A nice healthy salad.

When Beth and I lived in Lawrence, Ks we used to visit The Merc nearly every day.  It was the best place in town to buy tofu and they had cheap bulk goods, but it was the prepared salads that kept us coming back.  Among those prepared salads was this very salad, Thai Roasted Tofu, it was easily our favorite.   Its really an easy recipe and it works great as a side or even a main dish.  If you have never tried tofu, or if you have tried it and didn’t like it, just give this recipe a shot, I guarantee you’ll become a tofu fan.  Oh yeah, healthy, yada yada.

Here’s what you need:

1 package Extra firm or High Protein Tofu

1 Bottle Thai Salad dressing.  Really you could use nearly any asian dressing, sesame, shiitake, peanut, you get the point.

2 Bell Peppers-Red and yellow preferably, but it would be fine with just green.

1/2 medium purple onion

Here’s how:

Remove the Tofu from the package and place on a clean towel.  Cover with the towel and press lightly to dry.  It doesn’t take much.

Cut the tofu into even thumb sized chunks.  1/2″ x 3/4″ x 2 ” or so.  Place in a plastic container (with lid) or a plastic bag.  Cover with the dressing and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or as much as 24 hours.

Remove from the container and place on a roasting rack if you have one, if not any old baking sheet will do, just give it a nonstick spray.  Reserve this marinating liquid (dressing), it will be the dressing for the salad.

Place in the oven at 400 degrees and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.  Tofu is very nice to cook because it hardly ever burns, but if it looks like its getting too dark, remove it after 45 minutes, if not, leave it in for an hour.

Remove from the oven and let it cool.

While, your letting it cool, cut the pepper and onions  into 2″ long strips and place into a large bowl with about a cup of the dressing.  Place the cooled tofu (just not hot) in the bowl with the peppers and dressing, toss to coat and refrigerate for at least an hour.  The more time you give it in the fridge, the better the flavors will mesh.

Serve as is.  Add more or less dressing to taste.

Terriyaki Soba Noodles

This is one of the most popular meals I make.  Beth and I love it, but most importantly the kids love it.  It only takes about 15 minutes to prepare and its fairly healthy (a little high in sodium).

Here’s what you need:

1 Package Soba (Buckwheat) Noodles

What cute little bundles.

1 Jar Terriyaki (I usually use Soyaki, a Trader Joe’s item, It’s just a cheaper version of the Soy Vay terriyaki sauce).  3/4 of the jar is more than enough, so save some for next time.

Trader Joe

1 Package Tofu (Optional)

1/2 # Snow Peas (also Optional)

1 Bag Potstickers (Ling Ling brand pictured, but there are many generic versions, I’ve heard safeway has a great generic brand, but I haven’t tried it).

Yumtacular

Here’s how to make it:

Start the terriyaki sauce simmering over medium high heat.

Bring 2 Separate Large saucepans of water to a boil.

To one, add the soba noodles, set a timer for 4 minutes, they’re easy to forget.

To the other, add the dumplings.

Heat up a medium skillet with 2 tablespoons oil over med high heat.

After 4 minutes, drain the soba noodles and rinse with cool water until all the noodles have cooled.  We want to stop the cooking so it is important to get them all cool.  Set aside.

In heated skillet, add the tofu and sautee for 8 minutes then add the snow peas.  Sautee for another 2 minutes, then add the heated terriyaki sauce.

After about 10 minutes in the water, drain the dumplings.  They can now be served (this is how we eat them), but if you prefer, you can sautee them now, until crispy.  Careful though, they are easy to burn.

Add the soba noodles to the skillet with the tofu and sauce, stir until noodles are coated, remove from heat and serve.

I know, you didn’t need me to tell you how to cook this stuff, but I had to write something.

Terriyaki Marinated Tofu

I’m skipping dare and double-dog dare, I am going to straight to triple-dog. I triple-dog dare you to make some tofu. Come on its really good and really good for you. Kids love this stuff, babies especially, really they do.
Tofu is not as scary as you think. Tofu is soybean curd, i know, the word “curd” is a bit scary, but tofu is soymilk curd in the same way that cheese is milk curd. The processing is very similar.

Well I have yet to sound convincing, well here goes my ace in the hole, my trump card, my… dang I’m out of card metaphors, anyway, here’s why you really want to eat tofu:
Tofu is low in calories, contains beneficial amounts of iron (especially important for women of child-bearing age) and has no saturated fat or cholestrol. Depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, the tofu may also be high in calcium (important for bone development and maintenance), and magnesium (especially important for athletes). Tofu is relatively high in protein also, about 10.7% per serving (low) for firm tofu, and the protein from tofu has been proven to reduce LDL cholestrol (the bad cholestrol). What’s not to like?

Still worried about the taste? Have no idea what to do with it? That’s where I come in. Here is a basic recipe for baked tofu. From this recipe you could make cold or hot tofu sandwiches, add tofu to a stir-fry, or simply eat it as a snack with crackers and cheese.

What you need:

The Tofu

Tofu-Try to find extra firm, or high Protein, this has the most pleasing texture for tofu beginners. Trader Joes has a great high protein tofu for cheap, in this case I’m using some Beth bought at Fresh & Easy.

The Marinade

Marinade-Here I’m using Trader Joes generic brand of Soy Vay Terriyaki sauce, this is highly recommended, but you can use whatever marinade you want.

Salt-You may not need this if your marinade is already salty. Soy sauce based marinades such as the terriyaki marinade do not need salt, but a non penetrating marinade like Barbecue Sauce will probably need to be liberally salted.

Here’s how you make it:

Remove the tofu from the package, shake all the water off and place on a clean dry towel. Cut into fillets (sheets, chunks) anout the thickness of your thumb.

Pat Dry

Place flat on a towel and pat dry (for high protein/extra firm tofu) or press to squeeze the moisture out(firm tofu).

Place tofu in a container of your choice, cover with marinade (fully cover) and let sit for at least 30 minutes. I marinated mine overnight in the fridge.

Remove from container and place (preferably) on a roasting rack, or a baking sheet. Salt the tofu if needed (see salt above).

For firm High protein/Extra firm tofu bake 30 minutes at 375, no need to preheat. After 30 minutes shut off the oven but leave the tofu in there for another 30 minutes.

For Firm tofu bake for 50 minutes at 375, shUt off the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

Ready to eat

Use a spatula (turner) to remove the tofu from the rack or the sheet. Its ready to eat if you want or you can let it cool in the fridge for a cold snack. Prepared tofu will keep in the fridge for a week. I’ll share some recipe ideas for tofu with you soon, I promise.