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Filtering by Tag: tofu

bella terra : preparation

Andrea

We had perfect weather in Virginia this weekend.  75*, sunny, a light breeze.  The kind of weather that makes you believe that Spring may finally be here, that leads to lovely outdoor runs and white wine on the deck.  The same weather that in years past has caused you to put your cold-sensitive plants outside because "they'd like a little sunshine" only to have them frozen by a freak late-March storm (not this year my friends...I won't be fooled again.)  It was the kind of weather that got me thinking about our vegetable garden, and how the time for sowing seeds is just around the corner and I still hadn't amended the beds with fresh compost.   garden-2 It was perfect weather for wandering around the local garden center, picking up spring-harvest seeds and dreaming about how, if only I had my own cold-frame set up in the backyard, I could already have baby lettuce peeking out of the soil.  Hmm...maybe next year. This will be our third year with the garden, and over the last two we've started to sort out which veggies work and which don't.  There were disappointments last year...the Virginia heat was too much for the brussels sprouts to handle and the squirrels got 75% of the corn.  We unearthed the secret to keeping flea bugs off of the eggplant and had an abundant harvest, only to discover that there are really only two eggplant recipes that we like and the farmer's market can more than provide the fruit needed for those.  No need to take up valuable garden space.  garden-3 On Saturday I bought lettuce and spinach, beets, peas and broccoli, all seeds that can go in the ground in the next couple of weeks and provide a harvest in as few as 45 days.  In May, after danger of Virginia frost, I'll be sowing green beans and okra seeds to be harvested in July.  Baby tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and squash plants will go into their assigned beds and parsley, basil and dill will join the perennial chives, thyme and oregano already starting to show some green. broc-1 I think I am most looking forward to growing our own broccoli, although each veggie has a special place in my heart and becomes my instant favorite the minute it is ripe.  But broccoli...it gave us trouble last year, or at least the squash bugs that enjoyed most of the harvest gave us trouble.  And I enjoy a challenge.  We will persevere with broccoli this spring and when we do we will make it this way, at least once. broc-2 There are a few things about this recipe that I need to share, things I will do differently when I make it again.  First, I used whole coriander but will definitely use ground next time.  Biting into the occasional coriander seed was an intense, unpleasant experience for me.  If you love coriander feel free to use whole seeds, but I think spreading the flavor more evenly by using ground would be more enjoyable. broc-3 Second, the tofu needs to go in the oven first.  I put the tofu and broccoli in at 425* together, and the broccoli was done well before the tofu.  To speed things up I wound up removing the tofu from the oven and quickly pan-frying it, but I think it  would be really good roasted.  I've specified in the recipe below to put the tofu in first and roast it until golden brown on one side before flipping it and adding the broccoli for the last 20 minutes. broc-6 Roasted Broccoli with Glazed Tofu inspired by the wednesday chef, via orangette serves 2, with a portion leftover for lunch the next day Ingredients:
  • 2 pounds broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon ground...i'll use ground next time)
  • 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon ground...i used ground)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 1/8 teaspoon hot chili powder
  • 12 oz firm tofu
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • lemon wedges, for serving
Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Slice tofu into eight 1/2" slices, then slice again on the diagonal to make 16 pieces total.  Place on paper towels and press for 10 minutes.
  3. In a large bowl, toss broccoli with 2 tablespoons oil, coriander, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and chili powder. In a separate bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, honey, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and whisk together.
  4. Individually rub each piece of tofu with the oil/lemon/honey mixture.  Place on a baking sheet and bake until top is golden brown.  Pull baking sheet from oven and flip tofu.  Add broccoli to baking sheet, spreading in a single layer.  Put pan back in oven and roast for 10 additional minutes.  Stir broccoli and roast for another 10 minutes.
  5. Serve over rice, with fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
broc-4 A few notes: First, my cousin Kelly (Meghann's sister) was in a scary accident this evening while riding her bike.  Thankfully she was wearing a helmet and is going to be ok.  I'll let Meghann give us details if she wishes, but I do want to stress how important it is to wear a helmet.  Kelly's may very well have saved her life. Second, I'm going to make bella terra posts a regular occurrence, to share with you all the happenings in the garden and recipes to go along with harvests. I don't yet know the frequency, but I hope that by this summer they will be weekly.  I'd love any feedback you have or suggestions for content.  What would you like to see? Third, thank you all for your continued support!  I'm so pleased with the feedback I've received regarding the new format and am so happy that you all seem to be open to whatever direction I go.  I will say that I've enjoyed my week of recipe-based posts and would like to continue with them, although I wouldn't be surprised if a food diary post pops up every once in awhile.  I just can't help but to take pictures of my daily food, and I still have overwhelming urges to share them with you.  So I think that I'm not going to set any rules, not limit the blog in any way.  I'm going to let the day and life and food inspire me and see where it goes, and I hope you'll all continue to follow. I welcome all constructive feedback and would love to hear more from you.  Have a great Monday!  :)
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categories dinner, garden, recipes
tags broccoli, garden, lemon, tofu

