Lemon, Avocado, Pea & Mint Orzo with Bac’n Bits

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Serves 6 people

Ingredients:

💚 2 cups (300g) cooked Peas fresh or frozen
💚 ¼ cup handful Mint leaves chopped
💚 1-2 TSP Lemon juice
💚 Salt and Pepper
💚 1.5 Avocados chopped (depends on size)
💚 0.5 Avocado sliced for decoration

💚 2 cups (300g) dry Orzo

🥓 1 block Smoked Tofu chopped into small cubes

Tofu Marinade Ingredients:
🥓1/3 cup Soy Sauce
🥓 1 tbs Maple Syrup
🥓 2 TSP Balsamic Vinegar
🥓 1 tbs Nooch
🥓 1/2 TSP Garlic Powder
🥓 1/4 TSP Onion Powder
🥓1/2 TSP Smoked Paprika
🥓 1/4 tsp Ground Cumin

🥑 Avocado or light Olive Oil for sautéing

Method:

1) Ensure the Smoked Tofu is chopped into small cubes

2) Make up Tofu Marinade & add chopped Tofu. Marinate for at least 15 minutes (but longer if you have time).

3) Transfer the 1.5 cups cooked peas & chopped 1.5 avocado to a food processor (or large bowl and use an immersion blender), along with the mint leaves and puree well. *(Below)

* Remember to save 1/2 cup of peas to stir in later plus 1/2 avocado & a few mint leaves for decoration

4)) Stir the lemon juice and salt & pepper into the purée; taste & re-season if necessary. Cover & leave to one side.

5) In a little oil, fry the tofu Bac’n bits until crispy. Once cooked to your liking, remove any excess oil with kitchen towel & place Bac’n bits on a plate. (I’ve not tried an air fryer, but assume this will also work – please let me know).

6) Cook the Orzo according to the packet instructions

7) Stir in the pea/avocado purée & remaining peas whilst still hot.

8) Plate up & top with Bac’n bits. Decorate with slices of Avocado, lemon & mint leaves. Add plenty of black pepper & grated vegan Parmesan if required.

Categories Used: World Flavours, Meat Alternative, Comfort Food & Italian

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s