This makes enough tofu for 4, so we have plenty of leftovers – they are very munchable and a nice addition to many meals.

The Herbed Tofu (serves 4):

• 500 g tofu
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon each: smoked paprika, thyme, sage, tarragon
• 1 teaspoon brown rice vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

I first pressed the tofu – sliced it, wrapped in cheesecloth, placed a cutting board and a pile of cookbooks over it, and let sit for 15 minutes. Then I cut it into small-ish cubes (about the size of the tip of my thumb), heated the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat, and fried the tofu cubes until slightly browned on most sides. This takes about 10 minutes, and while the tofu was frying, I had plenty of time to mix together the seasonings (tamari through garlic).

When the tofu was nice and golden brown, I poured the seasoning mixture in the pan, and stirred it to coat all the tofu cubes. I kept on stirring until the liquid was absorbed and started to get brown, and removed the pan from heat. I let the tofu come to room temperature before adding it to the salad base.

The Salad Base (serves 2):

• 1 small head of new cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• a bunch of arugula, chopped
• 6 sundried tomatoes, chopped
• a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1-2 tablespoons gomasio (Japanese sesame salt), or salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon agave syrup
• plenty of black pepper
• fresh basil

I just tossed everything together in a large bowl, added about half of the tofu, and sprinkled with some fresh basil.

I imagine oat flour can be bought commercially as well, but grinding rolled oats does the trick just fine. I first learned about this method from a cookbook I checked out from the library a while back, Dreena Burton’s The Everyday Vegan.

The oat cracker dough:

• 2 dl rolled oats, finely ground
• 1 and 1/4 dl wheat flour
• 3/4 dl nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for color)
• 1 dl water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, and proceeded to make the crackers exactly like the last time. The only thing I had to do differently was to ground the oats, which I did in our mini food processor. I processed them until they were fine, much like whole wheat flour.

I combined water, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic, and placed the resulting wet mix in the fridge. Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and covered a baking sheet with parchment paper. When the oven was ready, I added the fridge-cold wet mix to the dry mix bowl, stirred with a fork until combined, and rolled it out on the baking parchment with the help of a little bit of extra flour. I cut the cookies with a pastry wheel and baked them for 20 minutes, until nicely browned and crispy.

We served this dish with a simple side of cubed daikon radish, dressed with some lemon juice, linseed oil, and a pinch of salt and sugar.

The Beet Quinoa:

• 2 and 1/2 dl quinoa, well rinsed
• 2 small beets, finely grated (about 2 dl)
• 1 onion, cubed
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 dl kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 dl red wine
• 4 dl water
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• canola oil for frying

I first fried the onions in the oil until translucent, then added the garlic and the herbs, and fried a bit more. Now, I added the quinoa and the beets, and fried for a minute or so, just to coat them with the oil. Then I added the water, the red wine, and the olives, covered the pan, and let the quinoa absorb all the liquid, which took about 18 minutes. I checked it more often toward the end of the cooking time, and added just a little bit of water when it started to dry out but wasn’t quite done yet.

When the quinoa was cooked, I stirred in the Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper, and the dish was ready to be served.

The Beluga Lentils:

• 2 and 1/2 dl Beluga lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, pressed

I cooked the lentils with the bay leaf until they were soft, which took about 15 minutes. Then I drained the lentils, removed the bay leaf, and added the rest of the ingredients. Then I let the flavors develop in room temperature until the quinoa was all cooked.

This batch makes 22 small meatballs, and the recipe was inspired by the one on Cake Maker to the Stars.

Here’s what we used:

• 2 dl granulated TSP (in Finnish: tumma soijarouhe)
• 2 dl vegetable stock
• 1 dl diced leek
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste, depending on the stock
• 1 teaspoon dried chili
• ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon fried onion
• ½ dl gluten flour
• ½ dl water

I started by setting the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

To start with the dough, I combined the stock and the soy granules in a bowl, and set aside. I chopped the leek into small bits, sautéed it in olive oil for a couple of minutes, added the chili, marjoram, and thyme, and stirred to mix. By now the soy granules had absorbed all the vegetable stock, so I added them into the frying pan, and sautéed the mixture for a few more minutes. Then I added the sesame seed oil and the soy sauce to the pan. I removed the frying pan from heat, and added the crushed garlic and the store-bought fried onion, stirred them in, and let the mixture cool down a bit.

When the soy granule mixture wasn’t too hot to touch anymore, I added the water and the gluten flour, and kneaded the dough for a couple of minutes. At this point, I tried rolling a meatball in my palm, testing the consistency of the dough. It was still quite soft, but firm enough to roll into balls – just what I was aiming at.

I rolled the dough into 22 small meatballs, which I put on a baking sheet covered with baking parchment. I sprayed them with olive oil on all sides, and put them in the oven for 10 minutes. Then I flipped them over one by one, and baked for another 10 minutes. By then they were nicely browned, and a little crunchy on the surface.

Usually on May Day the weather is still quite cold, so the picnic is more of a symbolic start of the summer, but this year the weather was really nice and warm, in Finnish terms at least. We enjoyed the soy meatballs together with potato salad and smokey tofu spread seasoned with sage, of which we’ll blog about later!

Here’s what we used:

• 500 g firm tofu
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 and ½ dl vegetable stock
• 1 and ½ dl red wine
• ½ dl soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon green peppercorns, ground
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon rosemary

First, Heikki sliced the tofu in thin slices, about 1/2 cm thick, wrapped the slices in paper towels, and pressed them lightly. We mixed all the marinade ingredients, and poured them in the glass jar. Then we plunged the tofu in the jar, and let it marinate overnight in the fridge. This could, however, be marinated up to five days at least, since all the tofu slices are completely covered with the marinade.