20 minute

I love cooking elaborate meals as much as the next gal, but there are some days I just don't have the time or energy to make anything complicated. You know what I'm talking about. Your dog is sick, you're exhausted from being on your feet all day, the kids are acting wild. Okay, I don't actually have a dog, or kids for that matter, and in any event, a child would never disrespect a parent like that in an Indian household. But still, we've all had days like this, right? And that's why it is so crucial to have some go-to vegan meals that you can make on the fly. Today I'm sharing three of my favorites. They're big on flavor, they're pretty wholesome, and they take just 20 minutes to make. Let's do it. And before we begin, a quick note of thanks to Aldi for sponsoring today's video. If you've already seen my recent video on how to eat well on just $5 a day, you already know that Aldi is the grocery store for everyday affordable plant-based staples. First up, we're gonna make a crispy tofu with cabbage slaw and peanut sauce. This recipe is great because it feels indulgent from the creamy peanut sauce and that crispy tofu, but it's pretty wholesome because we've got cruciferous cabbage and vitamin-rich carrots. We'll start by grabbing our block of extra-firm tofu, draining it, and wrapping it in some towels to blot off the excess water. We don't actually need to press the tofu like you do with many recipes, and frankly, we don't have the time to do that today, but I promise you the tofu is still gonna get crispy. Slice the tofu horizontally into slabs, about 10 slabs, maybe 12, for a 14-ounce block, and just press it again with a paper towel to get a little extra water out. Grab your largest non-stick pan, this one is 12 inches, and heat up 2 tablespoons of oil, medium-high heat. I've got avocado oil here, and once that oil is nice and hot, arrange each tofu slab in a single layer. Gently push the tofu around to make sure each piece is oiled, and if your stove is a bit uneven like mine, you might want to occasionally rotate the pan so that the tofu cooks evenly. And while the tofu is frying, let's see if we can quickly prepare our slaw in the meantime. Grab your cabbage, you can use green or red, and cut it into quarters. The quickest way to shred cabbage is to use a mandolin, and I always wear these babies when I am using a mandolin because she looks innocent, but she's very dangerous. Also, I like looking like a mime. So if you have one, take a hunk of a cabbage, maybe like a quarter, and attach it to the food grip, and just shave it back and forth repeatedly until it's nicely shredded or julienne. If you don't have the mandolin, you can use the shredding disc of your food processor. If you don't have either of these tools, not to worry. You can also use the thin slicing side of a box grater, and it's a nice little workout for your arms. This is also a great way to work off stress, you know, for instance, if your son has been hitting you all evening. Now flip the box grater to the side with the large holes to shred your carrots. You'll need 2 medium or large carrots for about 1 1⁄2 cups of shredded carrots. And one of my favorite ingredients, cilantro, a very rough chop to keep things speedy, and mix that together with the cabbage and carrots. It's super vibrant, rich in those antioxidants, and very budget friendly. Now let's hit this slaw with some flavor. A bit of extra virgin olive oil. I really like this organic one from Aldi. It has nice flavor, and it is very affordable. Also adding some toasted sesame oil, which is going to complement the flavors in our peanut sauce. And some lime juice for freshness and acidity. And of course, some salt to season. Give it a mixy mix, and the tofu is ready to be flipped, so let's go check on that. Ooh, look at that nice golden color, and you can hear that great sizzle. These have been cooking for about 7 minutes. 6 to 8 minutes is usually a good range. And I like to use a larger silicone spatula, and then a smaller one, or a knife, to help flip the tofu slabs without breaking. Once you flip the tofu, it needs about 4 to 5 more minutes, so in the meantime, we'll whip up our peanut sauce. Another one of my favorite affordable products from Aldi, the organic creamy peanut butter, just peanuts and salt. We need 4 tablespoons of this, and about a tablespoon of agave nectar for a touch of sweetness. You could also use maple syrup. 2 teaspoons each of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. A bit of crushed red pepper for some heat. A good squeeze of lime juice, and some water to thin it out. You might have a little bit extra of the sauce, but do not worry because it is so tasty, and I always think it's better to have extra sauce than not enough. The tofu is done now, and it is looking beautifully golden brown on both sides. It's going to be crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and we didn't even have to press the tofu. Alright, let's bring this all together. Put some slaw on a plate, top it with a few of those tofu slabs, and ever so seductively drizzle on that peanut sauce. If you want to keep leftovers, I recommend not dressing the slaw until you're ready to eat, because otherwise it will get soggy. And now it's time for a bite! So many good textures in this one. We've got that crispy pan-fried tofu, that refreshing crunch from the carrots and the cabbage, and a very creamy, luxurious, dare I say sexy, peanut sauce. So good. Next up we've got Spiced Chickpea Tacos with Cilantro Pesto. This is a great option for your Taco Tuesday, or your Taco Wednesday through Sunday, but never Taco Monday. This definitely wouldn't work for Taco Monday. We're going to get started by draining and rinsing a can of chickpeas. And transfer the rinsed chickpeas to a clean dish towel. Make sure you dry off the chickpeas, that's what I'm doing right now. If you don't, they won't get crispy, and that's kind of the whole point of the recipe. Heat up a little bit of olive oil or avocado oil in a large frying pan. I like using a cast iron skillet for the best charring. You do need to use a little bit more oil than if you were using a non-stick pan. And spread out the oil with a paper towel to make sure that it's just a thin layer. Once that oil is nice and hot, start adding the chickpeas in handfuls. You want to make sure they don't overlap so that they sear instead of steam. Let them hang out for 2-3 minutes. Don't touch them. Being patient will pay off, I promise, because they'll start to get a little charred. After about 3 minutes, we'll add our spice blend. We've got oregano, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. And