Saag Paneer

Ingredients

• Tofu

  Extra firm, prepared with nigari

  250g

• Lemon juice

  Raw

  1 lemon yields or 47g

• Nutritional Yeast

  Vegan - Whole Foods Market

  2 tbsp or 15g

• Miso Paste

  Marukome

  1 tbsp or 15g

• Onions

  Raw

  1 medium or 110g

• Garlic

  Raw

  2 clove or 6g

• Ginger root

  Raw

  15g

• Tomatoes

  Red, ripe, raw, year round average

  2 medium whole or 246g

• Spinach

  Raw

  500g

• Olive oil

  Salad or cooking

  1 tbsp or 14g

• Cumin

  Spices, cumin seed

  1 tsp, whole or 2g

• Garam Masala

  Badia

  2 tsp or 48g

• Turmeric

  Spices, ground

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Chili powder

  Spices

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Quinoa

  Uncooked

  1 cup or 170g

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. First, make the paneer. Press the tofu using a tofu press or place it between two clean tea towels, lay it on a plate and put a weight on top. Leave for at least 30 minutes to drain off any liquid and firm up. Zest, halve and juice the lemon into a mixing bowl. Add the nutritional yeast, miso paste and coconut oil and mix with a fork to combine. Cut the pressed tofu into 1.5cm cubes. Tip the cubes into the mixing bowl, toss to coat and leave to marinate for 25-30 minutes. Spread the cubes out on the lined baking tray, put the tray in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden, turning them once, halfway through the cooking time.
3. Now, make the saag. Peel and finely dice the onion. Peel and grate the garlic. Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon, then grate it. Dice the tomatoes. Roughly chop the spinach.
4. Heat the oil in the large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and stir for 30 seconds. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, for 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute. Add the garam masala, turmeric and chilli flakes and stir for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach and stir for 2 minutes. Finally, add the soya cream and stir for 2 minutes until the saag has a creamy consistency. Taste the saag and season to perfection with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer the saag to a serving bowl. Take the paneer out of the oven. Place the paneer cubes on the saag and serve immediately with brown rice, wholemeal chapatis or roti.