My walk to Sweet left me chilled to the bone and I had no interesting in venturing out again. Even food shopping wasn’t enough to lure me off of my warm couch!
My roommates and I watched The Social Network and by the time it ended around 7, I was more than ready for dins.
Crispy tofu served over sauteed veggies and red quiona. Oh, yes!
The key to really good tofu is the texture. To get those crisp edges, I slice my tofu into whatever shape I want, place it with a folded dish towel, and set a large, heavy book or pan on top. This will remove all of the excess water and dry off the edges.
After drying the tofu, I added it to the marinade.
Honey Sesame Tofu Marinade
- 2 tsp. honey
- 2 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp. warm water
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- pea-size amount of Thai red chili paste
Whisk everything together in a flat dish. Add the tofu slices and evenly coat. Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and add just a bit of oil. Place the tofu onto the hot pan and fry each side until it is starting to brown and get crispy. Once all sides are brown, dig in! Browning all of the edges certainly takes some patience but the result is well-worth the effort. Mushy tofu doesn’t make anyone happy so I make sure to take the time to crisp it gooood.
Red quiona and white do not taste differently on my palate but the red is leagues ahead when it comes to beauty. Just look at those tiny red and white pearls!
I use my rice cooker for all of my grains (brown rice, wild rice, barley, quiona, millet…the list goes on). For the quinoa, I added 1 cup of grain to the rice cooker and 2 cups of water. The cooker does the rest! Many people have said that they do not get the big deal – what’s so difficult about the stove for cooking rice? I suppose rice isn’t the most difficult dish to prepare. Leaving all of the heavy lifting to the rice cooker, though, means I can spend the 45 minutes it takes for the brown rice to finish up doing something much more interesting with my time! Not to mention I will never, ever burn my rice.
I actually had two bowls that look just like this. Tofu, veggies, and quinoa are not very caloric so I find I need a much greater volume to feel full.
Have a wonderful Sunday! And, if you celebrate, happy Easter =)
happyaspie 