all of the measurements are in the blog post, which is linked in the description box below this video. Toss the chickpeas in the spices for another few minutes until they're well coated and nicely browned. And while those chickpeas were cooking, I made a super quick cilantro pesto. You can't see me, but I'm using air quotes because I'm using the term pesto kind of loosely. We're going to add about a half bunch of cilantro to a food processor. No tough stems, though, or else it will get bitter. Half a large jalapeno pepper, or a whole small one. A third of a cup of roasted cashews. Squeeze in the juice of one lime. Season with a bit of salt. And I'm also adding a touch of garlic powder, but if you have the time, go ahead and use fresh garlic. And some black pepper. Pop on the lid and get to blending. Once it starts to come together into almost a paste, you'll need to scrape down the sides and then start to stream in some of the olive oil. I kind of just eyeball the oil here and wait until the pesto emulsifies and becomes saucy. But if you want to use less oil, you can swap a little bit of it with some water. And if you want a smoother texture than this, I recommend blending the cashews really well before adding any of the other ingredients. Cilantro pesto is all done, and you could start assembling the tacos now. Tortillas, pesto, chickpeas, everything's ready. But if you have an extra 60 seconds, I recommend charring your tortillas on the stove over an open flame and dicing up some avocado. Assembly time! Take a beautifully charred corn tortilla, lather it up with some of the cilantro pesto, and add a handful of those spiced pan-fried chickpeas. Avocado for creaminess, and a little salsa for more heat. Transfer these to your nifty taco holder, or you know, just a plate, and serve. And if you love cilantro like I do, just a little extra on top. This is a really good taco. It would be perfect any night of the week. Yeah, I don't know why I said that. I don't know why I say a lot of things. Next up, we're going to do a lemon olive oil pasta with green beans. I tend to think of this dish less as a recipe and more as a customizable template for a quick pasta. Our sauce is super simple. Pantry ingredients, olive oil, lemons, garlic, red pepper flakes, things you should always have in your pantry. And then we're going to add some green onions or scallions and green beans, but you could easily swap the scallions with shallots or the green beans with broccoli or asparagus. You could bulk it up with chickpeas or white beans for protein. You could fold some fresh herbs in at the end. So the idea here is really to use what you have at home and to use what's in season. I've got some pasta water heating up on the stove. In the meantime, I'm going to get started on our veggies. You'll need one bunch of scallions or green onions, about six of them. Just slice them thinly. I like to slice them on a bias, but that's also totally optional. I'm trimming off the wilted top inch or so, but using the rest of the scallion to minimize food waste. The dark green tops do have a stronger onion flavor, so if you don't love that, go ahead and omit them or save them for a stir fry or noodle bowl later in the week. And of course we need some garlic. We'll thinly slice four of these babies. And it sounds like our pasta water is at a boil, so we'll add some salt to the water. It's important to season the water so that each bite of pasta has some flavor. And now for our green beans. These are French green beans, though regular green beans are also fine. Trim off those ends and then slice them into about one inch pieces. I'm not measuring them though, so no need to be super precise. Since this is a lemon pasta, we're going to use not just the lemon juice, but also the zest, so we're getting the most out of our lemon. Lemon juice brings an acidic punch, while the zest is a bit floral and brings a bright sunny citrus flavor. And we'll need one tablespoon of that. As for the lemon juice, we're going to juice four tablespoons, so about one and a half medium lemons. Now we'll grab some of this extra virgin olive oil, and the olive oil is going to be the base of our pasta sauce, along with lemon juice and pasta water, so we do need a fair amount of it. We've got this over medium heat, and once the oil is warm, but not too hot, we'll add the scallions and garlic. Let these guys hang out for a bit. Swirl the pan or stir pretty frequently so the garlic doesn't burn. About four to five minutes in total, depending on how thinly you slice the garlic and scallions, how wide your pan is, and how powerful your burner is. Speaking of burners, let's hop over to the other one and check on our pasta. Two minutes before the pasta is al dente, add your green beans. They'll cook right here in the pasta water for just two minutes, which is super convenient for a weeknight meal. I meant to scoop out some pasta water before adding the green beans, obviously I forgot, so I'm just going to do that now. Once the pasta is al dente and the beans are crisp tender, go ahead and drain this off. And back to our other pan. Once the garlic is just golden and the scallions are soft, we'll add a couple pinches of red pepper flakes and some salt to season. This needs like 30 seconds, and then we'll whisk in maybe a quarter cup of pasta water. The starch in the pasta water is going to help the sauce start to emulsify. Now we add in the hot cooked pasta and green beans, along with three tablespoons of lemon juice. We'll add more juice at the end if it's needed, and use some tongs to start tossing everything together. Side note, a pan with somewhat deep edges is useful for this, so I sort of regret not using one of those here, but here we are. Add the lemon zest and a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper. Continue tossing the pasta in the sauce until it starts to cling to the pasta. Give it a taste. Add more of that lemon juice as needed, as well as a bit of salt. Oh, one last thing. We're going to finely chop up some walnuts. About a quarter cup. They add some nice texture to the soft pasta, along with a nutty, earthy taste. And if you have an extra couple minutes, toast them ahead of time to bring out their natural umami. And for an extra bright citrus note, I like to zest a little bit more lemon on top right before serving. It's lemony and garlicky and bright and fresh, and it's going to be just as good tomorrow for leftovers. And if you want to make these quick and affordable meals on your busiest of weeknights, be sure to check out your local Aldi, and I'll see you guys in the next video. Bye!