With all of the new vegan cookbooks hitting the scene, I am happy to report on this one: The No Meat Athlete Cookbook. It’s simple, easy and no fuss. Nothing too fancy. No trying to reinvent the wheel. Matt Frazier, the No Meat Athlete, and Stepfanie Romine, got together to create easy meals that are designed “to fuel your workout and the rest of your life.” It’s coming out tomorrow and I have a preview for you today!
I really like this book. There are recipes and meal plans, starting with morning meals to motivate and power your day all the way to dinners and hearty meals to fuel and aid recovery. There are chapters on greens, salads and dressings, small plates and sides, fuel and recovery foods, flavor boosts and sweets.
I especially like the authors’ essay “On Creativity” with the subtitle “How to Successfully Hack a Recipe (If that’s Your thing)” because that is my thing and I love that they say that up front. There is nothing pretentious about this book – they know we all have our own cooking styles and idea. They didn’t put this book together to tell us what to make but to support us in what we like to make – to cook outside the lines. For example, there are Blueprint recipes, like roasted veggies and tofu sheet-pan dinner, which are foundations for foolproof dishes that you can riff on.
As for the recipes, I am partial to the Morning Meals section and I especially love the breakfast tofu. I made a half batch and we scarfed it down. Next time, I will make the full recipe. I am excited to say that I got permission to reprint the recipe. See below.
There are fun recipes like Crazy Mixed Up Nut Butter on Toast idea. It’s toasted nuts and seeds mixed with almond butter. Like why didn’t i think of that? I also love the harrissa baked tofu which is a vegan version of shakshuka because I love harissa.
There is a great recipe for peanut butter tempeh/tofu, a recipe that is going in the rotation starting now. I also love the spice blends in the flavor boost section, the energy drinks and power up cookies. There are recipes for quinoa confetti, polenta stew, lasagna, bolognese, and bean balls too.
I am going to say that I think this is the perfect cookbook for beginners, anyone who is looking for simple food ideas, but especially an athlete who wants to go vegan but doesn’t have the tools.
Follow me on Instagram (@lisasprojectvegan) where I will be posting my meals from this book all throughout the month of July for the #vegancookalong!
Breakfast Tofu
Breakfast Tofu
Ingredients
- 2, 16 oz packages sprouted or extra-firm tofu drained
- 1 tbsp reduced-sodium, GF tamari
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp yellow curry powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Slice each package of tofu into six pieces. Pat dry. Drizzle evenly with the tamari.
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Combine the nutritional yeast, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, curry powder, and black pepper in a large rectangular food storage container with a tight-fitting lid. Place the sliced tofu in the container and shake gently until all slices are covered. (You might need to open the container and rotate the slices a bit.) Let sit while the oven preheats. (The marinated tofu can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.)
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Place tofu on the baking sheet. Spread any extra seasoning mix on top. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
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Serve at room temperature or cold from the fridge.
This breakfast tofu is a mobile version of a tofu scramble, which—while delicious—doesn’t travel well and requires stovetop supervision. Wrap a couple of slices of this tofu in a brown rice tortilla, or sandwich it between two slices of sprouted grain bread with loads of arugula, avocado, and even a few leftover cold roasted root veggies. If you make a big batch on the weekend, you can have your weekday breakfasts prepped and ready to go in three minutes flat. Although we prefer to serve this tofu at room temperature or cold from the fridge (it firms up as it cools), it can be eaten right away, too.
Recipe from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook: Whole Food, Plant-Based Recipes to Fuel Your Workouts and the Rest of Your Life © Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine, 2017. Photographs copyright © Ken Carlson, Waterbury Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com