Vegan Mofo #17 - Celine & Tamasin's Tofu Pomegranate Pockets...

Vegan Mofo #17 - Celine & Tamasin's Tofu Pomegranate Pockets 
The Book - Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!
The Author - Celine Steen & Tamasin Noyes
The Recipe - Tofu Pomegranate Pockets
Page # 67
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - 20-30 minutes not including the time it takes to press and drain tofu, or if you want to marinate your tofu as I did before baking. Once tofu is done it comes together in under 10 minutes.

I chose to make this recipe for one reason and one reason only, Pomegranate! Growing up Pomegranate was one of my favorite fruits, it was one of my favorite parts about the autumn and winter season. As a kid I remember my mom would come home from grocery shopping and she’d have 1 pomegranate for each of us, sometimes there would be extras, but pomegranates were/are expensive and so they were usually a treat. I would cut my Pom open, grab a bowl then hunker down in front of the t.v. watching some show while pulling all the little pom kernels free of their membrane. Snapping and crunching them between my teeth, enjoying their sweet and sometimes sour, occasionally bitter flavor. I tend to eat pomegranates a lot less these days, pomegranate juice sure, pomegranate flavored stuff definitely but actual pomegranate fruit? It’s rare. I’ve got so many fillings, plus a crown and all that fibrous pulp gets stuck between my teeth. When I saw this recipe however I knew I couldn’t pass it up. First of all pomegranate on a sandwich? Who would have thought! I love the originality of that. Plus it’s combined with smoky baked tofu, bitter greens, and a creamy dressing, what’s not to love?

So first, the tofu. Now you all know how picky I am about my tofu I’m sure, so this bare-bones approach to tofu had me a bit skeptical to say the least. All it is, is Tamari, Liquid Smoke, onion powder, sea salt, black pepper and Maple Syrup. The recipe says to coat the tofu in this mixture and then cut it into cubes and bake it for twenty minutes. Instead I decided to let my tofu marinate in the mixture to really give it a chance to soak up the flavor. I probably let it marinate about an hour before slicing it into cubes. Then I made a little extra marinade - because by then all of the original had been soaked up - to brush the cubes with before popping them into the oven. I probably let them back for about 25-30 minutes until they were really nice and brown because I wanted my cubes really crispy and I have to say - these were freaking amazing! No lie, the tofu cubes were so delicious I was eating them plain, right out of the oven. This is definitely a method I’ll be coming back to again and again.

Second there is the sauce which is super easy-peasy. All it is, is Cashews, Apple Juice and Ume vinegar. That’s it! You blend it all together and somehow you get this super creamy, all flavorful sauce that reminded me a bit of a Ranch or a Cesar. I truly appreciate that the ingredients for the sauce were simple and wholesome and it just goes to show that you don’t need a laundry list of items or any fancy vegan this or that to make a good sauce.

Lastly the recipe says to combine the sauce with sliced red onion, and spinach or arugula. Unfortunately I didn’t have either of those greens but I had a box of mixed salad greens in the fridge that needed to get used. Arugula was one of the greens in the mix so I thought it was a good choice. Once the salad is mixed you stuff it into the pockets along with sliced cucumber, the tofu bits and the pomegranate kernels and bam! The most amazing, delicious combination ever! I really, really urge you to give it a try. It’s so simple, yet so impressive, I know I’ll be making it for years to come.

Pomegranate Pancake Syrup...

I suppose technically this is more of a sauce then a syrup, but I think syrup sounds better, and I generally think of sauces as being savory and syrups as being sweet, and this sauce definitely falls into the later category.

Simmering on the Stove

I first made this sauce over a year ago, when we had an abundance of pomegranates in the house, and my waffle iron was still a novelty item. I was making waffles for breakfast once or twice a week, and when you eat that many waffles you soon grow tired of the traditional toppings. Or at least I did. Since I love pomegranate in all of it’s incarnations - whole, juice, as a flavoring for anything, etc.. - I thought why not as a syrup? There are all kinds of other fruity syrups out there but I hadn’t ever seen pomegranate syrup, and pomegranates are so delicious!

Finished Product

So after a bit of thought, some playing around and tweaking I came up with this recipe. It’s very simple, without too many ingredients, but it is very satisfying and tastes wonderful on either waffles or pancakes. It’s definitely made it onto my husbands list of favorite breakfast toppings, and I’ve made it several more times since that initial time. I hope you enjoy it too!

Pomegranate Pancake Syrup

3/4 C Pomegranate Arils (roughly 1 ½ pomegranates)
3/4 - 1C Water.
1tbsp lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp Organic Cornstarch
1/3 C Brown Sugar (or to taste)

- Blend Pomegranate Arils and water on high in highspeed blender for 30-90 seconds until very smooth. Start out with lesser amount and increase to get the desired consistency, you want the mixture to be soupy not thick.

- Strain the contents of the blender through a cheesecloth or very fine metal sieve. To remove the juice from the pulp. If using a vitamix there might not be that much pulp left that needs to be discarded.

- Next pour the liquid into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the lemon juice and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer. Add in Cornstarch whisking frequently until dissolved, and the sauce has thickened. Let simmer and continue to whisk periodically for about 15-20 minutes until the syrup has thickened and begins to smell heavenly.

- Once thickened test for consistency and flavor. If not sweet enough for you then add a bit more sugar to taste. Keep in mind that this sauce doesn’t get as thick as commercial syrup, if you want you can add a bit more cornstarch to thicken further, but it’s delicious as is.

- Serve warm over your choice of pancakes or waffles. Almost any traditional or fruit/nut combination would work, but my personal favorite to accompany this syrup is blueberry pancakes or blueberry waffles, and that’s what I have pictured here. Blueberry and pomegranate are a match made in heaven and if you really want to amp up the flavor add a sprinkling of fresh blueberries to your plate, and lightly dust with powdered sugar. Delicious! Cherries are another great choice, particularly sauteed or baked cherries, yum!