eatwithclarity.com<\/a>. Sweet, salty and tangy, this recipe is delicious when freshly cooked and hot, and tastes even better cold the next day. The recipe calls for it to be served over rice with steamed broccoli, but I think it would be just as yummy over rice vermicelli noodles. It\u2019s a bit labour intensive \u2013 not baked Alaska intensive, but do set aside about one to one-and-a-half hours to make this dish. It\u2019s not a lunch you can throw together in 10 minutes like say, a PB&J sandwich. But, if you have the time, it\u2019s totally worth the effort.<\/p>\nGARLIC SESAME TOFU<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n
tofu
\n<\/i><\/i>1 tbsp low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
\n<\/b>1 16-ounce block of extra firm tofu
\n<\/b>1 tbsp cornstarch
\n<\/b>3 tbsp breadcrumbs<\/b><\/p>\n
sauce
\n<\/i><\/i>5 cloves garlic, minced (I used only 2)
\n<\/b>1 tbsp oil
\n<\/b>1\/3 cup low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
\n<\/b>2 tsp toasted sesame oil
\n<\/b>2-3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
\n<\/b>1 tbsp rice vinegar
\n<\/b>1 tbsp cornstarch
\n<\/b>4 tbsp water, divided<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n
Preheat oven to 400\u02daF and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.<\/p>\n
Drain excess liquid from tofu by wrapping it in paper towel, placing it on a plate, covering it with another plate and pressing it down with a heavy object on top (I used a cast iron pan). Let it sit for about 30 minutes. Pressing the tofu makes it crispier.<\/p>\n
Cut the pressed tofu into one-inch squares and put the squares in a large bowl. Toss with 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce. Add 1 tbsp cornstarch, then 3 tbsp breadcrumbs (or Panko), until all pieces are evenly coated.<\/p>\n
Put all the tofu squares on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.<\/p>\n
During the final 10 minutes of baking, prepare the sauce.<\/p>\n
Mince the garlic and saut\u00e9 it with 1 tbsp oil in a large non-stick pan for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Be careful not to over cook it or it will become bitter.<\/p>\n
Add in 1\/3 cup tamari or soy sauce, 2 to 3 tbsp honey or maple syrup, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp water and 2 tsp sesame oil.<\/p>\n
In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 tbsp cornstarch and the remaining 2 tbsp of water and then add this to the fry pan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHeat over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until the sauce starts to bubble and thicken.<\/p>\n
When the tofu is done, toss it in with the sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve over rice with steamed broccoli (or rice vermicelli noodles). Enjoy!<\/p>\n
You could likely make this same recipe using slabs of tofu, instead of cubes, essentially turning it into a fake-steak, but you\u2019d still have to cut it so it\u2019s not too thick. Different presentation, similar result, I\u2019m guessing. Don\u2019t quote me on that.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m told you can substitute tofu for all kinds of other proteins in dishes like lasagna, spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken casseroles, etc. That is, unless you have a husband who\u2019s like a police sniffer dog. I tried it once, and Harvey busted me from 10 paces away. Luckily, I got off with a mere warning that time.<\/p>\n
Since we\u2019re on the topic of health foods, if you haven\u2019t already discovered hemp hearts (also called hemp seeds), you\u2019ve got to give these a try. For me, they\u2019re the equivalent of Frank\u2019s Red Hot sauce \u2013 \u201cI put that sh*t on everything.\u201d These little gems are deliciously nutty tasting and packed full of protein, omegas 3 & 6, amino acids and important nutrients like iron, magnesium, fibre and zinc. Plus, they\u2019re gluten-free, vegan, paleo- and keto-friendly. And, if that isn\u2019t enough to convince you, they\u2019re grown in Canada! Oh, and they\u2019re kosher! Manitoba Harvest is a big producer of hemp hearts, and you can buy them practically anywhere.<\/p>\n
These little nuggets of nuttiness are an equal opportunity food \u2013 you can put them on salads and on toasted bagels, in smoothies, sprinkle them on casseroles and cereal, and even eat them straight out of the bag by the spoonful. You can bake with them, cook with them and substitute them for breadcrumbs in some recipes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nManitoba Harvest has an extensive lineup of hemp heart recipes at manitobaharvest.ca\/blogs\/hemp-resource-hub<\/a> and I\u2019ll definitely be trying some of them soon. The point is, I used to sneak these tiny protein warriors into our dinners without my hubby knowing until, one day, he relented and agreed to try a \u201ctest\u201d spoonful (for the first time, or so he thought). Alert the media: he was instantly and completely culinarily hooked!<\/p>\nMoral of the story is this: don\u2019t try to sneak in a known verboten food unless your partner is even slightly flexible in his\/her culinary adventurousness. And, know this: there is absolutely no way to disguise a Brussels sprout. You can pur\u00e9e\u00a0it, hide it in soup, barbeque it and smother it in maple syrup and feta, but it\u2019s still a Brussels sprout. Like Sarah Palin said: \u201cYou can put lipstick on a pig, but it\u2019s still a pig.\u201d I respectfully submit that this is true of that mini cabbage-like vegetable that Harvey wouldn\u2019t eat if it were the last food left in an Israeli bomb shelter. In all fairness, I feel the same way about okra. I\u2019m only human, after all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nShelley Civkin<\/b>, aka the Accidental Balabusta, is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the <\/i>Richmond Review. She\u2019s currently a freelance writer and volunteer.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A tofu dish worth the effort. (photo by Shelley Civkin) As far as my husband Harvey is concerned, tofu is a four-letter word. Spoken only in hushed tones. And for sure not in mixed company. If given a lie detector test and asked if he believed tofu was evil \u2013 as in, unforgivable and heinous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[8729,3584,24217,24216,8302,20085],"class_list":["post-47328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-accidental-balabusta","tag-cooking","tag-hemp-hearts","tag-hemp-seeds","tag-lifestyle","tag-tofu"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}