Our father Hank passed away just before Halloween this year. He died in the evening, with family watching over him, and afterward we went back to the home of my mother and I for a wake.

This is all simple & comforting food, easy to make and easy to eat. The colours are also really lovely: white, yellow, and orange, with red wine.  In fact, we accompanied this meal with copious amounts of wine, and it was good.

Menu

Yam Fries with Miso Gravy

Coconut Quinoa

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 1-14 oz. can coconut milk

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the quinoa and coconut milk and simmer for 17 – 20 min. until quinoa is cooked (not tough to bite, and the little white ring that surrounds each grain will be starting to fall off)

Scrambled Tofu Curry

• 1 lb. pressed tofu
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. dry thyme
• 1/2 tsp. ground tumerica
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. water
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 c. nutritional yeast
• black pepper to taste

Begin by crumbling the tofu with your fingers. Crumble it to the consistancy that you would like to eat. My largest pieces are usually 1/2″.  If the tofu you have is in water in the package, press it between paper towels to take out some of the moisture before hand.

Heat the oil in a large skillet, then saute the garlic for about a minute (you can also add peppers or spinach or whatever else you’d like at this point).

Add the tofu. Cook for 10 min., stirring occasionally. The tofu will get a light tan.

Mix all the dry spices, the salt and nutritional yeast in with the water in a small dish. Add water as necessary. You want a mix that is more watery than pasty.

After the tofu has been at it for 10 min., pour the spice mix over it and stir it in. Cook for about 5 min. more & serve.

This scrambled tofu recipe came from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s book, “Vegan Brunch”.