Veggie Conquest

Any vegetarian who has lived in Georgia knows about The Grit restaurant, in Athens. I grew up in Georgia and would go see a lot of concerts in Athens. The Grit was always on the agenda for those trips and my favorite thing to order was the Golden Bowl. It has been too long since I have been back there so you can imagine my excitement when a friend forwarded me this recipe from The BigOven for The Grit’s Golden Bowl. This recipe is from The Grit Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cooked brown rice

– Grit Yeast Gravy –

• 1/2 cup Vegan margarine (or butter; 1 stick)
• 1/3 cup Whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup Nutritional yeast (NOT brewers yeast; nutritional yeast can be found in health food store
• 1 cup Regular soy milk unsweetened
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce (or tamari)
• 3/4 cup Hot water (use more as needed to thin the gravy)
• 1 tablespoon Vegan worcestershire sauce

Grit-Style Tofu

• 15 ounces Extra firm tofu
• Vegetable oil
• Soy sauce
• Nutritional yeast

–Sauteed Vegetables–

• 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
• 1 medium Onion chopped (you want this to be somewhat chunky)
• 1 small Red bell pepper diced (you want this to be somewhat chunky)
• 1 small Zucchini halved lengthwise, and then sliced
• 1 small Yellow squash halved lengthwise, and then sliced
• 6 medium Button mushrooms quartered (or other favorite mushrooms)

Instructions

GRIT YEAST GRAVY:

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine completely. Stir in flour and yeast until blended and continue to heat roux until mixture begins to bubble. Use only enough heat to maintain vigourous bubbling, whisking constantly for 4 minutes. This is the time required to cook the flour to smoothness, and vigourous whisking is important to avoid burning.

Continue rapid, thorough whisking and add soy milk gradually. The mixture will quickly become thick and custard-like. Combine soy sauce, water, and Worcestershire sauce and add to gravy gradually. Blend well after each addition, and do not add liquid so rapidly that gravy is very thin. If gravy does become thin from the addition of too much liquid, continued cooking will thicken it.

Set gravy aside, and reheat before serving, or hold over very low heat while preparing the rest of the Grit Golden Bowl. Add more water as needed to maintain a good consistency if holding over low heat.

(note: I halved the gravy recipe in The Grit cookbook to come up with these measurements, so you might have to adjust the flour/yeast and water measurements a bit to arrive at the desired consistency (we always make the full amount, because we use the gravy on other things))

GRIT-STYLE TOFU

Cut tofu into cubes smaller than playing dice. Lightly oil a non-stick skillet and place over high heat. Allow oil to heat slightly, and add tofu. Saute, tossing with a non-metal spatula until evenly and lightly golden brown. Sprinkle lightly with soy sauce, saute briefly to further brown tofu. Remove from skillet, draining and discarding any excess fluid.

Rinse and wipe skillet dry, lightly oil and place it over high heat. Allow oil to become very hot and add tofu. Saute tofu, tossing with a non-metal spatula almost constantly until very well browned. Sprinkle with soy sauce to taste. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast to coat tofu cubes and, tossing vigorously, saute for a few seconds and remove from heat. Keep warm in the oven while you finish cooking the veggies.

SAUTEED VEGETABLES

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high to high heat. Add onions and saute until soft and translucent. Add bell pepper and saute for 1 or 2 minutes, until slightly cooked, but still firm. Add zucchini and yellow squash, and saute for another minute or two, until squash is slightly cooked but still firm. Add mushrooms and cook until they give up their water. (note- other veggies of your choice can be substituted; onions are always a good base, and the zucchini and yellow squash go well with the gravy, and so we always use these as a base, but we’ve also used other bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, and peas with tasty outcomes).

TO SERVE

Spoon 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice into a bowl, top with veggies, tofu, and gravy, and enjoy!