Hello Friends! I am hopefully laying poolside right about now with a great book, a margarita, and a pile of chips and guacamole! Thanks to Brian from This Gluten-Free Life for helping me out while I am away! I love quick and easy meals like this and to be honest, D and I eat a lot them. You can also make so many variations of this meal and that’s why I love the simplicity of it. I also really love how Brian is doing a gluten-free series for men to show them that eating GF isn’t really that hard as well as showing you an alternative to using meat with using tofu.
I had recently been doing a gluten-free series for men every Thursday, since I feel like many gluten-free blogs have complicated meals that single guys who need to eat gluten-free will never cook. I wanted to give them some recipes that had a small number of ingredients, were actually relatively simple and quick, and were incredibly tasty. I am finishing up with that series though, and moving towards healthier dishes. Transitioning from all those “manly” meals into vegan and vegetarian gluten-free meals has been a little tough, but I’m sure my health will thank me in the future. I loved cooking all those meals with large amounts of meat, cheese, and other mouth-watering ingredients, but I am really looking forward to making gluten-free recipes that are good AND good for you. I was originally planning on using some chicken sausage in this meal, but I forgot to pick it up when I was at the store. I searched through the fridge to see what else I could use, and I came across some tofu I had forgotten was in there. I wasn’t exactly sure how well it would work in place of sausage, but hey, I had the tofu and I didn’t have the sausage. I had made a dinner similar to this in the past, using meat and zucchini, and I had really enjoyed it. After cooking this meal with the tofu and spinach, I was just as satisfied as before. The tofu, spinach, rice, and tomatoes really went together well, which was something I was a little unsure of going in.
The Recipe Ingredients (serves 3-4):
6 ounces of fresh spinach
1/2 package of firm tofu
1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes
2 cups of Long-grain brown rice
Directions:
1. Start cooking the brown rice first, since it takes the longest. Cook the two cups according to the directions on the bag.
2. When the rice is about 20-25 minutes from completion, boil the spinach in a large pot on medium-high heat. Remove when all the spinach has started to wilt. Set aside for future use.
3. Drain the tofu and cut it into small chunks about 1 inch long and 1/2 inch thick.
4. In a Dutch oven, heat a little oil on medium heat and start cooking the tofu. Stir frequently until tofu starts to turn golden.
5. When the tofu has started to turn golden, add in the spinach and can of stewed tomatoes. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 8-10 minutes. 6. Cover your plates with the cooked rice first, then pour the tofu and spinach mixture over the rice.
Serve and enjoy!
