Day 46: Dinner

In the ambit of veganizing your old faves, you're going to have hits and misses. Vegan beef stew- hit. Vegan mac 'n cheese- miss. Vegan fish sticks- well, let's just say the jury's out for the time being. (But they sure do look like fish sticks, eh?)

My vegan friend Travis recently told me that when it comes to a dish like mac 'n nutritional yeast, you have to look at it as a completely different food product. You can't make it taste like the traditional stuff, and you shouldn't expect it to. So that's how I looked at this fish-fried tofu. Or tried to.

If you're making fish sticks with no fish, and you want them to taste even remotely like fish, then you're going to have to use something... fishy. Seafood's off limits, so how about seaweed? The recipe called for kelp powder, but since I had a whole bag of kombu sheets in the cupboard I decided to shred them up and use them instead. Not a good idea. If you make this dish, use kelp powder; kombu is too tough and hard for the food processor. It will grind it into smaller pieces but not a powder, and you'll have to constantly be spitting the little pieces out that end up in the batter.

I would also advise you to cut them into smaller strips than I did, and to not batter them as heavily as I did. Ever had those chicken strips from McDonald's? The ones that are about 90% batter and hardly any actual chicken? Yeah, I know.

I also made sweet potato fries, and with much success, seeing as I have an obscene amount of difficulty baking sweet potatoes in the oven. To make these, cut up a sweet potato into wedges and soak them in salted water for an hour. Then cook at 425 for 45 minutes, turning after 30. Spray the potatoes and cookie sheet with vegan butter-flavored spray (Spectrum makes a good one). To make the vegan tartar sauce, stir together a couple of heaping spoons of Vegenaise with a spoonful of relish and add plenty of freshly-ground pepper and a little lemon juice if you like.

One thing more- these fish sticks were made with tofu from Whole Foods' store brand, 365 Everyday Value. They apparently just entered the tofu market, and their stuff is a whopping fifty cents less per pack, so I thought I'd give it a try. And while draining tofu is never all that much fun, this stuff soaked six layers of paper towels on the second pressing. It didn't taste any different though- just a lot tougher to prepare.

Anyway, here's the recipe for vegan fish sticks.

• 1 lb. firm tofu, drained
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. kelp powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. dill
• 2/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
• Cooking spray for pan

1. Preheat oven to 425. Spray cookie sheet with oil.

2. Combine flour, almonds, kelp powder, and all spices in a food processor. Pulse until all is a finely ground meal (don't let the motor burn out!).

3. Slice tofu into small strips (about the size of standard fish sticks). Dip in soy milk and dredge in flour mixture one at a time. (You can also use a fish-shaped cookie cutter- that would be a big hit if you're preparing these for children.) Lay on baking sheet and spray with more oil.

4. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn and bake for another 15 minutes.