Grilled Tofu with Spicy Peanut-Soy-Ginger Sauce

This has been my go-to recipe for grilled tofu this spring/summer. It's super easy and extremely flexible - I think I've prepared it differently each time I've made it based on what I've had on hand! Adjust and alter to your hearts content...I'm convinced you really can't go wrong with this combination of flavors.

1 block tofu, drained and sliced into 1/2" thick grillable-sized slices
peanut butter
hot water
juice from half a lime
soy sauce
garlic, minced
grated fresh ginger or powdered ginger
cayenne pepper or hot sauce
black pepper
fresh cilantro, chopped


Pat your sliced tofu dry with a clean dish towel to get out any remaining water, drizzle with just a touch of soy sauce, and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together several spoonfuls of peanut butter (I prefer crunchy!) with a tablespoon or two of hot water until the peanut butter kind of dissolves and gets nice and saucy. It's better to start with just a bit of hot water and add more as needed to get the desired consistency. Add to this: the juice from half a lime, several tablespoons of soy sauce, as much minced garlic as you can stand, about a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger or a couple of pinches of the powdered variety, several dashes or pinches of hot sauce or cayenne, a couple grinds of fresh black pepper, and a nice handful of chopped fresh cilantro. Mix well.

Taste and adjust to your preferences! Like things spicy? Add more heat. Prefer it a bit saltier? Add a couple shakes of soy sauce. Want to repel vampires? Up the garlic content. You get the picture.

Get your grill going, oil it up a bit, and spread out your tofu slices. Grill until you have nice grill lines on the bottom side and then flip. Now, brush on a good layer of the sauce on the tops of the tofu slices. When the bottoms are all perfectly grilled, remove tofu from the grill and flip it over onto a plate so the non-saucy side is up. Brush (or pour!) on plenty of the sauce. I like to save a little bit of the sauce so that as I serve the tofu I can drizzle more on each plate to let it mingle with whatever veggies or salad I am serving. Yum.

Tofu-Stuffed Portabellos

Moosewood calls this a "showstopper" -- and it SO is. This is totally our new favorite recipe! We made it with the lemon-ginger noodle recipe that I'm about to post and the combination was fan-tabulous.

for stuffed mushrooms:
1 cake of firm tofu, 16 oz
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup diced canned water chestnuts
1/3 cup minced scallions
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup peanut butter
3-4 tbs light miso (or to taste)
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
4 tsp dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp cayenne
4 portabello mushrooms, about 5 inches in diameter
2 tbs soy sauce

for sweet and sour sauce:
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbs cold water

preheat oven to 350. Oil a baking pan. In a bowl, crumble tofu with your fingers. Add the peppers, water chesnuts, scallions, rice, peanut butter, miso, ginger, 1 tsp sesame oil, cayenne, and 1 tbs soy sauce. Stick your hands in it and mush it all together. set aside.

Twist off mushroom stems and gently rinse caps to remove dirt. place the caps gill-side up on the oiled pan. In a small cup, stir together remaining 3 tsp sesame oil and soy sauce. Brush the mushrooms with the mixture, then mound one-quarter of the filling on each mushrooms. Bake for 35 minutes until mushrooms release juice and filling is firm. While the mushrooms bake, prepare the sweet and sour sauce.

sweet and sour sauce:
In a small saucepan, combine apple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, sugar, and bring to a boil. stir the dissolved corn starch into the boiling sauce; reduce heat and stir for one minute, until sauce thickens. serve hot over mushrooms.

Nutty Garlicky Caramelized Tofu

This is a Priya-and-Lisa re-interpretation of a recipe from 101cookbooks.com. We're pretty sure it would be amazing with blue cheese as a salad topping . . . although honestly, it almost didn't even make it onto our dinner plates, since we ate most of it right out of the pan.

1 carton extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into bite-sized pieces
a couple pinches of fine-grain sea salt
3 medium-large cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup mixture of almonds and walnuts, chopped
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Saute the tofu in large hot skillet (or pot) with olive oil and a bit of salt until golden and slightly crispy. Add the garlic and nuts, and cook for another minute. Stir in sugar. Cook for another couple of minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Carob Tofu Cream Pie

Posted for Eric so that he might impress a girl with his "tofu robotics"...(!)

2 lb soft or medium tofu
1/2 C safflower oil
1/3 C honey
2/3 C roasted carob powder OR cocoa powder
2 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp instant coffee
2/3 C hot water

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large mixing bowl mash tofu and mix with oil, honey, carob or cocoa, corn starch, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Dissolve coffee in hot water and mix with tofu mixture. Blend in blender until smooth (you might have to do this in two batches). Pour into unbaked 9" pie crust and bake for 35 minutes or until crust is done and filling has jelled.

