A Vegetarian Feast!

by Mara @ What's For Dinner? on February 18, 2009

in vegetarian

After months of reading about baked tofu here, and here, and of course here, I finally decided to try my hand at making it. I asked Beadie about her “perfect baked tofu” method, and read up on the famous Gliding Calm tofu. Over the weekend, I tried it for myself without an intent of sharing it with Adam just in case I royally screwed it up. I did the freeze-and-press method that Beadie likes, then the soy-ginger-sesame-sweet-hot rub that Miss Gliding Calm likes, then baked the heck out of it at 400* for about 45 minutes. IT WAS FANTASTIC!! I made it a point to make Adam taste some, and he loved it too…so much so that he requested it for dinner at least once this week.

When we went to Trader Joes on Monday, we bought 2 bricks of extra firm tofu. One went straight into the freezer, and the other stayed in the fridge. I wanted to try the different, less time-intensive, “drain-and-bake” method that  so many in Blogland love. So tonight, I simply drained the fridged brick of tofu, sliced it into slices, and rubbed it on both sides with a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, sriracha, and one Splenda packet. I baked it at 425* for about 45 minutes, and once it was browned, took it out. It was also amazing!! The texture wasn’t as “meaty” as the freeze-press-bake method, but still a great dinner. We had the slices of baked tofu with sweet potato fries, brown rice, and [an unphotographed] simple green salad.

Who am I channeling? Beadie? GC? Finessista?

Who am I channeling? Beadie? GC? Erin?

Adam even went back for seconds, and agreed that I should show him how to make this stuff! Next on my to-try list: baked tofu in a stir fry!

Now, a non-dinner note. Yesterday, Adam picked up a new video game, Street Fighter IV. Normally, I can’t stand the way that women are portrayed in video games. Usually they’re tall, ridiculously thin, ridiculously tall, and have inhumanly enormous boobs chests. I was beyond excited when Adam started playing this game last night because girl after girl had a much different silhouette than your typical video game chick. Sure, they’re still scantily clad. But instead of being unrealistic portrayals of what women “should” be, they are exaggerated portrayals of what women strive to be: muscular, strong, fit, and ready to kick some  ass butt! This is Chun-Li, one of the strongest women in the game:

Those are some ASS KICKING THIGHS!

Those are some ASS KICKING THIGHS!

And in Blogger news:

And, make sure you all have a WONDERFUL evening! I’m off to have some coffee (and maybe a treat) with some WW buddies. SO EXCITED!

Oh, and for Miss Erin who mentioned she’s missing the Northwest… a picture of the Oregon coast. I seriously fell in love with the landscape there!

Outside of Florence, OR

Outside of Florence, OR

xoxo,

Leave a Comment

CommentLuv badge

{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

glidingcalm February 18, 2009 at 6:20 PM

yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

love the vid game character too!

so glad you took the tofu plunge!!

Reply

Andrea February 18, 2009 at 6:23 PM

Yay! I’m glad you and your hubby liked the tofu. It’s pretty versatile – plain, sammies, salads, etc.

Reply

VeggieGirl February 18, 2009 at 6:47 PM

SWEET POTATOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply

Beadie February 18, 2009 at 7:16 PM

Yay for tofu!

Reply

Meg February 18, 2009 at 7:44 PM

Beautiful pic! I am so glad you enjoyed the tofu! I have been eating a lot of it lately!

Reply

Rose February 18, 2009 at 7:57 PM

Love your little display on the plate there. Your sweet potato rounds look good!

Reply

brandi February 18, 2009 at 8:37 PM

i have not tried baked tofu yet! I need to, though, and i bought some this week ;)

Reply

Marcie Friedman February 18, 2009 at 9:11 PM

We love tofu and make it on a weekly basis. Love it even more than chicken. Let me know if you want any tofu ideas! :)

Reply

healthy ashley February 18, 2009 at 9:33 PM

I’m glad you liked the tofu. Your whole meal looks amazing! And I’m still thinking of that last pretty photo… :)

Reply

eatingbender February 18, 2009 at 9:45 PM

Hurray for tofu! Yours looks awesome – I’m going to have to read up on Beadie’s freezing method now, too. I think I’d like a meatier texture once in a while!

I tagged you for an award on my blog! I saw that you commented already but wanted to make sure you noticed :) Thanks for your sweet words about my pictures and eats, by the way. Hugs to you, too!!

Reply

eatingbender February 18, 2009 at 9:47 PM

Oh and P.S., that picture of the Oregon coast is absolutely breathtaking!

Reply

Marianne February 18, 2009 at 9:53 PM

Hurray for tofu! It’s not as scary as everyone thinks, especially since you can add any flavour you want to it.

Reply

coco February 18, 2009 at 10:09 PM

needing to try out that tofu!!!!! It’s just so much work/time, but i guess it worth it! :)

Reply

Chelle February 19, 2009 at 12:42 AM

Now I’m in the mood for a TLT (tofu, lettuce and tomato) sammie! I’ll have to get on that!

Great pic of the coast, btw. We visited Seaside and Astoria a couple of years ago and fell in LOVE. Such a beautiful place.

Reply

MizFit February 19, 2009 at 5:08 AM

that looks REALLY GOOD—-and Im an avowed carnivore.

Reply

Lara February 19, 2009 at 5:15 AM

I had no idea that you could freeze tofu! LOVE your veggie feast–those sweet potatoes look perfect and crisp!

Reply

Krista February 19, 2009 at 10:03 AM

I love tofu!! If I’m in a rush, I slice it up and cook it on the stove top until crisp. Works in a pinch!!

Reply

Kelly Turner February 19, 2009 at 12:36 PM

I love the oregon coast! the next trip im making is to Ocean Shores- I love it there.

Kelly Turner
http://www.everygymsnightmare.com

Reply

marafaye February 18, 2009 at 9:13 PM

Marcie, I definitely would!! Thanks!

Reply

Lloydminster alberta restaurants February 19, 2009 at 6:35 PM

Love the tofu. The best dish is grilled tofu in soba soup noodles. soooo gooood!

Reply

Heather Eats Almond Butter February 19, 2009 at 6:43 PM

Beautiful pic – I love Oregon!!!!

Gliding Calm tofu is the bomb. My husband took a bite too, but there were no future dinner requests from him. :)

What is the freeze/press method. I’ve pressed the tofu and then frozen it. Should I freeze it first. Confused. Help please as I have a block sitting in my fridge waiting to be baked.

Hope you enjoyed coffee with your girls. :)

Reply

chocolatecoveredvegan February 19, 2009 at 6:59 PM

Ok, I must admit to having mbop on there too! I hated that song when it was popular, but now? Well, it’s just so catchy! LOL.

(P.S. I really think I AM going to switch to wordpress! Yay!)

Reply

Hangry Pants February 20, 2009 at 10:43 PM

Tofu is awesome. I laughed because your meal definitely reminded me of something I would see on Erin, Beadie or Gliding Calm’s blog for sure!

Love the video game character. Usually they are super skinny with boobs bigger than their heads.

Reply

Erin February 22, 2009 at 5:53 AM

Oh yum! That’s such a classic tofu method! I’m so glad you tried it and loved it! IT’S SO GOOD!
I LOVE that you posted that picture of the coast. You’re so thoughtful. :) I just wish I could hug you!

Erin’s last blog post..Andrea: When the cat’s away…

Reply

{ 2 trackbacks }

Previous post:

Next post: