I'll be the first to admit I'm not a very experienced cook. I usually avoid cooking whenever I can. However, since I've become a vegan I have found it necessary to cook from time to time (eating frozen veggie dinners every night can get tiring and isn't always healthy), so today I decided to pick up some raw tofu and try out a scrambled tofu recipe. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the recipe with me to the store and forgot about some necessary ingredients. I didn't want to eat a frozen dinner tonight so I decided to look up another tofu recipe. Before I became a vegetarian, teriyaki chicken was one of my favorite meals. I was curious to see if there were any teriyaki tofu recipes out there. The first result that popped up was from the Care2 website. I took a look at it and it looked like it was very easy to make.All that needed to be changed to make it vegan was a simple substitution of agave for honey. I said to myself "why not give it a go?" I'm glad that I did. The recipe was very easy to follow and it turned out great. The only negative thing about it is that it is not a quick dinner. It requires anywhere between 45mins to 2 hours 20 minutes to prepare. The reason it takes so long is that the recipe says to let the uncooked tofu marinate for anywhere between 30mins-2hours. I marinated it for about 1 hr 50 min and then it took about 20 minutes to cook the tofu. If you have the time, letting it marinate for close to 2hrs is worth it because it was delicious in my opinion.
Here is the recipe (original is here:
www.care2.com )
INGREDIENTS
1 pound extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup good-quality tamari or soy sauce (I used regular soy sauce)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated, including peel
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey (I used
agave nectar )
grated rind from juiced lemon, to taste
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular flour)
black pepper to taste
oil for frying
1. Combine tamari, ginger, lemon juice, honey, and lemon rind in a small bowl.
2. Place tofu slices in a single layer in a baking pan and pour marinade over them. Turn to coat. Allow tofu to marinate at least 30 minutes, or up to two hours.
3. Remove tofu and reserve marinade.
4. Combine flour and pepper on a plate. Dip tofu slices in flour mixture, turning to coat.
5. Brown tofu in oil, about 5 minutes per side, adding oil as needed. When all slices are browned, add reserved marinade and simmer 10 minutes.
Here is how it turned out for me:
