Vegetarian Nihari (Spicy Tofu Recipe)

One of my most favorite Indian dishes is nihari. It's a goat (or any other meat) stew dish. It's spicy, flavorful and the meat is extremely tender. I love dipping naans (flat Indian bread) in the sauce. But I always end up feeling so bad when I see my husband Lulu, who is a vegetarian, staring at me. So this time, I also made a tofu version using the same gravy sauce.

I chose medium-firm tofu and Japanese eggplants and deep-fried them. The texture is perfect once they are soaked in the spicy sauce. I also added broccoli for a balanced meal. The advantage of the veggie version is it's just as tasty, much healthier (I omitted the bhaghar, a typical final layer of red oil in a lot of Indian dishes) and it cooks a lot faster than the meat version.

Vietnamese Stuffed Grape Leaves (Tau Hu Cuon La Nho)

This recipe is the result of one of my many experiments. The plants in our garden are starting to sprout beautifully. We have a small grape vine, so I used the leaves as wrappers for some Vietnamese vegetarian appetizers called tàu hũ cuốn lá nho (grape leaf wrapped tofu).

If you want to make the dish truly authentic, you should use betel leaves, but I find this version served on occasion. Betel leaves have a peppery, slightly bitter taste and I think the grape leaves taste a lot milder. The choice of the filling is really up to you. I filled them with bean thread noodles, fried jicama, shiitake mushrooms, fried tofu and fresh soy bean paste (packed with protein).

Either way, they make the perfect snack or appetizers. They're healthy, tasty and packed with good nutrition.

Mi Xao Mem Recipe (Vietnamese Egg Noodles)

Mì xào mềm, as opposed to mì xào dòn (crispy egg noodles) is the Vietnamese version of Chinese chow mein. This dish appears in almost every Vietnamese fast food joint. It usually comes with chicken and seafood such as baby squid and shrimp, but I wanted to make sure the entire family would enjoy the dish as well (half of my family is vegetarian). So this time, I mixed the soft egg noodles with rolled tofu skin and several vegetables.

Living in the Bay Area, we're lucky enough that Asian markets carry a wide variety of fresh egg noodles. I always look for the thin kinds. If you can't find any, you could always boil angel hair pasta. The flavor will be slightly different but still delicious!

Butternut Squash Tagine Recipe

There is a large North African community in France, and as a child I enjoyed many wonderful dishes from the region. The spices are very similar to Indian cuisine but the dishes incorporate sweet flavors, usually in the form of dried fruits. I’ve shared many of these dishes with Lulu, and he’s come to enjoy them as much as I do.

Lulu’s been craving a tagine lately, so today I made a butternut squash version. The squash adds a beautiful color and goes very well with saffron, cinnamon, cumin and ginger. The sweetness of dried plums and sundried tomatoes finished the dish, along with sunflower seeds for added crunch.

Instead of serving it with the usual couscous steamed semolina, I paired it with black rice, which worked wonderfully. To accommodate everyone in my home, I added fried tofu to soak up the delicious sauce for protein. Of course, you could simmer some lamb shanks (my favorite!) or chicken but it would take a lot more time to cook slowly until tender.

Gluten Free Tofu Ravioli Soup Recipe

Tofu ravioli soup is a great first course. The soup is very light and as a bonus, it's gluten free. The twist is that thin slices of tofu are used as the wrapper for the ravioli. I filled the gluten-free raviolis with pre-cooked mushrooms, mung bean paste and jicama. I served them phở-style, meaning that I brought the ravioli to the table in bowls and then covered them with boiling-hot broth just before serving.

I learned the recipe from the lovely Chef Theresa Lin while attending the top 100 Chinese Restaurant Show in January in San Francisco. She's a hostess of several Chinese-language TV and radio programs around the world. She also was the executive food designer of the hit film "Eat Drink Man Woman," which garnered an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film. I got the opportunity to spend some time and have lunch with her, and in a very brief amount of time I learned quite a bit about Chinese cuisine. She is such a sweet lady and let Lulu and me taste her delicious food. This was one of the dishes she featured, and we loved it. You will too!