bella eats pan-glazed tofu

Andrea

I've had several comments and questions about my pan-glazed tofu, so I thought I would do a tutorial post to go through my method.  If you've seen this before, I apologize.  I just thought it would be easier to have the method in one condensed post rather than buried in several... I originally found this recipe in Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, which is probably the most-used cookbook in our house.  My hubb and I have tried many different ways of cooking stovetop tofu (amazingly enough we've never baked it!  I know!) and were never happy with the texture.  We love the feel and taste of the tofu from our local Chinese restaurant but I just know its deep-fried, which I refuse to do.  So I was really excited when I flipped through the Winter section of Jack Bishop's lovely book and found several tofu recipes, all using this method, with Jack claiming that it was the best tofu he'd ever cooked.  We tried it, and had to agree.  And for a bonus, its really quick!  I can have tofu prepared and on our plates 25 minutes after removing it from its packaging.  Gotta love that. There are endless variations that can be made to the glaze, you can see some of mine here, here and here. I think this one is my favorite though... Bella Eats Tofu Glaze [for 12oz of firm or extra firm tofu]
  • 1/4 cup water or veggie broth
  • 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • pinch of salt
The glaze has 2 main components that you should keep in any variation you make:
  1. liquid (deglazes the pan and helps coat the tofu)
  2. syrup (thickens the glaze when heated in the pan as the liquid evaporates)
*The liquid can be water, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, broth, orange juice, or any combination of the above. * For the syrup I've used both honey and maple syrup - both turn out well. Bella Eats Pan-Glazed Tofu Method [inspired by A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, by Jack Bishop] I use firm or extra firm tofu for this recipe.  I think that extra firm comes out the best, with a firm but silky texture inside and glazed crispiness on the outside.
  1. Cut tofu into 1/2" thick slabs.  Size can vary, but thickness should always be around 1/2".  Any thinner and it gets tough.
  2. Place tofu pieces on 3 layers of paper towels.  Put 3 more paper towels across the top and press down on tofu firmly with the palm of your hand, until paper towels are saturated.  Repeat once more.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp oil on medium heat in non-stick skillet.
  4. When oil is hot, place tofu in pan.  You may need to do two batches if your pan isn't big enough to fit all of the tofu.
  5. This is the hardest part...LEAVE IT ALONE!  Don't touch the tofu for 5-6 minutes.  No stirring, no pan shaking, no flipping.  Just let it sit and sizzle.  After 5-6 minutes, check the bottom of the tofu for color.  Once it is a beautiful golden brown, flip it.
  6. And again, LEAVE IT ALONE!  Let it sizzle on the second side for an additional 5-6 minutes, until golden brown.
  7. Meanwhile, mix all of your glaze ingredients together.
  8. When tofu is golden on both sides, pour glaze over tofu into pan.  Now you can stir, coating the tofu with the glaze.  Let simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all liquid as evaporated and the glaze has thickened.  Remove from pan and serve, pouring leftover glaze in pan over the tofu.
Sorry for the repeat of pictures... tofu after first flip tofu after first flip tofu simmering in glaze tofu simmering in glaze tofu ready to serve tofu ready to serve If I'm using the tofu in a stir fry with veggies, I cook the tofu first, remove from pan, cook the veggies in pan, then add the tofu back in when the veggies are tender along with a sauce of some sort. tofu-4 tofu veggie stir fry Enjoy!
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categories recipes
tags glazed, pan-glazed, stovetop, tofu

