Grilled Tofu with Spinach, Grilled Corn, and Mixed Fruit

Dinner tonight was grilled tofu over sauteed spinach with a side of mixed fruit and an ear of grilled corn.

I utilized the George Foreman Grill:


What You Need:
150g tofu
55g of fresh spinach
100g of kiwis
100g of strawberries
60g blueberries
olive oil for spinach
cooking spray for grill

Marinade/Seasoning for tofu:
Bragg's
Lemon Juice
Black Pepper, cracked
Lemon Pepper
.5 clove Garlic, Crushed


What to Do:

1. I froze this tofu. Just put the whole tub in the freezer, when you need to use it either put it in the fridge the day before, or defrost in the microwave on low power. The texture is interesting when it's been frozen. VERY chewy. I think I need to experiment grilling this tofu again with thin slices rather than the usual grilling slabs.

2. Anywho, thaw and drain or just drain your tofu, slice into the appropriate size slabs. Store the extra unused tofu in a large container filled with cold water. Change the water daily and store in the fridge for up to a few days (maybe a week? I'll look into this for a confirmation. I usually use mine up before a week passes.)

3. With your slabs nicely defrosted and drained, season each side evenly with a couple of splashes of Bragg's and lemon juice, a good shake of lemon pepper, and cracked black pepper. Crush some garlic and push the tiny pieces into the tofu on each side, also slather the juices of the garlic all over the tofu. (sounds kind of gross, but it is tasty.)



The thing about freezing the tofu is that once it is thawed and drained, it holds marinades REALLY well. Think about it. All the water freezes and expands inside the tofu, so when it thaws and drains, it becomes very porous and able to soak up liquids much better. I want to try and bake this tofu next time I use it.

4. OK. Tofu set up, plug in the grill and let it warm up. You can slice up the fruit during this time. Place corn in the husk on the grill, cook until grill marks get dark, darker than the photo below:



5. Corn takes a while, 10-20 minutes. Keep husk on to maintain warmth, cover the corn, too. Place tofu on grill, cook 10 minutes. I might cook it even more next time.

6. Right as tofu is almost done, sautée spinach with a little olive oil until desired doneness. I like it when it just starts to wilt.

7. Plate up!

Remove husk and silk from corn, butter and salt, and put in your nifty little corn boat. What? You don't have a corn boat? Then you'll have to just be jealous of mine:



(Ok, so it's a "corn dish" but I've always called them corn boats, so that's that. There is another slightly blurry photo on flickr if you click the pic.)

I put the tofu on top of the spinach, and had the fruit on the same plate. (I eat the kiwi skin, also. Fiber!!!)

Appetizers: Mediterranean Plate

Here is a cute little appetizer layout I did the other day. On the plate: stuffed grape leaves, pita triangles I toasted, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers. In the mini bowls: olive tapenade and hummus.

The stuffed grape leaves, untoasted pitas, hummus and olive tapenade are from Holy Land Bakery in Minneapolis. Actually, they were from one of the many local grocery stores where Holy Land sells their wares.

EDIT:Actually, the stuffed grape leaves were from a can. I forgot about it, haha. They are really tasty but I forgot what brand. They are also fairly cheap for the anount you get. A couple bucks for at least twelve or more.

Another look:


I altered the hummus a lot because it was rather soupy. Since Holy Land makes fresh hummus, every now and then there will be a not so good batch. I took the tub of hummus, added one can of garbanzo beans, a little garlic, some cumin, some red pepper flakes, and olive oil. I blended it all in the Magic Bullet and wound up with some excellent thick hummus.

I toasted the pitas in the toaster oven, then sliced into triangles.

Last look:

Breakfast: Cereal and Coffee

So I didn't exactly stretch my culinary skills on this one, but it was a satisfying breakfast this morning. Optimum Power Cereal from Nature's Path with some plain soymilk.

I also made some fresh coffee. I used Caribou Coffee whole bean French Roast, grinded in the Magic Bullet, and then in my precious French Press:

The Great Pickle Experiment

I love Claussen Dill Pickle Halves. I ate the last one a couple nights ago and got to thinking...could I make pickles from the remaining pickle juice.

I've made homemade pickles before, but I am experimenting to see if I can get anything tasty from the pickle juice itself without adding anything. I sliced up some cucumbers and put them in the juice. We'll see in a few days if anything comes of it.

Cheesy Chik'n Pasta

This was quite tasty, but the cheese sauce definitely needed some butter rather than just oil and soymilk. Everything clumped together into one giant lump and it was difficult to spoon it out. Perhaps it would have gone better if I made the sauce first, then added it to the pasta. Instead, I made it how I would mac and cheese by adding a packet of powder to the pasta in the pot.

What You Need



One Package of Morningstar Chik'n Strips
Angel Hair Pasta, broken at least in half (I used probably 4 ounces or enough for 2-3 servings. Sorry for no measurement.)
Broccoli I used frozen, fresh would be great but different cooking time.
A cheesy sauce. I used a packet of 123'z and Chreese, which is nutritional yeast based and has garlic, onion, etc. flavors in it as well. I'd recommend finding a good "cheese" sauce online, or whenever I get around to actually experimenting with a good recipe here. I need more Nutritional Yeast first.

Olive Oil
Soymilk
Butter of some kind. I was out, and it turned out ok.
Salt & Pepper
Optional: I added some dry basil leaves, dry dill, and red pepper flakes at the end, you can add whatever you like.

1. Start boiling water for pasta.
2. Heat up pan on med-low heat, spray a little oil in pan. Once hot, dump the chik'n strips in pan. Sautée for several minutes.
3. Add broccoli to chik'n.
4. Add pasta, broken in half or smaller, to water.
5. Cook Chik'n and broccoli until chik'n gets browned a bit. Broccoli may be browned as well (bright green but brown in spots because of cooking)
6. Drain and rinse pasta. Put back in pot. Add soymilk, chreese, and olive oil. Stir until desired consistancy.
7. Put chik'n and broccoli into the cheesy pasta, mix thoroughly. EAT.