Stuff it!

Carol J. Adams says she loves foods stuffed into others because it conveys a sense of richness, of luxury. I have to agree. There is something nice about the combination. But as of yet, I had never attempted to make anything stuffed. Until today. I had some mushrooms that I needed to use and a block of tofu, so I decided to use a recipe from Robin Robertson's Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Don't look at me that way. I had a salad for lunch, okay?!

Anyway, this is tofu stuffed wtih mushrooms with hoisin sauce. I had a bottle of hoisin sauce that I'd gotten at Whole Foods and a few leftover scallions. The recipe also calls for garlic and ginger. Lazy woman that I am, I buy jars of minced ginger and if a recipe calls for, say, an inch of ginger, minced, I have to guesstimate. Luckily, this recipe called for a tablespoon.

It was quite tasty, even if the one of the other three portions (leftovers!!!) kind of collapsed. I wonder if I should either use less mushrooms or increase the tofu to really stuff it well. I would absolutely make this again.

Now, Thanksgiving is coming up. I have plans--the local vegetarian society has a Thanksgiving celebration at a hotel. There's a vegan buffet, entertainment, door prizes (which I am in my second year of coordinating), and an all-around relaxing time. I don't have to go nuts in the kitchen or worry about what to eat. Actually, since I went vegan, I've had an easy time. My boyfriend's mom always flies down for the holiday, and she's happy to have a vegan meal. In 2002, we cooked up a nice meal, and she said, almost awestruck, "My first vegan Thanksgiving." I said, "Hey, my first vegan Thanksgiving." There are plenty of rich foods to eat--I have a few fabulous stuffing recipes (or maybe they're really dressings, as they're not stuffed into anything) and a gravy recipe or two. I just couldn't find the right main dish recipe.

I have much to be thankful for this year, and I want to give the turkeys something to be grateful for as well, so I won't be contributing to their destruction. If you find a good main dish recipe, let me know. It might be a good Lonely Jew at Christmas dinner.