Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Vegan Palak Paneer

As I mentioned in Sunday's post, Nasoya was kind enough to send me a handful of coupons for free samples of their tofu products and sandwich spreads. Though I typically buy the generic extra-firm Whole Foods tofu, I picked out a butt-load (well, maybe not a butt-load, but several packages) of Nasoya tofu on my last grocery trip. One such find was Nasoya's Lite Firm Tofu.

Now, I'm not exactly into low-fat eating, but I do like to cut calories when taste and quality aren't sacrificed. After all, eating less calories in one meal means I can eat more dessert later. Thankfully, this lite tofu tastes exactly like the regular Nasoya firm tofu. It has 40 calories per serving versus 80 calories per serving, and I'm honestly not sure how they did that. Judging by the ingredient lists on both tofus, the lite tofu contains a few more added vitamins. But for the most part, they have the the same make-up. Maybe it's magic...

Anyhow, I decided to try the tofu in this Vegan Palak Paneer from 101 Things to Do with Tofu:

I've never had real palak paneer, a North Indian dish typically made with cottage cheese and spinach. But I know this vegan version looks very much like the dairy version, which also contains white cubes. It was super simple, and minimally seasoned. The tofu reaches a firmer, more cheese-like consistency after its boiled for several minutes and then drained in a colander.

I served the palak paneer over smoked spelt, a delightful little chewy whole grain from Germany. Mihl from Seitan is My Motor sent me a bag of it in a care package from Germany last year.

Though I've had the 101 Things to Do with Tofu cookbook since October, this recipe is the first I've made from it. It's a cute spiral-bound volume with mostly vegan (some vegetarian), mostly easy-peasy tofu recipes. Worth checking out for some fresh, new tofu ideas.

Wednesday is the last chance to enter my $25 Vegan Essentials gift certificate giveaway. See this post for details.

14 comments:

Magdelene said...

i've tried palak paneer before, and trust me, you're not missing out...it tastes EXACTLY like firm tofu. i kid you not.

and since tofu is healthier etc, it beats the paneer anyday.

:)

The Voracious Vegan said...

Bianca! That looks AMAZING! Oh my gosh, I want to come over for dinner tonight pleeeaassee!!?! I love finding tofu that I love, this sounds like a great brand.

Anonymous said...

I love Palak Paneer! And yes it does taste just like tofu anyway haha.

vegan.in.brighton said...

Oooh that looks really good, I need to get my hands on a copy of that cookbook!

Serena said...

Palak paneer is one of my favorite Indian dishes...that I *thought* I had to mourn over 'cause I don't eat cheese.
Lucky me, I found you, and this blog, to show me the way. :P

Leslie Richman said...

Yum- that sounds really good. I hope I can get my hands on some of that eventually.

The Chubby Vegetarian said...

Back in my "full time" vegan days I thought that paneer was a tofu dish. Ignorance was bliss as I ate platefuls of that rich, creamy indian tofu.

www.thechubbyvegetarian.com

dreaminitvegan said...

That looks so good! How cool, lower fat tofu.

crunchyveganwifelife said...

WOW! Looks delish! I ahve never had any kind of Indian food, but this sure makes me want to try some!!! Great blog!!! I love it!!!

jessy said...

i've never had real palak paneer before either, Bianca - but it's looking like i've gotta try a vegan version of it, for sure! that's awesome that the lite tofu tastes just as good as the regular. i'm gonna have to try it out as our grocery store puts a lot of the nasoya tofu on sale quite often. yay!

Mary said...

Looks good! I second Magdelene: I took a vegetarian Indian cooking class once and we made paneer from scratch. It tasted exactly like tofu, with the same texture, so much so that I wondered why we didn't just use tofu...

Michal said...

Hmm I never knew that they made lite tofu before, i guess you learn something new everyday! Ive never had paneer before either. I always learn so much when i visit your blog :)

Margie said...

I always eat this lite tofu. I think it tastes just as good as the regular. That meal looks delish!

Mike K said...

I need to try this - I've heard paneer is really similar to tofu, and this looks delicious. Would love to try spelt too!