Are you Sweet or Sour?

I love this shirt. I ordered one for my friend for his birthday present, and he had one already so I kept it. It's one of my favorite shirts, and I really should wear it more often. But anyway, last night my mom and I had another bonding moment. We watched "Strange Wilderness" together, which is one of the weirdest movies ever, but still funny. We were both cracking up during a lot of it, and we have horrendous laughs. She ended up konking out a few hours before me, though, and I just couldn't go to sleep. I stayed up til around 1:30 playing minesweeper and reading ridiculous craigslist posts.

Lately, I've been such a damn night owl. I usually read when I can't go to bed, but I wasn't in the mood. The book that I'm on right now is called "Loving Frank." It is about Frank Lloyd Wright and his affair with a married woman. It's really juicy, and I love reading it. I'm only about 60 pages in, so I'll finish it before I recommend it.

But onto food we go. My recipe for this beautiful Sunday is from Dreena Burton's vegan cookbook. It's called "Sweet and Sour Chipotle Tempeh with Sweet Potatoes." She used tempeh in her original recipe, but I had no clue what tempeh was or where to find it, so I used tofu. I looked in 4 grocery stores around me and they don't sell it. Regardless, everyone in my house loved this dish with tofu. Even people that don't live in my house tried it and asked for the recipe. It's VERY delicious, and as usual, I ate it for breakfast. As for the Chipotle part, I still don't know what that is. haha so I left that out and, too.

Here's the recipe:
Sweet and Sour Tofu with Sweet Potatoes

2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 cup water
1/4 cup unrefined sugar (I used agave nectar)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar (I used seasoned)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
2 medium-large cloves garlic, quartered.
1/4 tsp salt, rounded
2 1/2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered, and sliced 1/4 in. thick
1 1/2 cups green bell pepper (1 medium pepper)
1 1/2 cups onions, thinly sliced (1 medium-large onion)
1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
1 pkg tofu, drained, and cubed
1/2 cup cashews, chopped for garnish

Directions:

Preheat over to 425 degrees F. In a blender, combine arrowroot, water, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, maple syrup, tamari, oil, molasses, garlic, chipotle, and salt and puree. Transfer to an 8 x 12 baking dish, add sweet potatoes, green peppers, onions, pineapple, and tofu and mix to combine. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 60-70 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are soft and sauce has thickened. Serve, sprinkled with cashews.

Note: The cashews are a MUST in this recipe! They had the crunchiness to this dish because the tofu and vegetables are soft when baked.