Sequestration Meal #502

 

Though this didn't work out according to plan because I ran myself out of soy milk, I was still contented with it, but it was supposed to be chicken fried tofu with cream gravy, mashed potatoes, and veggies; there is, as you will note, no gravy here.

But there is chickpea-fried tofu, which turned out to be pretty good! I sort of followed a recipe from The V Word for the steak. I made big steaks because I was also running low on chickpea flour, and thus, I couldn't make the full breading recipe. I think they would be better as smaller steaks, because the breading is really what makes the steaks taste good, but you do what you can do. Also they'd be better with gravy, of course, but again...we do what we can.

I just made my mashed potatoes as per my usual method (boil peeled and diced yellow potatoes in salted water, drain, mash with vegan butter, add unsweetened soy milk or non-dairy creamer, stir, salt to taste, serve). No complaints there.

The veggies were an assortment I already had in my fridge: onions, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, and spinach. I cooked the onions low and slow in vegan butter while I did other things so they'd caramelize, then added mushrooms and thinly sliced carrots, then the garlic. When they were done more or less to my liking, I added the spinach and cooked that through. With each added ingredient, I added a pinch of salt; this worked out fine.

This is the kind of meal that is more about the joy of taking care of oneself than being particularly exciting fare. But I do think I did a good job of getting food on the table and I avoided the grocery store at a particularly crowded and frustrating time of year, so I consider it a win. The flavors are good here, but I would make smaller steaks and add gravy next time. Fortunately, there is always a next time!