It’s Vege-Wednesday! This week we’re excited to have a recipe from Chef Sider at Redstone Winery & Restaurant for you.
The wines we feature on Vege-Wednesdays are certified Vegan friendly by VegeCert, an organization that certifies vegan and vegetarian products. This means the wine in question was not made using any animal byproducts. But some of you have been wondering, what does that mean?
🌱Sometimes fining agents that are made from things like eggs, isinglass, and casein are used in the production of wine. This would result in a wine NOT being considered Vegan! Wines of ours that do not have any of these animal byproducts used during production proudly carry the VegeCert certification of being Vegan.
Apricot-Glazed Tofu with Catalan-Style Spinach
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lbs extra firm tofu, pressed & dried
Glaze
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 honey or your favourite substitute
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch each ground nutmeg, ground cloves, black pepper
Catalan-Style Spinach
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, diced
- 1/2 cup unsalted mixed nuts (or whatever you have on hand! We like almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, and pistachios) toasted and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit (Chef recommends raisins, apricot, dates, and figs) roughly chopped
- 1 shallot, minced
- 5 oz baby spinach
- splash of dry white wine (2016 Cuddy Chardonnay works perfectly!)
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Bring all glaze ingredients to a boil and simmer until combined, approximately 5 minutes. Cool.
Preheat oven to 425F. Cut each piece of tofu into slices and shingle them out on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Pour the glaze evenly over the tofu and wrap tightly in the foil. Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake a further 10 minutes.
Heat a pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add diced apple and sauté until caramelized. Add the nuts and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add minced shallots and dried fruit, cook until both are soft, approx. 3-4 minutes. Finally, add the spinach and cook until evenly wilted. Season with salt and splash of dry white wine and cook for a final 1-2 minutes.
Remove the hot tofu from the aluminum foil and lay out on serving platter. Place spinach around tofu and serve!
Pairing with Wine
We recommend pairing this delicious recipe 2016 Cuddy Chardonnay, certified Vegan by VegeCert! Delightfully sticky sweet but layered with toasted nut flavours and earthy greens, this dish highlights the fruity characteristics and subtle oak on a crisp and dry Chardonnay. Hearty but light, this pairing is just waiting to be enjoyed on the patio, in the warm, setting sun on a new Spring evening.
