Two Tofu Attempts

S and I have become avid readers of a food blog called IowaGirlEats. Iowa Girl often cooks tofu, a product I have very little experience with. Other than my occasional Chinese food order of 'Tofu with Mixed Vegetables," I'm clueless. But Iowa Girl made it look so easy, and has talked up it's health benefits so much, that I thought I'd give tofu a try in the kitchen.

First try: Baking Tofu

I followed Iowa Girl's recipe pretty closely. I cubed some extra firm tofu and mixed it with soy sauce, agave nectar, garlic powder, along with a dash of rice vinegar and a dash of a teriyaki marinade I had leftover in the fridge. I did leave out the recommended sesame oil though, as I didn't have any...Then pop in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I made a stir fry sauce with equal splashes water and soy sauce, a dash of rice vinegar, a generous scoop of chopped garlic, 1 tbsp peanut butter and some shakes of red pepper flakes. I poured the sauce over some spinach and mushrooms in a saute pan, and started broccoli steaming in another pot.

About 15 minutes into baking, something seems to be burning. My tofu cubes have blackened on the bottom of the pan and remain soft and sponge-like everywhere else. Maybe this could have been avoided with the sesame oil? I don't know...but I took them out of the oven and scraped them into the saute pan anyway.

Next, add the broccoli.

And then some freshly-steamed rice. Stir and serve.

So the flavor of this dish was great, and I felt very healthy while eating it. However, the tofu was kind of a bust. I wanted my tofu crispy without the downside of frying, which definitely didn't happen.

Second try: Sauteing Tofu

So the very next day I still had half a block of tofu and a fridge full of veggies left. So I gave tofu another chance. I followed the same exact recipe except I just sauteed the tofu cubes in the sauce instead of the whole bakingfiasco. Everything came out about the same - no crispiness, but at least my cooking time was reduced. Also, I used rice sticks instead of plain rice.

I found these in the Asian section of my grocery store. Pretty delicious, actually!

The sticks only need to boil for about 2-3 minutes, and then get tossed into the pan:

So will I be trying tofu again? Probably not anytime soon. First, my tofu tries were made when my husband was out of town...I don't think I could get him to eat tofu anywhere, much less my soggy attempts. Second, I think I only really like tofu when it's crispy and fried...and frying tofu seems to defeat the purpose of eating healthy. Oh well...I would definitely recommend the sauce and the rice sticks though :)

Next up: Chicken Curry Masala. Now this dish was a success!

--R