Sometimes you just have to disregard your family’s dietary idiosyncrasies, and cook whatever you’re able to. Tonight was one of those nights. We didn’t have much to make dinner with, despite having spent $380 at Costco over the weekend, and Rose was being a pill about going out to the store. Screw them, I thought to myself, I’m going to make a blatantly healthful vegetarian meal they’re going to have to suck it up for a change. Yeah!
Alas, I love my family too much to be that cruel to them. I gave them a huge pile of week-old prosciutto as a concession.
The meal was an odd mix, and I wouldn’t serve the two main dishes together again, but I liked all the pieces very much. 101 Cookbooks’ Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry was good, even without the kale and tofu. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the baked tofu with miso came out. So much so, that the recipe is below.
• Baked Tofu with Miso Dressing and Peas •
1 package extra firm tofu
vegetable or canola oil
1 cup thawed frozen peas
2 tablespoons white or yellow miso*
1-2 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
4 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
The tofu is from this recipe, and paraphrased here. Wrap the tofu in 4-5 paper towels and press between two plates weighted down with cans or books, for 30 minutes. Replace towels and repeat for another 30 minutes. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and brush with vegetable or canola oil. Cut tofu into 1″ cubes and roll on oiled parchment to coat on all sides. Distribute tofu cubes evenly, on tray, with space between each cube, and bake for about 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
For the sauce, combine miso, sugar and rice vinegar. Whisk in oil until emulsified and then stir in fresh ginger.
Combine cooled tofu, miso sauce and peas and serve.
*I used red miso tonight but I think this dish would be prettier and have a more mellow flavor with white, or yellow miso.
the clawing of the prosciutto made me cackle! wonderful! someday i’ll try the tofu recipe, it’s always good to have good tofu recipes in your back pocket if you did not grow up on the stuff.
Buckwheet, I thought of you when making this meal. No dairy, no nuts! Rare for us.
i especially like how you can just make out Shane’s hand reaching over to stop her from taking the whole mess of it! classic.
the chickpeas look delicious. but i am a sucker for anything with lemons.
sounds totally yummy.