Vegan Lox - Smoked "Salmon" and Happy New Year!

Vegan Lox - Smoked "Salmon." 

Happy New Year boys and girls! May this year be a fantastic time for all of us. Every New Year's Eve, I plan on painting the town red, but as the clock nears midnight, the color tends to be more beige than red. This time the color was indeed red with no beige overtones.

Last night I went on an adventure of pub beer crawl, and also restaurant hopping. It was fun, but today I am paying for it in more ways than one.

I started my journey with The Corner Tavern located in Boston's Back Bay. They have a great vegan friendly beer selection and a few dining options (with use of trickery), and the atmosphere is pretty fantastic.

My snack was roasted garlic hummus with toasted pita bread. It was pretty good.

At the end of the night, I was stuffed, but managed to get two chocolate bars, which incidentally are now mostly consumed.

I got it at Max Brenner Restaurant located in Boston's Back Bay.  

Onto the recipe. The idea of making my version of vegan smoked "salmon" has been traveling in my head for a while now. I used to love bagels with lox when I was a pesceterian many moons ago.

Vegan Lox has it going on. 

And so, I went to my pantry, found what I needed, and here we are. You probably have most of the ingredients on hand.

Few things: liquid smoke is necessary for this recipe along with the smoked paprika as that is how the smoky flavor is achieved. Additionally, kelp granules are also required to give the dish a "fishy" flavor. If you are unable to find this seasoning, I am certain that other sea vegetables will work well here. For instance, you can use pulsed nori sheet that amounts to one teaspoon.

One last thing, feel free to use more olive oil for a richer taste.

That's it. Get thee to the kitchenry!

Vegan Lox (Easy to make! Don't believe me? Prove me wrong, I dare you.)

Ingredients
1 (16-oz) package high protein organic super firm tofu (I used Trader Joe's brand), thinly sliced
1 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
1 large lemon, half sliced, the other half squeezed for juice and used in the marinade

Marinade 
Juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup soy sauce (Use Tamari to make it gluten-free.)
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kelp granules (Use an extra teaspoon if you like it super "fishy," and less sea salt. I used one teaspoon of kelp granules.)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground sea salt (Optional, but I recommend using it for the salty "fishy" taste.)
1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil (Use more to make it extra rich. This is not necessary.)
1 teaspoon raw cane sugar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste (About 1/2 teaspoon.)
1/2 cup carrot juice (I made mine. Sorry, I did not mean to brag about it.)

Drizzle extra olive oil when serving and storing for a richer flavor. 

Directions
Drain the tofu and dry it with a towel. Use a hand grater with the large grating slots, and carefully grate the tofu into thin slices. Don't worry if the pieces break or are not the same size. Perfection is not welcomed unless you need it to join you in the kitchen.

Grated tofu. The oranges are eye candy only. 

Place the grated tofu in a medium/large container with a lid, and layer it with half of the sliced lemon, and the entire onion. Make the marinade in a separate bowl by combining all the ingredients. The color should look like this. The consistency is thick.

This is what the marinade looks like. 

Now pour the marinade over the tofu lined with raw onion and lemon slices. Close the lid, gently shake it and keep in the refrigerator overnight. The longer it marinates, the better the flavor.

Sliced tofu with layers of onion slices and lemon, topped with the marinade. 

When you are ready to bake the tofu, preheat the oven to 350F. Spray large baking pan (I used two because my oven is pretty small), and line the tofu on the pan. Do not overlap the tofu, or it will steam instead of baking. Ladle additional marinade over tofu pieces that may lack color. Bake for 15 minutes, and flip over. Spray again with the non-stick cooking spray, and bake for another 15 minutes or less, depending on the texture you desire.

Additionally, do not bake the onion or the lemon slices, but rather keep them for decoration when serving. I used the raw onion for my sandwich, and squeezed the lemon on top for additional flavor when I served it.

Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. Serve in salads, on sandwiches or anything you like.

Serve on a toasted bagel with vegan cream cheese and cucumbers. I used the uncooked onion from the marinade to top my bagel. 

Cheers to 2014!!!