NOTE - This would be totally delicious with any of these add ins: a couple TBSP peanut butter, a couple drops peppermint extract, a shot of frangelico or amaretto, etc...or just leave it as it and top with fresh whipped cream and raspberries! Yum!

Tofu Schnitzel with Peanut Soy Sauce

Vegetarian comfort food: Breaded fried tofu drizzled with a peanut-y, lime-y soy sauce and served with roasted pumpkin slices and sauteed kale with avocado. Yum.



1 package tofu, drained well
4 TBSP flour
2 eggs
3 TBSP soy milk
2/3 C bread crumbs
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
vegetable oil

3 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 C peanut butter
3 TBSP hot water
juice from 1/2 lime
cayenne pepper to taste

Slice drained tofu into 1/2 inch slabs. Set out three shallow bowls: flour in the first, eggs beaten with soy milk in the second, and bread crumbs mixed with all seasonings in the third. Dredge each slice of tofu in flour, then move to the second bowl and dip in egg, then move to the third bowl and coat with breadcrumb mixture. Make sure each slice of tofu gets thoroughly coated on all sides at each stage. (It's a good idea to use a fork to transfer the tofu as fingers quickly become gooey and then tend to pull the coating off.)

In a skillet heat enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When hot, fry the slices of tofu for about five minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk soy sauce, peanut butter, and hot water until combined. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cayenne pepper.

Serve the slices of tofu drizzled with the sauce. I accompanied the tofu with roasted pumpkin (quarter, deseed, and peel the pumpkin, slice thinly, and bake with a little olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper) and kale (saute with red onion and garlic in a little olive oil, remove from heat and top with sliced avocado). Delicious!!

Spicy Fried Tofu

Perhaps my favorite way to cook tofu. The unbelievable flavors in this dish will make even those most adamantly against soy enjoy tofu.

The trick in this dish is to drain the tofu well before you begin cooking to eliminate as much water as possible! If you don't drain it well enough and the pan accumulates a lot of water while the tofu is cooking, use a spoon to remove some of the water and allow the tofu to cook a little longer until all liquid has evaporated and tofu has a chance to brown up before adding the spices.

2 lbs tofu, drained well and diced into 1/2" cubes
vegetable oil
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2-3/4 tsp curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 TBSP soy sauce
1/4-1/3 C nutritional yeast

Heat 2-3 TBSP vegetable oil in a skillet. Add tofu and fry on medium-high heat stirring frequently for 5-10 minutes until tofu is browned. Reduce heat to medium and add tumeric, stirring well until tofu is coated. Next add dill, thyme, salt, basil, cumin, and curry powder, stirring well between each addition. Add garlic (and a little bit more oil if tofu is sticking) and stir again. Increase heat to medium-high and add soy sauce, stirring constantly. Sprinkle on nutritional yeast and stir well, continuing to cook an additional couple minutes until golden.

Serve over brown rice.

Scrambled Tofu

From the amazing www.theppk.com -- look it up if you haven't already :)

Ingredients:
1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped white onion (about a cup)
2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 carrot

spice blend:
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Saute onions 3 minutes, until softened. Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes more. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes more. Add spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the garlic and spices.

Crumble in tofu and mix well. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necesary to keep it from sticking too much. Add lime juice and nutritional yeast and mix it up. If it seems too dry, add a splash or two of water.

Grate the carrot into it and fold. I served this with roasted potatoes (the cute little fingerling kind!! yummy!) and a green salad. Deee-licious.

Spaghetti and Giant Stuffed Baked Tofu Balls

Yes, that's right. The old tofu ball recipe, updated for 2008. Can I just say: These are phenomenal. And if you make them, you will totally impress anyone you serve them to, as they make for a most attractive and aromatic dish.

3 slices stale whole wheat bread
1 C milk
1 package extra firm tofu
1 large egg
1/2 C bread crumbs
3 large mushrooms, finely chopped
3 scallions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely shredded
1/2 C grated parmigiano
splash or 2 of soy sauce
splash of cidar vinegar
salt and pepper
handful fresh parsley, chopped
8 1" cubes of feta cheese
OR
8 baby fresh mozzerella balls
extra virgin olive oil
----
whole wheat spaghetti
----
1 can whole tomatoes, crushed
1 C pesto
salt and pepper
grated parmigiano for garnish



In a shallow bowl, pour milk over torn up bread and let soak until evenly saturated (you may have to stir occasionally). Meanwhile, drain excess water from block of tofu and crumble into a large bowl. To the tofu, add the egg, bread crumbs, mushrooms, scallions, garlic, parmigiano, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and parsley. Squeeze most of the milk from the bread and add bread to the tofu mixture. Using your hands, squish all ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Mold tofu into a giant disk and then divide into 8 even sections.