standard fuel

Andrea

So today was a day full of easy favorites for me.  These meals/snacks show up on my blog pretty consistently because I love them all so much and they are so quick to prepare.  Honestly, if you asked me what my favorite easy + healthy breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner were these are probably the answers you would get.  Kind of a quick post tonight...goes with the theme of my quick eats!  :) Breakfast:  my standard banana, PB, flax and fig oats...yum. (this b-fast is tied with my ezekiel muffin, PB and fruit combo, which is my go-to if I'm running late and need to take b-fast with me). 090127-b11 This oat bowl contained the usual:
  • 1 cup water, pinch of salt, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 small mashed banana
  • sprinkle of cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground flax seeds
  • 1 dried fig
  • 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
Lunch:  baked sweet potato with 1/4 cup edamame and 1/4 cup corn...such a good combo and SO filling. 090127-l2 Snack:  1/2 cup plain Fage 0% and 5 strawberries...the yogurt helps pick me up and keep me going through the rest of the afternoon, and makes me think I'm eating dessert.  :) 090127-s1 Snackie Treats:  I had a serious sweet tooth today!  I ran to the CVS across the street for some Dove dark chocolate hearts and ate 3 throughout the day.  I also had a date while fixing dinner. 090127-s2 Dinner:  tofu veggie stir fry on jasmine rice...a quick, easy vegetarian favorite!  We try to add bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, but forgot again tonight as usual.  We never remember until we've finished the meal! 090127-d6 This was a collaborative effort between my hubb and I tonight.  He took care of the veggies, I took care of the rice, wheatberries and tofu.  Our delectable meal contained:
  • 12oz pan-glazed tofu
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 3 celery ribs
  • 1 broccoli floret
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 onion
  • jasmine rice
  • wheatberries
  • soy sauce
  • trader joe's soyaki sauce
  • sesame seeds
First I pan-glazed the tofu with my usual method. 090127-d1 This glaze consisted of (measurements are estimates...):
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp orange juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
090127-d2 The tofu turns out just crispy on the outside, firmly silky on the inside.  We LOVE it this way, and haven't been able to stray in years. 090127-d4 My hubb sauteed the veggies in a bit of olive oil and soysauce, then added the Trader Joe's soyaki sauce and tofu once the veggies were tender.  This sauce is really great.  We usually buy Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce from Soy Vay, but I picked this up last time I was at TJ's and it is almost as good, for much less $$$! 090127-d3 My bowl contained 1/2 cup jasmine rice, 1/2 cup wheatberries (boiled tonight to keep for the week) and about 1-1/2 cups of veggies + tofu.  Yum! 090127-d51 Dessert:  a Quaker True Delights toasted coconut banana macadamia nut granola bar, split with my hubb.  YUM!!!!!!  These bars are brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant.  When I opened the package I almost passed out from the unbelievably good scent that met my nose.  And the flavor was perfect...not artificial tasting at all.  I could eat one for dessert every night, and they are only 140 calories!   090127-s3 Exercise:  YOGA!!!!  Mmmmmmmm.  We've been having an ice storm for most of the day so the sidewalks were far to treacherous for a run this evening.  I didn't even want to go back out to the yoga studio and drive on the slick roads.  So, instead, I popped my favorite Power Yoga dvd into my computer and stretched out my unused muscles for 55 minutes.  It felt SO good, but made me realize how much my week off from exercise has affected my strength, flexibility and endurance!  Good news though, my foot felt GREAT!  I'm READY for a run, as soon as the weather cooperates!  :) Question, What's your favorite yoga pose?  Least favorite?  I think my favorites are pigeon and twisted triangle, my least favorite is currently twisted prayer lunge (I think that's what its called...). G'night!
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categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, product review
tags fage, granola bar, oats, quaker, sweet potato, tofu, veggie stir fry

