Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa

What can I say about this dish? Oh...just that this dish was utterly amazing! My husband even loved it. This is the final dish of my three-part tofu excursion and this by far can be categorized as 'saved the best for last'. I am not vegetarian or vegan, but I love veggies and I also love tofu and this dish alone has to be my new favorite way to eat tofu. 
The flavors were so delicious and fresh and like nothing I'd ever tasted. The  extra firm tofu was dry fried and then caramelized with a sweet lime glaze. It was to die for! The quinoa also had lime and a pinch of cinnamon that complemented the sweet lime tofu perfectly. Then, the roasted Baby Bok Choy...pure heaven on a plate. But, don't take my word for it...well maybe you should in this case, but definitely try this super flavorful and wonderful dish. You will be amazed and happy you did.

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa (slightly adapted recipe from Vegan Yum Yum)
Serves 4

1 block tofu, extra firm

3 small baby Bok Choy, halved

Sweet Chili Lime Sauce
6 T sugar
6 T soy sauce
3 1/2 T fresh lime juice
zest of one lime
1 t red chili flakes (or 1-2 fresh hot chilies, minced)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T sesame oil (I added this ingredient)
1/2 t salt
8 mint leaves (I used some lemon basil leaves from my garden)

Quinoa
1 cup pre-rinsed Quinoa
zest of half a lime
pinch of cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 3/4 cup chicken broth + 1/4 cup water

Prepare Quinoa:
Put all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat quinoa until water begins to boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium and continue to boil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off heat and let sit covered for another 10 minutes to finish cooking. Fluff with fork when ready to serve.

Prepare Baby Bok Choy:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut washed baby bok choy in half and place in a roasting pan. Lightly brush bok choy with garlic infused olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes. 

Prepare Tofu: 
Drain tofu and cut tofu block into 1/2 inch thick slices. Now you will have rectangular slices that you'll cut into two squares by cutting each rectangle in half width-wise. Further cut the squares into small triangles by cutting each square diagonally. Place tofu triangles in a dry non-stick skillet.

Dry fry tofu on medium heat. Pressing down on tofu with a spatula, releases liquid. Fry until tofu is golden and turn over to brown other side. Turn off heat and set tofu aside until ready to serve.







Prepare Sweet Chili Lime Sauce by whisking all ingredients together in a small bowl. 

Bring the skillet with browned tofu back up to temperature. Turn on high heat to heat tofu thoroughly and heat the pan. Add the sweet chili lime sauce to the hot pan, stirring to coat the tofu. Allow the sauce to bubble and the sugar to glaze the tofu. Turn off heat to make sure you don't scorch the sauce but allow it to continue to heat and reduce in the still hot pan. Serve over a bed of quinoa and a side of baby bok choy. Garnish with sesame seeds and lemon basil or mint leaves.

Tofu Bruschetta with Pesto and Smoked Gouda

Welcome to part two of our three-part Tofu exploration. For part two, I was looking to use tofu in something other than Asian cuisine. Luckily, as though the publishers of Cuisine at Home magazine read my mind, I came across their Tofu Margherita Pizza Bites recipe in the May/June 2013 issue.  (I love this magazine...greatest magazine ever!)

I was excited to try it, but I was not that excited about the toppings. I wasn't crazy about the sun-dried tomato pesto (I didn't have any on hand) so I decided to use the tofu preparation and then top it with my own ingredients instead.  

Honestly, my first attempt at this recipe was not a good one. I'd used 'firm' tofu rather than the 'extra firm' tofu as noted in the recipe and the results were disastrous! The 'firm' tofu was just too moist even after an hour of pressing the liquid out. Then, once I put it in the oven to roast, the firm tofu puffed up and curled and then shrank down to the size of a very small pizza slice made for Barbie. Kind of like Shrinky Dinks...remember those? So lesson learned, you must use 'extra firm' tofu. :)

After the roasting misstep, for my second go at it I used the correct ingredient, extra firm tofu. It worked so much better, it actually crisped up nicely. Also, to be extra sure I wouldn't be hosting a party for Ken and Barbie again, I decided not to cut them into triangles and I cut them into rectangular slices. I couldn't call them pizza if they were rectangles so I called this dish Bruschetta instead of pizza. I made my own pesto from some basil I had on hand and topped it with Smoked Gouda and red pepper flakes. Absolutely delicious! 

