Vegan Challenge Days 4-6

Day 4: Thursday 3/13
Had the last of the Ethiopian left overs for lunch and chili left overs for dinner

Day 5: Friday 3/14
Had a salad for lunch and some chili, challenge going well
Swim team banquet was that night and to not put up a fuss I ate the BBQ offered (confirmation I will never be 100% vegan after this challenge, that pork BBQ is too good!), but made sure to have some salad on the side to add some veggies in.

Day 6: Saturday 3/15
Brunch out with a friend ended up having no vegetarian or vegan menu items, so I decided that in honors of St. Patrick's Day I would be off the hook until Monday evening.  So I had eggs and corned beef hash.
Dinner was back on the challenge as we made the Asian-Lime Tofu and Slaw recipe that I found at wellvegan.com: http://wellvegan.com/recipes/agave-lime-grilled-tofu-with-asian-slaw-and-mashed-sweet-potatoes

Agave Lime Grilled Tofu with Asian Slaw and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Four servings • One hour to prepare, plus two hours marinading

This is a great recipe when you have time on the weekend for grilling. If you’re looking to avoid gluten, make sure your soy sauce is gluten-free.

Ingredients
Tofu:
1 lb. extra-firm tofu, cut into 8 (1/4-in thick) slabs
1/4 cup light agave nectar
1/2 cup shoyu soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, smashed
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 limes (juiced)
1 1/2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar

Slaw:
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon light agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 cup safflower oil (mixed 2/3 veggie oil with 1/3 toasted sesame oil to make up for the lack of safflower oil and sesame seeds)
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned (didn't get the next 4 items, just grabbed a bag of broccoli slaw for sake of time)
1/2 daikon radish, peeled and julienned
1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 scallion, julienned
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds

Sweet Potatoes: (Ended up just microwaving two sweet potatoes for us, didn't mash them.
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup ground cashews
2 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 canned chipotle pepper, seeded and minced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place the tofu in a single layer in a shallow nonreactive dish. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining tofu ingredients. Pour over the tofu and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 300° F. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Using a slotted spoon, remove the tofu from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and arrange it in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, pour the marinade into a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced to a syrupy glaze, about 8 minutes.
4. Heat an outdoor grill or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Transfer the tofu slabs from the baking sheet to the grill and grill for 3 to 4 minutes, or until grill-marked. Turn the tofu over and generously brush with the glaze; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until grill-marked. Remove the tofu to the baking sheet, turning it over so the glazed side is down, and then glaze the top side.
5. Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, agave nectar, salt, lime juice, and soy sauce. Continue whisking vigorously in one direction as you slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream until emulsified. Add the remaining slaw ingredients to the bowl and toss to coat.
6. Cook the sweet potatoes in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Put the sweet potatoes, ground cashew, all-natural buttery spread, and chipotle pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Alternatively, put the ingredients in a large bowl and use a handheld mixer. Whip on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. To assemble the dish, place one quarter of the sweet potatoes in a scoop in the middle of a serving plate. Top with one quarter of the slaw. Place 2 tofu slices on top of the slaw or angled against the sweet potatoes and slaw. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

The verdict: We like tofu better when it's mixed into things and not just cutting up a block, even when grilled.  We probably could have gotten the tofu a bit more crispy if we had pressed it, and we burned the sauce by not watching it closely enough and too high of heat.  Even still, it was just ok.  The slaw was awesome, will definitely put that in my book of great sides, would be great for a party too, with maybe a bit less oil.  Oh and buying a bag of already julienned carrots because that takes forever and was close to taking a finger too.  Maybe a knife skills class is in order soon!  We also decided that we want to try the mashed sweet potato recipe sometime, and that might have made the whole thing better.