5pm (deadline). It must be through the hand of God that Mum's car miraculously appeared as I was running to the MRT station. She drove me to school and back!

The past few days have been relatively relaxed, mostly just completing confocal for lab because I've finished the dissection (except for lethal NICD crosses). Also lectures were canceled either due to tutorial/SDL or for no reason at all. In fact come to think of it, I only attended a grand total of one tutorial this week i.e. 2 h of school for the entire week! It's back to the grind starting next week, with CA on 8 sep, sadly.

Next week will be when I will turn 22 (sobs). I will be fulfilling my dreams of going to Gardens by the Bay and dining at Pollen!

0 Chocolate mole banana tofu soft serve

After months (years) from procrastination, I finally took out the food processor from the depths of the kitchen cupboards. Dusting off the layer of fine dust that had settled from under-usage, I set to create the much anticipated banana tofu soft serve.

This morning was a good lesson why you should never procrastinate - you'd end up missing up lots of good things in life!

I can't believe how such a simple no fuss recipe (if you can even call it a recipe) can yield such amazing wondrous results in less than a minute (or five if you consider washing up.) Thick, utterly smooth and completely flexible, tofu soft serves are definitely going to make more appearances (and so put my food processor to good use too!)

Chocolate mole banana tofu soft serve (serves one)

Ingredients

• 1/2 frozen banana, sliced
• 1/4 package firm tofu (I used Moringaga; silken would work too but probably would yield a slightly less thick texture)
• 1 tbsp chocolate mole powder (or 1 tbsp cocoa powder)
• 1 scoop protein powder (optional; I used Sunwarrior natural)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend.
2. Serve immediately or chill/freeze if you want a more ice-cream-style dessert

Recently, I'e been enjoying lots of fancy nut butter products too, including PB&Co cinnamon raisin swirl (so-so; good for a bit of indulgence); Woodstock farm creamy almond butter; Artisana cacao bliss (will please coconut fans, 2nd order from iHerb!); and Arrowhead Mills crunchy peanut butter (PB will always be my first love). From iHerb I also got Vega complete optimizer (natural) which was 60% off! So happy with the great deal! Shipment was faster this time round, taking about 2.5 weeks. I also got Chocolove chocolate with cherries and chilis. Chocolate mole is my new favorite flavour. The Mexicans have nailed it right!

Finally, last weekend I bought Nancy's kefir (beverage made from fermenting kefir grains in milk) and Kashi's seven whole grain puffs. Kefir's not cheap but the tangyness and benefits of it is far superior than any yogurt drink; can't be beat. Off to complete my to-be-due-soon essay!

0 Gone viral

It was a pity that PZ could not complete our reunion last night; LM, JJ and I had an enjoyable night out at Orchard. Even though we meet only at most every 6 months, each time we meet, it's like we've never been separated.

First, we had dinner at Robert Timms. Plans for dining at Sun with Moon had to be reworked because of the long reservation list. It was a minimum wait of 35-45 minutes if we wanted to eat there. We weren't that desperate, so sought an alternative place, and eventually settled on Timms.

I was torned between having a garlic prawn & cilantro spaghetti and the vegetarian tofu pattie with mushrooms. For the sake of being unconventional, I decided on the latter. This was both a hit and a miss. The tofu patty was AWSM. Albeit breaded and deep-fried (alarm bells!), there wasn't a hint of oil at all. The patty was stuffed with cubed tofu, spinach and other unidentifiable ingredients, harmoniously bound together by some slightly sweet cheesy sauce. It kind of reminded me of Mildred's in London. The mushrooms and zucchini served on the side were executed very well too, especially those juicy, popping earthy shrooms. What went amiss was the mashed potato; it was dry and unappetizing. But once again, the tofu patty was really good and that satisfied me tummy ;) It was a rather unhealthy meal considering the deep-fried, cheese and mashed potato factor, but it's CNY and it's once in a bluemoon occasion.

