Channeling…

After such a fun day yesterday, I was looking forward to having a relaxing Sunday… but when my friend called me at 10 a.m. to see if I wanted to go with her to the outlet mall, I of course said “yes!” and headed out the door!

We hit up Jamba Juice which is a total weakness of mine. Nothing like a strawberry/banana/soy milk/flax boost smoothie to make a morning great! We hit the road, my friend found some deals, and then we got sandwiches at Quizno’s. I’m usually a Subway girl, for sheer quantity’s sake. I can get a GINORMOUS sub for a very low calorie and fat count. My friend and I decided to try Quizno’s though, because a) it was there and b) they have those new Torpedo sandwiches that seemed appealing. I got a plain turkey one with no sauce and extra veggies…. and for what it was, it was quite good! I ended up being hungry about 2 hours later and Adam and I got some soup at Panera.

We went to the grocery store, and scored a TON of produce and canned goods for a very little amount of money. We got a HUGE thing of strawberries for about $2, cilantro for a later recipe for $0.50, and the best deal: eggplants for $2! No, none of these items will be cooked in the same recipe. 

Adam had a meeting at work tonight, so before he left we decided on dinner so that I could start cooking while he was out. What did I make? Well, I channeled my inner Gliding Calm (who, by the way, just showed her face on her blog for the first time and is amazingly fabulous!) Dinner consisted of:

• Gliding Calm baked (well, pan-baked) tofu
• Pan-roasted broccoli
• Rice noodles with a PB2 peanut sauce (we know how Miss Gliding Calm loves her PB2!)
• A realization that I may seem a bit like a creepy stalker by saying all this

The baked tofu is something that I’ve made many times before, but something about the way this stuff came out was particularly delicious. I pressed the water out of it under a heavy book and cast-iron pan for a good half hour before mixing up my rub and pan-baking. I didn’t add any extra oil to it, just cooked it in a pan instead of heating up the whole kitchen with turning on the oven.

The noodles were something that came to me last night in a late-night scramble for a snack. For two servings of cooked noodles, mix this up:

• 4 Tbsp. PB2
• 1 tsp. dark sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. sriracha (or to taste)
• 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp. water

Pour the mixture over the hot noodles, and stir well. Serve immediately and enjoy!

You’re probably wondering “where the heck are the pictures?” Well, when it came to plating dinner, I think I was channeling my inner Rose… I don’t have a cute story like she always does for her amazing bowls of oats, but I could make up something about how the tofu and the broccoli were having a party or something…nah, I’ll leave the great writing to Rose. Here’s our dinners… mine on the left, Adam’s on the right:

As you may have been reading over the past few days, I’ve had many Guests for Dinner! Tonight is no exception! Tonight, the lovely Hallie from HealthyTwists is joining me for dinner. What’s funny is that I had her guest post all scheduled for tonight, and low and behold: our dinners were quite similar! So, Hallie, pull up a seat at my table and tell us all about your dinner!

Hi! Hallie here from Healthy Twists. I’m happy to be a “guest” at Mara’s dinner table…although since the weather’s usually nicer in San Diego than Chicago, next time dinner’s over here, ok Mara?

I have been on a total tofu kick lately. I love the high-quality protein that doesn’t make me feel all gross after like I sometimes do when I eat meat (even chicken…weird huh?). I had a jalapeño that needed to be used up, so I created this sweet/spicy marinade to go with the tofu.
Spicy Orange Baked Tofu
Serves 1–2
·    1/2 lb firm tofu, pressed and sliced into triangles
·    1/2 cup fresh orange juice
·    1  T rice wine vinegar
·    1 T soy sauce
·    1 t canola oil
·    1 t teaspoons sesame oil
·    ½ t minced garlic
·    1-inch piece fresh gingerroot, sliced
·    1 green onion, cut into 1-inch strips
·    1 jalapeño pepper cut into strips
Mix together marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
In a plastic baggie or Tupperware container, pour the marinate over the tofu and let sit in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. I made mine in the morning so it sat for about 9 hours!
Bake tofu @ 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, flipping after 15.
I decided to have my tofu with some roasted vegetables because a) I was already using the oven at 400, b) I’m going out of town later this week and I HATE food waste, and c) roasted vegetables are DELICIOUS and good for you! I coated broccoli with olive oil spray and pepper, and stuck them in the oven once it was preheated. I let them cook for 10 minutes before putting in the tofu on the top rack. When I flipped the tofu, I also shook around the veggies to get optimum caramelized yummyness on the veggies.

I was inspired by a Recipezaar recipe that altered a little to reflect what I had on hand, and lower the fat content, like I always do. I realized though, that the end result is similar to my girl Mara’s Orange Tofu that she made awhile back…so I guess tofu-loving minds thing alike?
I ate my dinner with Sriracha, because the marinade wasn’t quite spicy enough for me. As I’ve mentioned on my blog, I like it HOT. Still, the flavors went really well together and since I marinated the tofu all day, the orange/soy/ginger combo could be tasted throughout the entire dish.

Thanks Hallie! It was GREAT having you for a baked tofu dinner, and I’m LOVING the marinade idea!

Adam was the best fiance ever and went to the ONE grocery store in our neighborhood that has Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent coconut milk Ice cream and got me a new pint of chocolate. I’ll be enjoying this in just a moment:

The last hour or so of Sunday night will be, for sure, the relaxation I was hoping for this morning… Please continue to keep Jenna in your thoughts and prayers as her family deals with the loss of her brother.

I hope you all have a stress-free Monday!

Tagged as: Guests for Dinner, tofu, vegetables, vegetarian