broccoli rabe, squash + tofu pasta

Andrea

I finally got to cook dinner last night!  Its been such a busy week and it just hasn't worked out for me to make anything substantial in the kitchen.  Sadly, my lack of cooking this week meant the sacrifice of two bunches of swiss chard...I had to toss their poor, limp, lifeless bodies into the trash last night. That will teach me...I hate to waste! Luckily when I opened the produce drawer I discovered that the broccoli rabe we picked up last weekend at Whole Foods had survived my brief hiatus.  I've had broccoli rabe several times in restaurants, but I've never actually made it myself.  After doing a little research, I discovered that even though it is part of the broccoli family, and has a few similarities in appearance to broccoli, you actually treat it like leafy greens when cooking it.   090122-d1 I was originally thinking that I would just cook up the broccoli rabe on its own and have it on the side of some glazed pan-fried tofu and a grain of some sort.  That sounded a little boring until I remembered this article I had seen in the NY Times last week.  I used it as a starting point for my pasta dish, but made plenty of changes and additions to be able to call it my own. 090122-d3 The recipe has several steps, but its really not as complicated as it may look on paper.  The squash goes in the oven first, and while it roasts you pan-glaze the tofu.  Once the tofu is ready, the broccoli rabe is parboiled, and the squash is removed from the oven.  The onion and squash are added back to the pan that the tofu was just glazed in, with a little bit more olive oil.  Its joined by the drained broccoli rabe and garlic, and then by the already glazed tofu.  Meanwhile, your pasta is boiling and once drained, it gets tossed in the pan as well.  Easy peasy.  :)  I do think it took about 45 minutes of prep time. 090122-d5 090122-d6 Broccoli Rabe, Squash + Tofu Pasta [makes 4 servings] Ingredients:
  • 1 small butternut squash (about 1lb), peeled, seeded and cubed
  • pan-glazed tofu, recipe follows
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 1 large bunch broccoli rabe (about 1lb)
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 lb brown rice pasta, preferably fusilli
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • salt + pepper
Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 400*.  Place cubed butternut squash in small baking dish.  Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt + pepper to taste.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until squash is just starting to get tender.
  2. Meanwhile, pan-glaze the tofu (recipe below).
  3. While tofu is cooking, rinse broccoli rabe (BR) very well.  Cut off tough ends of stems, about the last 2”, and discard.  Chop remaining BR into 1/2” pieces.
  4. Check on your roasting squash, and remove from oven if starting to get tender.
  5. Bring large pot of water to a boil.  Add the BR and boil for about 4 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to scoop BR out of hot water and into a bowl of very cold water.  Reserve boiling water for the pasta.
  6. While the BR is resting in the cold water, reheat saute’ pan used for tofu and add 1 tbsp of olive oil.  Add the onion and squash, saute’ for 5 minutes until tender.  Add garlic.  
  7. Drain and squeeze water from BR.  Add to saute’ pan along with the glazed tofu.  Toss all together for about 1 minute.  Remove from heat but keep warm.
  8. Bring water back to a boil to prepare pasta.  Boil pasta until al dente, about 9 minutes.  Drain and toss with sauteed ingredients.
  9. Serve immediately, with parmesan sprinkled on top.
for the tofu:
  • 12oz extra firm tofu, cut into roughly 1” x 1.5” x .5” pieces
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • pinch of salt
pan-glazing method:
  1. Cut the tofu into roughly 1” x 1-1/2” x 1/2” pieces.  Lay cut pieces across a few stacked paper towels.  Lay a few more layers of paper towels on top of tofu and press water out gently with the palms of your hands.  Repeat twice more.
  2. Heat olive oil in nonstick pan on medium.  Add tofu pieces and let saute’ for 6-7 minutes, until golden brown on one side.  DO NOT disturb the tofu before turning it over.  Simply lay it in the pan and leave it alone until you check it for color after 6 minutes.  When golden, flip tofu to other side.  Let saute’ an additional 5 minutes on second side, without disturbing it.
  3. While tofu cooks, mix together all ingredients for the glaze.  
  4. Check second side of tofu for color.  When golden, pour glaze into pan, stirring tofu to fully coat it.  Allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes until glaze thickens and most of the liquid is gone.
  5. Remove tofu and pan from heat.  Place tofu on a plate and set aside.  Reserve the pan and any remnants of glaze for use in a few minutes.
090122-d7 I really enjoyed this dish.  The flavors all went so well together.  And most of all, I enjoyed being in the kitchen again!  :) A quick recap of my other eats yesterday... Breakfast:  toasted Ezekiel cinnamon raisin muffin with 2 tbsp natural peanut butter and a sliced banana. 090122-b1 Lunch:  1 cup of Amy's Curried Lentil Soup and another lovely salad.   090122-l1 The soup was really good, but way more calories than I normally look for in a soup.  There are 230 cal/1 cup serving, and I typically look for that many calories total in the can. 090122-l2 This salad contained:
  • spinach
  • cucumber
  • red bell pepper
  • hearts of palm
  • garbonzo beans
  • dried cranberries
  • poppyseed dressing
    I meant to take a picture of the poppyseed dressing bottle, but I forgot.  :(  I'll try to do that for you this weekend.  I think it is Brianna's brand, the same brand whose honey mustard dressing has a picture of an avocado on the front...   Snacks:  a perfect tangelo at work and a handful of granola when I got home. Whew!  Ok, I'm glad to be caught up now.  I've got a really busy weekend ahead of me so posting will probably be a little sporatic.  In fact, I know I won't be posting tonight because I already promised my hubb that he would have my full attention getting our house ready for guests this weekend.  Apparently blogging takes up a lot of my evening time...!  :) And, THANK YOU ALL for your great comments about my foot injury!  I am definitely thinking that it is plantar fasciitis, and am so angry with myself for getting off of my training last week and then pushing too hard last weekend to finish my long run.  :(  I've gotten great advice from you guys, from the 'net, and from a marathon-running friend of mine that has either seen or had every running injury in the book, so I'm hoping to recover soon.  Its still really painful today, even after resting yesterday. I'm going to see how it feels tomorrow but if its still really sore I made hold off on doing my long run. I'm also going to go talk to my coach at the running shop and see if he has any advice for me and make sure that my shoes are still doing for me what they are supposed to be doing.  And I've got a list of stretches to do, Advil to take and an icing routine in the evenings.  Wish me luck!!!
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    categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
    tags broccoli rabe, ezekiel. amy's soup, pasta, squash, tofu

