Tofu Burger and Peppered Pumpkin

​Well, here we go to two great recipes that I learned from my husband and from his mother. This peppered pumpkin is one the my husband's favorite way of eating pumpkin. I've never seen pumpkin prepared this way until he cooked it, and I instantly fell in love as much as I fell for him. Uhm... maybe I'd choose the pumpkin. *evil laugh*

​I've heard about tofu burgers before but my first time to cook it was after I actually watched my mother-in-law prepare her own version. Which was also her first time. It was good and I loved it but it was quite thick (about an inch) so the non-vegetarians in the house didn't appreciate it as much as I did.

Then one time, without any recipe in mind, I volunteered to cook. But the ingredients readily available then was perfect for tofu burger so I went with it. I formed it into thinner burgers (about half an inch) and ended up cooking too much, so I said, 'no problem, I will eat the leftovers for lunch the next day'. That dinner time, though they enjoyed my tofu burger, there were some leftovers. Then the next day, before lunchtime, I was looking for it. And found out that my sister-in-law ate all the remaining 3 and a half burgers while drinking non-alcoholic beer the previous midnight. So I guess this dish passed with flying colors!

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Ingredients TOFU BURGER

• tofu, pressed and mashed

• carrot, minced

• bell pepper, minced

• egg

• breadcrumbs

• oil

• black pepper

• VCP or mushroom powder or kombu powder

• ajinomoto

PEPPERED PUMPKIN

• pumpkin, cut into about half a centimeter thickness

• black pepper

• ajinomoto

• oil

Procedure TOFU BURGER

1. In a bowl, mix tofu, carrot, bell pepper, black pepper, VCP, ajinomoto and egg (optional but recommended). The consistency should be thick-- when it holds and is thick enough to fall together, that's it. If it is not thick enough, add breadcrumbs until perfect consistency is achieved.

2. Fry both sides of the burger in hot oil over medium fire. The oil should be enough to submerge half of the burger to cook it through the middle.

3. Serve with ketchup, vinegar, as is, or with any sauce that you fancy.

PEPPERED PUMPKIN

1. Toss the pumpkin into a lightly-greased pan and season with ajinomoto and black pepper.

2. Cover the pan and let it cook for two to three minutes over medium low fire.

3. Flip the pumpkin over one by one and cook the other side without covering the pan to give it more crisp.

Tips and Tricks For the tofu burger, you can add other vegetables like chopped cauliflower and broccoli. Instead of making it into a burger, you can also make it into nuggets or balls. I've tried this exact recipe and topped it on my pasta and it was awesome. But next time, I'd want to mix some Parmesan cheese (and maybe some other kind of cheese) before frying it to take it into a whole new level. For the peppered pumpkin, I'd like to mention a very important comment from my husband: sweet pumpkins work wonders in this recipe.

#tofu