Tofu Bruschetta with Pesto and Smoked Gouda (recipe inspiration from Cuisine at Home May/June 2013)
Makes 12 

1 pkg extra-firm tofu (10-14oz), thinly sliced
1/2 cup pesto, store bought or prepared fresh (see below)
3/4 cup smoked Gouda, grated
red pepper flakes, to taste


Preparing the Tofu:

Thinly slice tofu into 12 slices. Place a few layers of paper towels on a cutting board, then place the tofu on top of the paper towel lined cutting board. Top the tofu with additional layers of paper towels and a cookie sheet, then weight with cans to press the tofu. Press tofu for 30 to 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove cans, baking sheet and towels from tofu. Spray rack with cooking spray and place tofu on rack. 
Use a fork to poke holes into the center of each tofu rectangle to help roasting. The center takes the longest to dry and crisp up, so poking holes in it helps. 
Roast tofu until dry and crisp, about 25-35 minutes, turning the cookie sheet throughout cooking time to ensure even roasting.

While tofu is roasting prepare Pesto.

Pesto: 
1 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a mini food processor and blend well. 

Once tofu is roasted, preheat broiler on high. Assemble Bruschetta by placing 1 tsp of pesto on each tofu crisp. Top with smoked Gouda cheese and broil until the cheese melts. Watch closely as not to burn them. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and serve. 

Click here to see Tofu Part One-Spicy Sesame Tofu 

Spicy Sesame Tofu

I love tofu but I'll admit that my entire home culinary experience with tofu was to cut it up and put it in soup. Tofu is basically an inert ingredient. It doesn't really taste like anything in particular. Depending on what type you get, silken, soft, firm, or extra firm, tofu is basically texture that takes on the flavor of the sauce you put on it. This is not said to discount tofu in any way. In fact, I love tofu and wanted to be able to use it at home in more ways than just soup. I turned my search to Pinterest and found this spicy Sesame Tofu recipe  from the blog called Use Real Butter. I served this as an appetizer but it could also be a great side dish. It's super simple and just plain yummy. Extra firm Tofu is dusted with cornstarch, lightly fried and served with a delicious spicy sauce. How can you go wrong with fried anything, right? The tofu gets crispy on the outside and is still soft but firm on the inside and then you add the spicy sauce, utterly delicious!  This recipe is part 1 of my three-part blog on tofu.  Over the next few days, look out for part 2, a Tofu Bruschetta with Pesto and Smoked Gouda and for the final part, Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa and Baby Bok Choy. Enjoy!

Sesame Tofu (recipe from Use Real Butter)
Serves 4 as an appetizer

14 oz. extra-firm tofu
1/4 cup cornstarch
frying oil
1-2 T sesame seeds
3-4 green onions, minced

Sauce:
1/3 cup honey
3 T soy sauce
3 T fresh ginger, minced
2 T sesame oil
2 T rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 t red chili pepper flakes (1 tsp for medium spice, more for spicy)

Wrap the block of tofu in paper towels and set it on a flat plate or cutting board. Place a heavy plate or flat-bottomed bowl on top of the tofu to squeeze the liquid out. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes. While the tofu is being pressed, stir all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer the sauce on low. Unwrap the tofu block and dry it with more paper towels. Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes and place in a bowl. Dust the tofu with cornstarch and gently toss to coat the cubes. 

Heat an inch of vegetable oil in a deep pan with a candy thermometer clipped to the side to measure the temperature of the oil. When the oil reaches 350°F, fry the tofu cubes in batches (I did mine in 2 batches) until light golden in color. Remove the tofu from the oil and set on paper towels to drain. When all of the tofu is fried, place the cubes in a large bowl. Remove the sauce from the heat and pour half to two-thirds of it over the tofu. Toss to coat the tofu. 

Add the sesame seeds and green onions. Serve immediately with sauce on the side for dipping or pouring over the tofu.

UPCOMING TOFU RECIPES...

Part 2- Tofu Bruschetta with Pesto and Smoked Gouda

Part 3- Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Quinoa and Baby Bok Choy