To form the balls: Take each section and form into a patty (it should resemble a burger). Place a feta cube or mozzerella ball (depending on your mood!) in the center of the patty, and then curl the sides up around the cheese and smooth into an even round shape. Space the eight balls evenly on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in a hot oven (425 degrees) for about 20-25 minutes. (Optional: at the end of the baking time I popped my tray under the broiler for three minutes to get the tops nice and browned...lovely!)

While tofu balls are baking: Cook your spaghetti in salted boiling water for the time specified on the package. Drain and toss with a bit of olive oil to prevent noodles from sticking together. In a skillet over medium heat, simmer the crushed tomatoes with a bit of salt and pepper until fluid is significantly reduced. Just before serving, remove tomatoes from heat and stir in pesto (you can use pesto from a can, or feel free to make your own!!). Serve each plate with a pile of spaghetti, a whole bunch of delicious basil-tomato sauce, and two giant stuffed balls balanced on top. Sprinkle with parmigiano.

Heaven!

Black Bean Sauce (for Stir-Fry)

This sauce adds a twist to the standard stir-fry, and it's good excuse for an excursion to Chinatown!

For stir-fry:
Whatever veggies you like - I used broccoli, eggplant, and zucchini
1 carton of extra-firm tofu

Drain tofu well (pat it dry!) and cut into bite-sized pieces. Fry in a little bit of canola oil till it's browned and crispy on all sides. Cut up veggies and cook however you like; you could stir-fry them as well, or steam them for a few minutes.

For the sauce:

1 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons Chinese fermented black beans (I could only find black bean paste, so I used that instead)
1 tbs vegetable oil

Stir together the water, soy sauce, Sherry, maple syrup, vinegar, and the cornstarch until the cornstarch is evenly suspended.

Heat a tablespoon of veggie oil in a medium-sized pan or pot and stir-fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, less than a minute. Stir the cornstarch mixture and add it to the pan. Whisk the sauce occasionally while bringing it to a boil and simmer 1 minute, until it thickens. Dump in the veggies and tofu and heat for another minute or so.

Serve over brown rice.

Lettuce-Wrapper Tofu

Yummy, and easy if you toss everything in a blender/food processor!

Start with:
1 block of extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled.

For the tofu marinade, combine the following ingredients:
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp dry sherry
2 tsp water
1 tsp soy sauce
dash of pepper

Pour over tofu and stir to coat; let stand for 15 minutes.

Now, prepare cooking sauce:
2 1/3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs dry sherry
2 tbs water
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients and set aside.

Finally -- the real ingredients! All of these need to be minced; you can toss all of them into the food processor.
8 medium-sized mushrooms, minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, minced
1 can bamboo shoots, minced
1 can water chesnuts, minced

To cook:

Stir-fry marinated tofu for about 3 minutes, until hot. Set aside.

Add about 1 tbs of oil to pan and heat. Add ginger, garlic, and onion and cook for about one minute. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chesnuts to pan and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Return tofu to pan. Stir cooking sauce, add to pan, and cook, stirring, until sauce bubbles and thickens.

To serve, you'll need:
about 30 lettuce leaves, washed and drained
hoison sauce
brown rice

Spread each leaf with hoison sauce; add a spoonful of rice and a spoonful of the tofu mixture. Wrap up in a little package and eat!

Miso Soup

8 C water
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 TBSP grated fresh ginger
3 TBSP dried wakame seaweed
1 lb soft tofu, cubed
4 scallions, white and green parts sliced thinly
3 TBSP miso (or more, depending on flavor)
Fistful of buckwheat soba noodles, cooked according to directions on package

Mix garlic, ginger, and seaweed into the water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes until seaweed is tender. Add tofu and scallions and simmer 2 minutes. Remove about one cup of liquid to a small bowl and dissolve miso into the broth. Add back to soup and mix well. Add soba noodles, simmer another 2 minutes, and serve hot.

Laurel's Famous Tofu Balls

Alex requested this recipe, so here is a close approximation. My mom made various versions of these when I was little but never actually measured the ingredients. I've been making them for about four years and of course I've never actually measured the ingredients either, so you might have to futz with the wet/dry proportions a little. Sooooooo delicious as a vegetarian alternative to meat balls on spaghetti. (Just make sure the boys in your life don't eat eight and make themselves sick. For real. Not only are sick boys no fun, but you totally want to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.)

Basic ingredients:
1 package firm tofu
1 medium onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP olive oil
2 large eggs
3/4-1 C bread crumbs
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh/dried basil
salt and pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Magic ingredients:
splash soy sauce
toasted sunflower seeds
chopped walnuts
handful of poppy seeds
sauted diced mushrooms
chopped olives
parmigiano
any other spices that sound good to you

Saute onion and garlic together in the olive oil over medium heat until onion is translucent and fragrant. Drain tofu well and crumble it into a large bowl. Add sauted veggies, eggs, bread crumbs, herbs, and salt and pepper. (Note on the breadcrumbs: if you don't have any lying around, feel free to throw crackers or stale bread into the blender and pulse until crumbled. And for the gluten-free among you, rice crackers work great for this!) Here's the fun part: with your hands, mush and crumble all ingredients together until well mixed. If it feels too wet, add another small handful of bread crumbs. Now, you want to think about adding a magic ingredient or two. These balls are delicious just like this, but everybody likes a little magic, and I've had great success adding various combinations from this list. The walnuts are probably my all-time fave, but add whatever sounds good to you. Of course, if you have a stroke of genius and come up with another amazing ingredient addition, by all means do it and post a note about it. Mix thorougly.

Roll the mixture between your hands in medium chunks to form about a dozen balls. Heat a good amount of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan, and when hot, add half the balls. Allow them to brown on the bottom (usually 4-5 minutes depending on the heat of the oil), before turning to the next side. I think I end up browning them on four sides usually, so they come out of the pan looking a little bit like little pyramids.

Serve over pasta and sauce with plenty of parmigiano sprinkled on top! Yummy!

PS - This is your new favorite recipe.

Tofu-Veggie Saute with Tahini

You should just use whatever combination of veggies you have on hand. Mushrooms, asparagus, chard, carrots...really anything you have in your fridge would be great in this stir fry. Personally, I loved the broccoli, kale, avocado combination. And it's oh-so green and cancer-fighting!

Ingredients:
plenty olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 medium head broccoli, chopped
2-3 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 pound kale, washed well and chopped
3-4 scallions, sliced (white AND green parts)
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1/4 C tahini
splash of cider vinegar
pepper to taste

In a very large pan, saute garlic, tofu, and broccoli in enough olive oil for about 3 or 4 minutes on medium heat. Add soy sauce, stir well. Add kale and 3/4 of the scallions, cover pan and steam for 3 more minutes, or until kale is wilted and broccoli is bright green. Uncover, stir in avocado, tahini, a capful of cider vinegar, and pepper. Mix well. Serve over cous cous or brown rice with the remaining scallions sprinkled on top for eye appeal!

The best tofu burgers EVER

This recipe is adapted from Moosewood . . . it'll make anyone who says they don't like tofu change their minds. (Well, at least it's made my meat-and-potatoes-kinda-guy Dad actually ask me to make tofu). You can also use the mixture to stuff portabello mushrooms.

Serves 4

1 cake firm tofu
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 cup diced onions
1/2 cup peeled and grated carrots
1/2 cup diced bell peppers
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons light miso
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Drain the tofu very well. Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the onions, carrots, peppers, oregano, basil, dill, and sage for about 7 minutes, until the veggie are just tender. Crumble the tofu in a large bowl. Stir in walnuts, bread crumbs, tahini, miso, soy sauce, mustard, and veggies. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and generously oil a baking sheet.

Form the burgers into four patties and place on baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes until burgers are firm and browned. Yummy!

Baked Tofu Sticks

Much more exciting than they sound. Li and I made these Saturday night and they were awesome. I bet you could play with the spices in the bread crumbs (maybe add sesame or poppy seeds?) and get some fantastic flavors.

1 package firm tofu
3 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP rice vinegar (we used cidar)
1 garlic clove, mashed
1 C bread crumbs
2 TBSP parsley
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
3 TBSP flour
6 TBSP cold water

Cut the tofu horizontally into three slices, restack and cut down through them vertically in parallel lines to divide into six sections (you should have 18 little sticks now). Arrange the tofu sticks in a baking dish in a single layer.

Mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic, and drizzle over tofu. Set aside for 30 minutes, turning once after 15 minutes so the sticks can marinate evenly.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray or oil a baking tray.

In a shallow bowl, mix together bread crumbs, parsley, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne. In a separate shallow bowl, whisk together flour and water until smooth. Dip each marinated tofu stick into the flour mixture and then coat well with the seasoned bread crumbs. Arrange breaded sticks on the baking tray so they're not touching and bake for 30 minutes, until crisp and hot.

Serve baked tofu sticks warm with some sort of dipping sauce (Moosewood suggests: 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 TBSP rice vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 TBSP chopped scallions).

Tofu-Potato-Dill Pancakes

A happier protein-filled version of your standard latkes...amazing topped with sour cream and applesauce!

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, shredded
1 package of firm tofu, crumbled
3 tbsp of dill, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of flour
5 tbsp of olive oil
4 tbsp of sour cream
2 scallions, chopped
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of butter

Directions:

Combine the sour cream, butter, potatoes, scallion, egg, tofu, and dill.
Mix the ingredients well, roll and slap them into patties.
Coat the patties with the flour.
Saute the potato-tofu patties in the olive oil.
Brown both sides and sprinkle with lemon juice.
Add salt and pepper to taste.