Pan-crisped Tofu with Greens and Peanut Dressing

When I told Toby I was making this recipe for dinner, he wasn’t too thrilled. He didn’t think a salad would fill him up. He also didn’t think I could properly prepare a salad dressing. Well, wrong and wrong. This was surprisingly good! I looked for stupid miso for 3 weeks. I finally found it (in the refrigerated section of my grocery store- the employees didn’t even know where to look). Next time I WILL use 2 blocks of tofu (I only used 1 block, thinking it would be enough).

rating: 8

Pan-crisped Tofu with Greens and Peanut Dressing
(from the Sept. 2009 issue of Cooking Light magazine)

1/3 cup white miso (soybean paste)
1/3 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts, divided
2 14-ounce packages water-packed firm tofu, drained
8 cups gourmet salad greens
minced fresh chives (optional)

1. Combine first 4 ingredients, 1/4 cup peanuts, and 3 tbsp oil in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.
2. Cut each tofu block crosswise into 8 (1/2″ thick) slices. Arrange tofu on several layers of paper towels. Top with several more layers of paper towels; top with a cast-iron skillet or other heavy pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Remove tofu from paper towels.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 8 tofu slices to pan; saute 4 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden. Remove from pan, and drain tofu on paper towels. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tbsp oil and remaining 8 tofu slices. Place 1 cup greens on each of 8 plates. Top each serving with 2 tofu slices, 3 tbsp miso mixture, and 1 1/2 tsp chopped peanuts. Garnish each serving with chives, if desired. Yield- 8 servings.

Tofu Fish Sticks

I have been reading this blog, http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/, for quite a while. I am not vegan, nor did I have a kid at the time, but I just loved to see what Jennifer would create for her kid’s lunches! She’s just so inventive, and makes everything look so good! She convinced me to buy one of the lunchboxes (http://www.laptoplunches.com/), and I took it to work almost every day. Her blog and its’ success actually turned into a cookbook, which I promptly bought. This is the first recipe that I have attempted out of that book. I have to say that I was not really expecting much. I have had faux fish before, but it was at a restaurant (http://www.clareanddons.com/). I didn’t think that I could produce something so good. But I did! Ha! I totally followed the recipe. I had to order the kelp flakes (I got them at http://veganessentials.com/). These were so easy to prepare (almost too easy to be good, you know?). The verdict? Wow! After we took our first bites, Toby and I looked at each other and both said wow! Toby asked what made them so fishy, and I told him it was the kelp. He thinks that I could leave the almonds out and that they would be just as good. I think that maybe I didn’t grind them up as much as I should have. I did have alot of the cornmeal mixture and the soy milk left over. So much, in fact, that I could have used a whole other block of tofu and had enough. These are definitely a keeper.I served these with tartar sauce, tater tots, and some slaw.

rating: 9

http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/01/tofu-fish-sticks.html

Barbecued Tofu, take 2

Wow- THIS is the barbecue tofu recipe you should try. Granted, this is not a recipe that you wake up in the morning and say, you know, I’m going to make some of this for dinner tonight. This is NOT an easy recipe. It’s very time consuming. It’s messy. Did I say it’s time consuming? But- make it, and you will have some of the best barbecue tofu you’ve ever tasted. No lie. I unwrapped 2 blocks of extra-firm tofu and put them on a plate (after draining out the water), then put them in my freezer. I left them there overnight, then put them in my fridge to thaw out. That seemed to take awhile, so I put them on my counter to thaw. I placed the 2 tofu blocks between paper towel sheets, then placed a plate on top for weight (and added another pot on top of that). They were still a tiny bit frozen in the middle when I started to cut them into strips. Once you do the marinade and place them in the oven, it took longer than 25 minutes on each side for my tofu to start looking brown. I probably baked them for about 40 minutes on each side. This barbecue sauce is soooo good, and I munched on it throughout the day, using potato chips as little scoops. If you can trudge through all the steps to get there, trust me, you will not be disappointed in making this!! We had this with corn on the cob and cole slaw.

rating: 9.9

Barbecued Tofu
(from the cookbook “Tofu Cookery” by Louise Hagler

1. Freeze, thaw, squeeze out, and cut into 1″x 3″ strips 2 pounds of firm tofu.

2. Mix together: 3 tbsp peanut butter, 1/3 cup oil, 1 tbsp paprika, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 2 tsp salt. Whip until smooth. Pour over tofu strips and squeeze in as evenly as possible. Marinate 1 hour. While it is marinating, prepare Barbecue Sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 350.

4. Lay tofu out on cookie sheet which has been spread with 1/4 cup oil. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Then turn the pieces over and bake about 25 more minutes, or until other sides are browned. Pour Barbecue Sauce over all the pieces and bake 15 more minutes. Serve.

Barbecue Sauce

Saute together until onions are transparent:

1/3 cup oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Stir in:

2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses
1/2 cup salad mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1 tbsp crushed red pepper OR 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used cayenne)
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley OR t tbsp fresh parsley (I used dried)

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour.

Add and simmer 10-15 minutes more:

1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce

Baked BBQ Tofu

Here’s another BBQ Tofu recipe. The tofu part is easy, it’s the sauce that takes a little time. But it’s mostly cooking time. In the sauce recipe, I didn’t have red pepper flakes so I added cayenne pepper instead. This was really good. Toby went back for seconds and now I have no leftovers. I served this with mashed potatoes, some jazzed up green beans (soy sauce, honey, garlic powder, walnuts), and yeast rolls. I had NOTHING left over for tomorrow’s lunch.

rating: 8

Baked BBQ Tofu
(from the cookbook “Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)

1 recipe Backyard BBQ Sauce or Apricot BBQ Sauce
1 lb tofu, drained and pressed, cut widthwise into eighths
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a 9×18″ (preferably glass or ceramic) baking pan, dredge the tofu in the peanut oil and tamari to coat on both sides. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the slices and bake for 15 more minutes. Meanwhile, prepare whichever sauce you are using.

When the tofu is done baking, pour the sauce over it, smothering it all over. Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Backyard BBQ Sauce
(from the same cookbook)

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped as finely as you can
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp prepared yellow mustard (Dijon is fine, too)
2 tsp liquid smoke

Preheat a saucepan over medium heat. Place the onions in the pan and saute in oil until browned (about 7 minutes). Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add all the other ingredients except the mustard and liquid smoke, and cook for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat if the sauce begins to splatter everywhere. Add the mustard and liquid smoke, and taste for sweetness/sourness. Adjust the flavors if you think it’s necessary, and cook for 5 more minutes. If you like a smooth BBQ sauce then puree it, but that’s not entirely necessary.

BBQ Tofu sandwiches

I had a craving for a BBQ sandwich, so I found a recipe on www.allrecipes.com. I took the first reviewers advice and treated the tofu a little differently. She said to press all the water out of it (with paper towels and a weight), then to cut it into triangles and freeze it for an hour. I was worried that it was too frozen, but it turned out ok. I think next time I will use a different BBQ sauce (I used a Heinz bottled kind), and may take Toby’s helpful advice to marinate it beforehand (I suggested BBQ sauce, he said malt vinegar). I used really good kaiser rolls for this, and toasted them a little beforehand. I made a coleslaw that I put on the sandwich. That made it really good as well. I served this BBQ sandwich with potato chips, baked beans, and a caesar salad.

rating: 8

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Barbecue-Tofu-Sandwiches/Detail.aspx