Sometimes I get stuck in cooking the same style of food over and over again, and today I couldn’t think of what to so I asked a friend to choose something for me. This was nice because my indecisive libra brain didn't have to spend much time thinking about to meal to make.
She brought up the idea of making the Louisiana Chicken Pasta from The Cheesecake factory. If you've ever had this pasta, you'll know what I'm talking it. Its a creamy and slightly spicy pasta with cajun spices. This recipe is definitely not vegan and it was fun finding a recipe and veganizing it.
I swapped butter for coconut oil, heavy cream with coconut cream, chicken with breaded tofu, and chicken broth with miso soup. Super easy and tasty!
Ingredients
For the tofu
1 block firm tofu, pressed
3/4 cup bread crumbs/panko crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons non dairy unsweetened milk
For the pasta sauce
4 tablespoons coconut oil
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
½ onion, diced
½ orange bell pepper, diced
½ yellow bell pepper, diced
2 handfuls cremini mushrooms, sliced
½ cup miso broth or veggie broth
½ can coconut cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ lemon squeeze
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
¼ cup frozen corn
1 package gluten free pasta, I used banzaa chickpea pasta
Tofu
1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
2. Place tofu on a plate or a in a bowl and top with a heavy object to drain the excess water. Leave for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix plant milk and dijon mustard in a bowl and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, combine panko, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
5. Drain the tofu and pat dry with a paper towel. Slice tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.
6. One by one, coat the tofu cubes in the dijon sauce and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Lightly press to make the breadcrumbs stick.
7. Place tofu cubes on a cooking tray covered with non-stick foil or parchment paper.
8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
9. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve.
For the sauce
1. Boil pasta according to package directions.
2. In a medium deep skillet heat up the coconut oil on medium low.
3. Add in the garlic and onion and cook for 5-6 minutes or until browned.
4. Add in the sliced mushrooms and continue cooking for 4 minutes.
5. Add in the sliced bell peppers and stir the mixture together.
6. Slowly pour in the miso broth or veggie broth, stir it all together.
7. Lower heat to low, and add in the spices, the cayenne, salt, pepper, and garlic powder while continuing to stir.
8. Add in the frozen corn as well as chopped basil while mixing everything together and turn off the heat.
9. Drain the pasta and do not rinse. Add the noodles to the sauce, mixing so the noodles are coated with the sauce.
10. Serve with the baked breaded tofu on top of the noodles!