    quick eats and cranberry ketchup!

    Andrea

    Hello fellow bloggies!  Can you believe we're so close to Christmas!?!  Yikes!  Another quick recap...  Breakfast:  1/2 cup plain Oikos with 1/2 cup TJ's pumpkin spice granola and one sliced banana. 081217-b1 Morning Snack:  Breakfast didn't stick with me 'till lunch time, so I dug a chocolate chip Clif ZBar out of my drawer at the office and ate 1/2. Lunch:  Whole wheat pita stuffed with TJ's edamame hummus, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, alfalfa sprouts and broccoli slaw, along with a cup of TJ's Veggie Lentil soup. 081217-l1 Afternoon Snack:  The other 1/2 of my ZBar and a Minneola Tangelo...yummy.  :) 081217-s21 Dinner:  Veggies and tofu simmered in TJ's Korma Sauce on top of jasmine rice with a side of steamed broccoli. 081217-d4 This sauce was really good.  The hubb and I love Indian cuisine so I was excited to find this sauce at Trader Joe's last week... 081217-d1 We pan-fried the tofu similarly to this method, but cut into smaller pieces and without the glaze at the end.  Once the tofu is brown on both sides, we added chopped onion and carrot and let it all saute together for 5-7 minutes. 081217-d2 When the onion and carrots were soft, we added a can of drained chickpeas and the jar of Korma sauce. 081217-d31 On top of jasmine rice it was sooooooo tasty.  :) Dessert:  One beautiful peanut butter filled date. 081217-d5 And I worked on some Christmas gifts!!!  I finally made the Cranberry Ketchup that Erin has been raving about...she sent me the recipe a few weeks ago and tonight I finally had a chance to make it up! Let me tell you all....It. Is. Awesome.  I plan to eat it on everything for the next few weeks.  I was planning to actually can the ketchup to preserve it for months, but started reading up on canning and became worried that I might give my loved ones botulism by incorrectly preserving their Christmas gift.  So, instead, the ketchup will be given to a select few of our Charlottesville friends with a friendly tag reminding them to keep it refrigerated and use it within 3 weeks...  :) cran-1 081217-cran-2 Are any of you making Christmas gifts this year?  
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    categories breakfast, dinner, lunch
    tags cranberry, korma, oikos, pita, tofu

