Tofuism

This week finally saw winter break... By which I mean that we had a couple of nice days for some long rides. And the air conditioning came on in my house. This NEVER would have happened had I been home. But sometimes, when roommates are left to themselves, things happen differently. He closed the windows, and put on the air. For the record, it did hit 83. But, it is March.
The other day, I put in a little 57 miler over some of the rolling hills to the west. The day did not go as the weatherman planned. It was colder and cloudier than thought. But the sun finally came out. And I took this picture.



Now, I digress. I need to get something off my chest. I went to the store with someone very dear to me, we will not use her name, we will only call her... "mom." I got this person, "mom," to buy tofu. It is lent, that means vegetarian Fridays, etc. But, whatever the reason, it is an awful thing to trick someone into buying tofu to cook it for them, and then leave without touching said tofu. So, this "mom" has a block of tofu. What can be done? Change the water on a regular basis. And...

Salad...


Spinach
Tofu, cut into small 1cm cubes
Citrus (I'm using blood oranges. There are other options like kumquats)
Dressing (oil and vinegar, soy sauce, Ginger, carrots, pepper, and I added some capers). Honestly, it looked better than it tasted.

Stir fry...



Rice in the rice cooker
Tofu, chopped up into 1cm
Spinach or bok Choy
Olive oil
Onions
Carrots
Garlic
Brown sugar... No sugar so I used molasses and a handful of raisins
Chili pepper
Soy or fish sauce.... I had no soy. Mine was fishy, and good.
Vinegar
Almond butter (or peanut butter)... Ah, I skipped that.
Mix the almond butter straight into the rice. Yes, I did skip this, but I also highly recommend it. Then, heat the olive oil and throw the onions and carrots in. Once they have begun to cook, add the garlic and keep the heat low. then mix in the greens (spinach or bok choy) and tofu. Once it begins to wilt, add a small amount of brown sugar, and some vinegar and chili.

Curried Tofu carbonara


Rice noodles (cooking)
Egg
Cilantro
Chopped tofu
Oil
Onion
Garlic
Curry paste
Salt and pepper
Chili pepper
Sauté the onions and garlic and add about a tsp of curry paste. Stir that all together add tofu and a little pasta water.
In a seperate bowl, crack an egg and then add the hot, cooked pasta fresh off the stove and stir. Add the oil and curry paste mixture and continue stirring. Add about 2T of chopped cilantro and some chili powder.
Don't be afraid to add some almond or peanut butter or just nuts.

And, of course, to care for your tofu. Once the package is open, it will go bad very quickly unless you change the water daily, or almost daily.
For a different flavor, change the water with a marinade. Any marinade.