Hello 2009!  I hope this year is off to a great start for you & yours. I’m just back from a family trip to somewhere warm and ready to face the world again. 

I  do have a confession to make, however. (Cue sounds of collective breath holding).  The dish above, while divine, was not made in oh-nine. I know. Let it sink in. I made it last year (cringe!) I’ll thank you in advance for not getting upset about my utter lack of contemporaneousness (yeah, what?  I’m studying for another bar exam, they use words like that, OK?) Anyway, I promise to be more timely posting in the future. 

I got the idea for this dish from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, but you’ll quickly note this is not a vegan recipe. 

But it fantastically flexible.  Ready for breakfast with a side of orange slices or dressed up for dinner with a crunchy green salad,  you’ve got options.  May your 2009 bring you endless possibilities, as well.  

Winter Vegetable  Pie with Brown Rice Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c cooked brown rice

2 tsp turmeric, divided

2 tsp cumin, divided

Salt and pepper

Cooking spray

1 14 oz package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed of all water

1 egg

1 egg white

1 tsp lemon zest

1 c water

 1 TB olive oil 

1 onion, chopped

2 leeks, dark green part discarded, chopped into fine discs

1 lb assorted mushrooms

1/2 lb fresh spinach

1 tsp paprika

Preparation: 

 
In a small bowl, season rice with 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cumin and salt and pepper.  Press rice into bottom of 9 inch pie plate, spray lightly with cooking spray and bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, or until rice is slightly browned.  Remove dish from oven, and let cool. Leave oven on.

In blender, blend tofu, egg, egg white and lemon zest until smooth.  Add water until mixture is consistency of very thick pancake batter.  Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, 1tsp turmeric, 1tsp cumin and paprika to skillet.  Saute until onions are soft, about 4 minutes.   Add leeks, mushrooms and spinach, and saute until mushrooms have released all of their liquid, and vegetables are soft.   Add water as needed to prevent veggie mixture from sticking to skillet while sauteing.  Season veggies with salt and pepper.

Spoon vegetable mixture into pie plate in an even layer.  Spoon tofu mixture over vegetables.  Bake at 400 for 30-45 minutes, or until middle of pie has set.  Allow pie to cool slightly before slicing. Serves 6 as a main course.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, eggs, leeks, mushrooms, recipes, spinach, tofu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.