Tofu and mushrooms’ stew, nettles’ puree and brown rice
This dish represents a quite complete meal. From the mixture of tofu, mushrooms and rice, we take out a lot of protein. From spinach and nettles, we get good doses of iron, calcium and vitamins. Nettles are still an excellent tonic for the urinary tract and super tasty when cooked with other vegetables.
| Prep Time | 1 1/2 hour |
| Cook Time | 30 min |
| Passive Time | 8 hours |
| Servings |
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Ingredients
For the stew
- 500 grams tofu
- 200 grams fresh maroon mushrooms
- 1 medium onion cut in juliane
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bay leave
- 4 seeds cardamom
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil toasted sesame oil can be used instead
- shoyu
- 1/2 glass water +/-100ml
- 1 tbsp umeboshi vineager
- 1 tbsp arrow root flour
For the nettles' puree
- 1 bag fresh nettles +/- 200 grams
- 1 bag fresh spinach +/- 200 grams
- 1 onion cut in brunoise
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 2 cups small oat flakes +/-400ml
- olive oil
- sea salt
- 2 tbsp rice vineager
For the brown rice
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 small stripe kombu seaweed
- 1/2 tbsp sea salt
- gomásio for dressing
Ingredients
For the stew
For the nettles' puree
For the brown rice
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Instructions
Stew
- Open tofu and cut into 2-inch slices. Place the tofu on a dish towel (wrapped) and press between 2 boards for at least 30 minutes. This will make tofu to release some of its water and absorb more of the latest cooking flavors.
- Cut the tofu into cubes and season with a pinch of shoyu sauce and the chopped garlic. Let it marinate for approximately 30 minutes.
- Pour the tofu and its sauce in a preheated pan, on a medium high fire, with a little olive oil in the bottom and turn the cubes gently so that it become grilled in all the sides (process that takes only few minutes).
- Add the onion, the mushrooms previously cleaned and cutted in four, a little more olive oil and the bay leaf. Stir and season with sea salt.
- As soon as the onion becomes translucid, add the boiling water, the vinegar and the cardamoms opened. Cover the pan and cook on a low heat for about 15 minutes.
- At the end of cooking, if the sauce is too liquid, remove some of it from the stew to a bowl. Dilute a tbsp of arrow root flower on the sauce. Mix well and then return to the pan. The stew will be ready in seconds, with a creamiest sauce.
For the puree
- Take the spinach and nettles, wash well and remove the stalks. Do not be afraid, because nettles do not make an allergic reaction in the palm of your hands.
- In a pot, place the olive oil, onion and garlic over medium heat and season with a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.
- When the onion is translucent (about 3 minutes), add the spinach and the nettles. Stir everything, close the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the oat flakes and rice vinegar and stir well for a few minutes, until the flakes are mixed and creamy.
- Remove from the heat and blend it until homogeneous.
- If you feel is too liquid, add some extra oat flakes until you get the consistency you want.
- Correct sea salt or shoyu to taste.
For the rice
- Wash the rice.
- Soak the rice in two times its water, for some 8 hours.
- In a pressure pot put the rice to cook on a high flame. Use the water of soaking and the seaweed.
- Whenever its boiling, season with sea salt. Close the pan and reduce the fire to minimum when it has pressure. Cook for 30 to 40min.
- When serving dress it with gomasio.