After shopping around Ion orchard, it was down to Cineleisure to catch The Viral Factor, starring Jay Chou and Nicholas Tse. The plot contained multiple stories all unfolding simultaneously, not unlike Inception. First, there's the smallpox virus, then Jon (Chou) having to deal with his malignant diagnosis of having two weeks before he becomes paralyzed due to a bullet lodged in his brain, then having to locate his long-lost brother and father, then all three plots intersect as his baddy brother was also implicated in the smallpox virus plot too. What I found interesting about the movie was the multiple languages used - Chou and the Taiwanese would converse in Mandarian, the Hongkies/Malaysians in Cantonese and the Caucasians in English. I think it highlights the tension and the irresolvable discreteness between the different camps in the film. This is especially stark between Jon and his brother, for they have trodden different paths since they were separated.

It's time back to work!

3 Salad beasts

What I like about salads is that its quick, fresh, clean, tasty, simple, one-pot meal, minimal clean-up, and great for "operation: clean out the fridge" days. I had an old Japanese sweet potato and a block of firm tofu waiting to be used. I've always been baking my sweet potatoes whole and I was ready for a change; sweet potato wedges it was. For the tofu, I went with a simple soy sauce/cider marinade, which sounds horribly wrong but fear not, it's pretty tasty in fact. In addition, I've been wanting to experiment with roasted chickpeas after reading some recipes online and I bought a can last weekend. With these ingredients in hand, I present two yummy salads, suitable for all occasions, any time, any day and any where.

Sassy Sweet Potato & Tofu Salad Yield: 1 salad Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato, chopped into wedges (I used the Japanese variety which has purple skin and cream-colored flesh)
• Seasoning for sweet potato: paprika, cumin, white pepper, cinnamon, oregano, extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 block firm tofu, cubed
• Marinade for tofu: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 ripe avocado, cubed
• Handful of lettuce leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp pumpkin & almond chutney (Pert's Pantry)
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
• Drizzle of raspberry balsamic vinegar (vom Fass)

Directions

1. Place tofu cubes in soy sauce/cider marinade and let sit for at least 3 h. Feel free to use your own marinade for the tofu. It's versatile!
2. Preheat oven to 190 C.
3. Mix chopped sweet potato wedges with the seasoning. Arrange sweet potato wedges and marinated tofu cubes on a lined baking tray. Bake tofu for 20 min and wedges for 40 min, turning halfway through for each. (I cooked the tofu and sweet potato together to save time.)
4. Once the tofu and sweet potato wedges are done, remove from oven and let cool, then mix with remaining ingredients.
5. Enjoy!

The sweet potato was just marvelous - crispy outsides (a wee bit tough but I shall overlook that) yielded to pillowy pockets of caramelized sugars. I devoured the entire sweet potato, skins and all! I didn't expect much from the tofu but the apple cider taste was surprisingly detectable, lending it a sweet edge. Fancy chickpeas instead? Try this out then!

Chickass Chickpea & Tofu Salad Yield: 1 salad Ingredients

• 1/3 can chickpeas
• Seasoning for roasted chickpeas: paprika, cumin, white pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, oregano, extra virgin olive oil (it's almost identical to the seasoning for the sweet potato just 'cause I love this combination so much!)
• 1/2 block firm tofu, cubed
• Marinade for tofu: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp frozen veggie mix (peas, carrots, corn, green beans)
• 3 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 ripe avocado, cubed
• Handful of lettuce leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp pumpkin & almond chutney (Pert's Pantry)
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Directions

1. Prepare the tofu as above.
2. Preheat oven to 190 C.
3. Drain the can of chickpeas and rinse thoroughly. Peel off the skins if desired (I did but I'm not sure how leaving the skins on will affect the roasting time and cooking of the chickpeas). Pat dry thoroughly with kitchen papers.
4. Place chickpeas in lined baking tray and roast (without seasoning) for 20 mins. Remove from oven, shake thoroughly, add seasoning, then continue to roast for another 10-15 min. (I'm not sure why the seasoning is added only at the end and not before but most recipes seem to add it only at the end)
5. Mix chickpeas with remaining ingredients and enjoy!

I'm not sure if I did the roasted chickpeas correctly. It was hard but not crunchy like kacang puteh, the local version of popcorn. Perhaps the roasting time was too long? I will have to experiment with that. Otherwise, this was a well-textured and well-flavored beast of a salad. The pumpkin & almond chutney from Pert's Pantry knocks my socks off!