I know what you ate last Wednesday

*note* I wrote this in advance of Wednesday and then completely forgot to post it Wednesday or Thursday. Silly Spidergrrl. But if we are going to actually have What We Ate Wednesday posts then I need to get more organized. Just saying.

 

This tofu dish really hit the spot. Freezing water packed tofu and then defrosting it means it changes texture and becomes spongier and is easier to squeeze the excess water out so that more marinade can go in. Lovely jubley. I also marinated the tofu for 24 hours which really made a difference. 

 

The recipe is based on the Citrus Tahini Bowl  from my new favourite cookbook Isa Does It  by the amazing and super cool Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She suggested serving it with quinoa and steamed bok choy and fresh orange segments.

 

Problem one-we don’t have any bok choy and even if we did, we don’t like it terribly much. But we did have some baby spinach so we decided to use that in a salad-y format.

 

Problem two: I have never been able to do that thing where you peel an orange and then cut around the curve of the orange and take off the pith. My late mother- in- law was a whiz at it, mine just end up squished and horrible and look like they’ve been through the garbage disposal. Problem solved by using some tinned mandarin oranges which were a favourite from my childhood.

 

Our version of Isa’s Citrus Tahini Bowl

 To marinate the tofu--freeze overnight, defrost overnight in fridge then gently press all the water out and cut into triangles.

Mmmm...marinade

Marinade:

½ cup orange juice (I used the juice that came in the mandarin orange tin)

3 TB lime juice

1 TB Lingham’s chilli garlic sauce

1TB agave syrup

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

3 large cloves garlic cut into big chunks

Thumb size piece of gingerroot cut into big chunks

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

 

Marinate over night. Lots of overnights, I know. Just do it.

 

In the oven roast 1 cubed sweet potato, 1 chopped onion and 1 red pepper in 1 TB oil at 200C/400F for 30 minutes, stir half way.

 Cook quinoa in a pot while you pan fry the drained tofu until browned on both sides. RESERVE THE MARINADE! And then add the marinade to the blender with ¼ cup tahini and blend until creamy. This is what looks like gravy in the photo but was actually a lovely creamy, tangy, zesty dressing.

 

Serve the pan fried tofu with quinoa, roasted veg and a spinach salad topped with mandarin oranges. Drizzle the citrus tahini sauce liberally and say YUM!

The good thing about tofu is that you can reuse the marinade without the fear of e-coli bacteria like you have to worry about with chicken.

 

Now go and make it yourself!