Monday, October 1, 2007

Tofu heaven!


My current favorite veggie cookbook is
New Vegetarian by Celia Brooks Brown - I think she, along with Rose Elliott are among the best authors of vegetarian cookbooks. Total aside: Celia's book has one of the best gazpacho recipes I've ever seen, too bad I'll have to wait till warm weather comes around again before I try it out! :)

Sometimes, a noodle dish bursting with flavor and topped with marinated tofu just does the trick. And the New Vegetarian has what seemed like the perfect recipe - egg noodles with glazed green vegetables, topped with teriyaki tofu steaks. I decided to go with a few changes - just soba noodles instead of egg noodles seemed like a good option, 400 calories per serving (that's egg noodles for you!) sounded too heavy for dinner today. Besides, PCC carries some awesome soba noodles that pick up teriyaki flavors really well, we decided it was time to try those again. We ended up cutting the tofu into smaller chunks instead of the giant steak-like slabs since it makes for easier eating with chopsticks :) Also, we had to settle for regular bok choy instead of baby bok choy, and scallions instead of leeks. All close enough to make for a fabulous dish!


The ingredients look marginally exotic, but this was really straightforward and quick to make and a treat to eat :)

Roasted teriyaki tofu chunks with glazed greens and soba noodles

Servings: 2 giant servings

3/4 lb firm tofu cut into 2" long pieces
3-4 shiitake mushrooms

4 pieces of chanterelle mushrooms
8 oz soba noodles


Teriyaki marinade

----------------------------

1/3 cup dark soy sauce

1/3 cup of japanese plum wine

1/2 cup of sake

1 T sugar


Green veggies

---------------------------

1 t safflower oil
3 garlic cloves - sliced

1.5 cups broccoli florets

4 scallions - chopped
3 leaves of bok choy - chopped
2 T fresh fennel

1 t coconut powder (we used this instead of cornstarch for thickening)


Garnish
-----------------

1 T sesame seeds - toasted golden brown
a few snipped chives

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a saucepan and heat till the sugar is dissolved. Add the tofu and mushrooms and simmer for about 15 minutes, turning the tofu every few minutes. Move the tofu into a greased baking pan along with some of the sauce and bake at 425 F for 10-15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the sauce and slice them. Reserve the sauce for later.

Cook the noodles according to instructions - usually 7-9 minutes.


In the meantime, heat the safflower oil in a wok and throw in all the veggies (garlic, broccoli, scallions, bok choy, mushrooms). Saute for a few minutes before adding the fresh fennel. Now toss the reserved sauce and 1/4 cup of water. Simmer covered for a few more minutes. Finally, move the veggies to the side of the wok and add the coconut powder into the sauce and stir quickly before it begins clumping.


Place a nest of noodles on a warm plate, add a bunch of the veggies and sauce, finally top with the tofu pieces (shiny side up :)) and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds'n'chives. Yum!


Ooo ... this might just have to be my entry for Presto Pasta Nights!

10 comments:

Rajitha said...

awesome..i am making this..ur pic is making me drool..i have everything on hand except stuff for the teriyaki (so actually..not everything on hand!) whole-foods here i come....

Finla said...

They looks healthy and delicious

Sia said...

i have not tried cooking soba noodles and ur recipe with tofu has given me a good reason to try this combo. beautiful shots...

Siri said...

I love Tofu and noodles.. and a combo of both wud be heavenly.. nice pics dear..:D

bee said...

what a gorgeous way to cook tofu!! thanks for the recipe.

Suganya said...

I marinade my tofu the same way too. I prefer marinaded tofu to plain ones any day.

Unknown said...

Yummilicious!!!!

Mansi said...

wow, this looks almost like chilli paneer, just that tofu is less fattening:) and teriyaki sauce sounds perfect!!

Ruth Daniels said...

Excellent choice for Presto Pasta Night...or any night for that matter.

I guess I now have a new cookbook to add to my list. Another great vegetarian cookbook is Quick Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin. You have to check her out.

Thanks for playing PPN. I hope to see you there often.

Anonymous said...

hi first timer here...yummy tofus u have got...nice picture!!!