    bluegrass grill + tofu two ways

    Andrea

    Brian and I park about 1/3 of a mile from our offices every morning.  The walk to work is short and pleasant, but forces us to pass our favorite C'ville breakfast spot, The Bluegrass Grill.  The restaurant serves down-home breakfasts and is famous for their house-made baked goods, especially the honey wheat biscuits.  I dream about their biscuits.  Its impossible to get a table on the weekends without waiting an hour, so we don't get to go very often, but every morning as we walk by we say "we need to get up early one day and go before work".  After 6 months of talking about it, today was finally "one day".  We invited our good friend Amy to join us so it was the perfect start to a Friday morning, good food + good company. Breakfast:  Short stack of Honey Wheat Pancakes with fresh strawberries, real maple syrup and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  It was AMAZING.  I ate almost the whole plate.  :)  Surprisingly these puppies stuck with me from 8am until 1:30pm!!!  I thought for sure that I would be starving by 10. 081205-b1 Lunch:  Because I knew I'd be having a large, not-so-healthy breakfast I decided to keep lunch simple and satisfying.  I had a baked sweet potato in the fridge so tossed it in a bowl with 1/2 cup edamame and sea salt sprinkled on top.  Perfect. 081205-l1 And two more of the Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies from my co-worker... 081204-l41 Snack:  Nothing!  My lunch was so late that I didn't need one. Dinner:  Miso soup and pan-glazed tofu.   I wanted to use some of this guy in the spirit of this week's BSI... 081205-d1 I used my favorite recipe from Moosewood for Miso Soup with Tofu and Shitake Mushroom Broth. 081205-d3 And pan-glazed my tofu using this method, but with the following glaze.
    • 1/4 cup water (usually this would be veggie broth, but i'm out)
    • 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
    • 1 tsp minced ginger
    • 1 tbsp honey
    • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
    081205-d4 081205-d5 081205-d6 And a lovely glass of cabernet. 081205-d2 Dessert: 1/2 cup fat free french vanilla Stoneyfield yogurt, 1 small pink lady apple and a handful of Annie's Honey Bunny Grahams. 081205-d7 Does anybody have any big weekend plans?  I am going to be a knitting machine...my goal is to start and finish a scarf this weekend that will be a Christmas gift.  I went to the yarn shop today during lunch to pick up a blend that I'm really excited about!  I finished a scarf last night that is also a Christmas gift, but I can't show it because I don't want to ruin the surprise for the recipient!  :) Have a great night! PS:  Kelly over at groundedfitness is giving away a danskin vest...check out her blog to see how you can win it!
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    categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, retaurants
    tags edamame, ginger, miso, sweet potato, tofu, vino, wine, yogurt

    spaghetti squash and glazed tofu

    Andrea

    Good evening!  With deadlines and social engagements the last couple of days haven't been very conducive to coming home and cooking a meal.  But, finally, tonight I had time to play around in the kitchen!  I decided to try out the spaghetti squash I picked up last weekend. I cut it in half, scooped the seeds, rubbed about 1 tbsp olive oil all over the flesh and sprinkled it with salt and pepper.  I placed it flesh-side down on a nonstick pan and popped it in the oven at 400* for 30 minutes. 081113-d1 081113-d2 When it came out, all I had to do was use a fork to pull the flesh away from the skin.  So easy! 081113-d14 We had some veggies in the fridge to use up before our grocery trip Saturday, so I decided to roast some asparagus while the squash cooked.  Ends chopped off, little drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of salt and pepper and in the oven it went. 081113-d5 I was debating toppings for the spaghetti squash and decided to keep it nice and simple.  I chopped up a zucchini, red bell pepper and 1/2 an onion. 081113-d7 The veggie trio was sauteed together with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  I really wanted all of the pure flavors of the veggies to come through and not be muddled with any extra spices. Finally, I needed a protein.  I hadn't done pan-glazed tofu in awhile, and for some reason it sounded really good tonight.  So, out came a block of extra firm tofu.  I sliced it into (6) 1/2 inch slabs and layered it between paper towels for about 15 minutes.  No pressing, I've found that it doesn't really help that much. I heated one tbsp of olive oil on medium heat in a nonstick pan and waited for it to shimmer.  When it was ready, the tofu went in and immediately started to sizzle.  This is the hard part....no moving the tofu!  So difficult for me because I like to stir things on the stove top.  It just sizzles for about 7 minutes until it is golden brown on one side, then you flip it. 081113-d9 Once the tofu has sizzled on the 2nd side for about 5 minutes, you add a glaze to the pan.  I use this glaze from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop, I haven't been able to stray from it because it is so good!  
    • 1/2 cup veggie broth
    • 1 tbsp maple syrup
    • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • sprinkling of red pepper flakes
    • salt
      Whisk it all together and add it to the pan with the tofu. 081113-d10 Once the tofu has sizzled in the glaze for about 2 minutes, remove it from the pan.  Perfect every time! 081113-d111 Dinner was a success.  I didn't saute' the veggie trio for very long so it still had a nice crunch to it.  The spaghetti squash was awesome, I love its texture! 081113-d15 Paired with a small glass of red wine and I am a happy girl.   081113-d8 I hope that everybody had a lovely day.  I worked on a new banana apple bread recipe tonight that just came out of the oven.  I'll report tomorrow about how it turned out and share the recipe...I'm pretty excited about it!
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    categories dinner
    tags squash, tofu, vegetarian