Last weekend, when I was shopping – while hungry – at the coop, I picked up a tub of fresh tofu. Because yolo tofu. And I had big plans for dinners this week.Figuring out how to use tofu at home was always challenging – quite frankly, plain tofu, straight out of the tub, is as visually unappealing, as, say, raw chicken. It tastes better, though. So the challenge for me was to do something other than forget about it until there was weird mold growing around the edges of the water in the back of the fridge. When I first saw this recipe for “crispy baked tofu” last spring, I was very skeptical. But it was from David Lebovitz, one of my favorite food bloggers, and the author of an ice cream cookbook, so, figuring it couldn’t be that bad, I tried it. This recipe is single handedly responsible for me actually using well-intentioned tofu purchases every time. And you should try it too.
This is my interpretation of it. Start with extra firm tofu, placed in a baking dish, with a small cutting board (or equally hard, flat surface) on top, and weight it down with a heavy, unbreakable object (in this case, olive oil). When it’s good and squashed, and liquid has come out, cut up the tofu. In that same glass pan, add a swig of oil (obviously I used olive oil, since that is what I have) and (if you’re feeling fancy) a splash of sesame oil or other flavorful fat. You can also do this with melted bacon fat, removing all benefits of eating tofu but drastically increasing the likelihood of devout tofu skeptics consuming it.
Coat all the cubes evenly with the oil, and bake at 425 for 15 minutes.
Then flip them all over to crisp up the other side and stick back in the oven for about 10 or 15 more.
Instant lunch prep: tofu cubes, a couple broccoli trees, a blob of peanut butter (about 2 tablespoons), a swig of soy sauce (1 tablespoon) and an optional squirt of sriracha (1.5 teaspoons) or a dash of curry powder, or chili powder. Or don’t.
Toss the broccoli on the top and stick a lid on it. At lunch at work, microwave the whole tub for about 30 seconds and then stir the saucey parts in (the heat will make it much easier to distribute the peanut butter than doing it cold). If it’s still cooler than you’d like, or you want your broccoli a bit more done, another 30 seconds to a minute will suffice. The dinner version of this is the same, but I’d heat the peanut butter, soy sauce and any spices in a saucepan and then lightly cook the broccoli (or other vegetables) in the pan, stirring them into the sauce.
Then, eat.
