Cookbook Challenge. Week 2. Vcon - Chili Cornmeal Crusted Tofu Po' Boy

I'll admit that I've never had a Po' Boy in my pregan days but if I did, I would imagine this would blow any meat filled one out of the water. Seriously. From beginning to end this recipe is a winner all the way. I had been planning on making this recipe since I saw Veganomicon in the Cookbook Challenge book list and it finally happened today!

Today is my last day of freedom before starting a new job tomorrow so I wanted to make something really awesome since my cooking time is going to be much more limited now. I probably could have picked a more involved recipe, but this one has had me drooling for quite awhile.

Coleslaw is something I've been really missing since going vegan and I just haven't gotten around to making it. I made it first thing in the morning because I was feeling super motivated and I'm really glad I did. Right after I made it I obviously had to try it, you know, to make sure it tasted good! It was awesome. It was even more awesome after sitting in the fridge for a few hours getting all extra delicious! I used a mix of purple and green cabbage as well as some grated carrot. Purple cabbage is also called red cabbage, but it's all purple, no red!

 
It is also something that I could eat bowls of and never get sick of. The perfect snack or lazy lunch for me is a huge bowl of shredded purple cabbage tossed (Read: drowned) with balsamic vinegar. I've mentioned my love of balsamic before, and I will probably mention it a million more times, but when it's combined with the cabbage, it's the best.

The slaw dressing was really friggen fantastic too! The right mixture of Veganaise, rice or soy milk, some lemon juice, salt and pepper is very similar to what I remember non-vegan coleslaw dressing to taste like. Score! I love when I make something that reminds me of something I used to love back in the day.

 The Chile Cornmeal Crusted Tofu is a great companion to the coolness of the slaw. According to the recipe you can bake or fry it. I chose to bake it for 2 reasons. 1. Tofu + frying + me = 95% chance of disaster. 2. My mother was asking me all sorts of questions about the nutritional info for her new diet. Questions to which I had no answers and since I am never one to leave a loved one (especially my mom!) drooling over food they can't eat baking it was obviously the healthier choice. I also feel that that the baking really helped in keeping the crust on. If I fried it, I'm sure it would have all just floated off into the oil until I was left with nothing but greasy tofu triangles.

The cornmeal mix that the tofu was to be dredged in was packing some serious flavor. Tons of chili powder, cayenne, cumin, lime zest and salt will give your taste buds a much welcomed wake up call!

I set up my little tofu factory line and got to work soaking and dredging. And then baking. (Don't be fooled by the random ingredients on the counter, our spice cabinet is always overflowing onto the counter tops)

After the tofu was all baked up and crispy it was time to assemble my sub! A nice slathering of chipotle mayo(adobe sauce mixed with some Veganaise), a heap of coleslaw, some pickle slices and of course the tofu! All of this was put into a toasty sub roll and then devoured. Overall, I love this recipe. And again, I'm really glad I went with baking it, it made it so much easier to make, clean and then not feel all full of grease afterward. So Mom, if you are reading this, thanks for being on a diet! <3