{More} Lessons in Tofu

Posted on Mar 25th, 2012

by Johanna

Categories:

Notes from a Messy Kitchen

I’ve been back on a veggie kick lately. Nothing absolute (I had duck for dinner last night for goodness sake), but when picking recipes to make at home, I’ve found myself subconsciously leaning veggie. This one wasn’t my favorite, but I’ll take the blame for that. Every time I talk about tofu, I talk about how bad I am at cooking it. This was no exception.

Here’s what went wrong: a) started cooking after 9pm, demons quickly emerging b) a food processor cannot replace a mortar and pestle c) tin foil cannot replace an oven mitt when handling a hot pan. Ouch. Fix these things and you could have a winner.

On another note, ‘getting back into running’ is going okay, but I miss my gym! One more week until the Cherry Blossom. Then I cave and unfreeze my membership. In the meantime, we are off to run 8.5 miles… wish us luck.

Spicy Lemon & Herb Roasted Tofu with Kale and Pine Nuts

From The First Mess

Ingredients:

1 lemon, zest and juice
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 tsp red chili flakes
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
4 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and chopped
salt and pepper
3 tbsp grapeseed oil (I used olive oil)
1 package (227g) firm to extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes*
1 bunch kale, leaves removed and torn into 1.5 inch-ish pieces
small handful of pine nuts

*Be sure to cut the tofu small. When I made it, it wasn’t as crispy as I’d like.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
Combine the lemon zest, sliced garlic, chili flakes, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in the bowl of a mortar and pestle. Grind it up until a dry paste is achieved. Add the lemon juice and oil and grind until mixture is unified.
Pour about half of the oil and lemon juice mixture into a large bowl. Toss it with the cubes of tofu very gently. Place onto the parchment-lined baking sheet in one tight section. Roast for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and gently toss the tofu cubes with a fork or spatula. Place back in the oven and roast for another 10 minutes.
Toss the kale with the remaining oil and lemon juice mixture in the large bowl. Remove the tofu from the oven and place the kale on most of the remaining space of the tray. Roast for 10 more minutes. Place pine nuts on the tray and roast for another 2-3 minutes, until tofu is quite browned, kale has wilted and crisped a bit and the pine nuts are golden.