First Mess Cookbook offers ‘cheap, comforting’ veggies

A recipe for roasted chili basil lime tofu bowls is one of more than 125 vegan options in The First Mess Cookbook: Vibrant Plant-Based Recipes to Eat Well Through the Seasons by Laura Wright (Penguin, 2017). The title refers to the first spring crops of favourite vegetables.

Wright was raised in southern Ontario, where her parents grew vegetables and ran a food market.

She has produced an exceptional, beautifully illustrated book of easy dishes. Many are “cheap and comforting,” as she puts it, including her tomato, vegetable and lentil soup, her rice and bean veggie burgers, and stuffed red peppers.

She has a gift for accenting vegetables and grains with combinations of seasonings and condiments, well demonstrated on her blog, also called The First Mess.

Roasted chili basil lime tofu bowls

Serves: 4 14 oz. (398 g package) extra-firm tofu

2 tsp (10 mL) lime zest (grated rind)

2 tbsp. (30 mL) fresh lime juice

2 tbsp. (30 mL) grapeseed or other neutralflavoured oil 1/2 tsp (2 mL) garlic powder 1/2 tsp (2 mL) chili flakes Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 cups (500 mL) fresh broccoli florets 1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped fresh basil 2 cups (500 mL) hot cooked brown rice

1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh sprouts (preferably sunflower sprouts) 1/4cup (60 mL) toasted sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Drain tofu and pat dry with kitchen towels. Cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lime zest and juice, oil, garlic powder, chili flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss the tofu cubes in this lime marinade until each is coated. Lift tofu cubes from the bowl with fingers or a slotted spoon, reserving as much of the marinade as possible, and spread cubes out on the prepared baking pan.

Roast tofu in preheated oven for 15 minutes, uncovered. Meanwhile, toss the broccoli florets in the remaining marinade. Remove pan from oven, turn cubes over, and add broccoli to pan. Return pan to oven and roast for another 20 minutes, until tofu and broccoli are lightly browned.

Whisk basil into the remaining marinade. Serve the roasted tofu and broccoli hot over bowls of hot brown rice, adding sprouts and toasted sunflower seeds. Drizzle with the basil-flavoured marinade and serve at once.