Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Clean Eating #99: Baked Carmelized Tofu

Baked Carmelized Tofu



I follow Tosca Reno's facebook page "The Eat Clean Diet" and the day after I bought a big bulk package of tofu, she posted a link to THIS recipe by Jessess.  Sounded delicious....

My 10 year old daughter made the marinade for me, it was super simple.  I just replaced half of the Sesame oil with coconut oil because we really don't care for super strong sesame oil taste and replaced the Cayenne pepper because we didn't have any.  We also ended up doubling the marinade recipe because I couldn't figure out anyway to get enough marinade to cover the tofu, since I sliced it really thin.  I then used the extra to make a stir fry sauce for veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1 pckg Lite Firm Tofu
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chili Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
  • 2 tbsp melted Coconut Oil
  • 4 tbsp Dark Agave Nectar
  • 4 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 3 tbsp Ginger; grated
  • 3 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425F.

Remove tofu from packaging, press between a clean hand towel for a minute or two to remove the excess moisture.  I left mine sitting between clean hand towels for a few minutes while I did other things.  Slice into thin slices (we're new to tofu, so I knew it would go over better with my kids if it was sliced thin enough to get around the texture).

In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the tofu.  
Pour a little marinade into a shallow pan, top with single layer of tofu, then pour enough marinade to cover the tofu.

Let tofu soak for 5-10 minutes.

Place tofu slices on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Spoon additional mixture onto each tofu slice. Add additional grated ginger onto each tofu slice (one side).

Bake for 10 minutes.

Turn tofu slices over onto other side, spoon additional mixture onto each tofu slice. Sprinkle that side with sesame seeds.  Bake until that side starts to brown and the marinade is carmelized.
Remove from oven and serve with stir fry veggies or broccoli.  YUM!!

The Verdict:  OMG, this was SO good.  I burned some of the edge pieces, so I need to watch my cooking time next time (I edited the cooking time above) because I cut them thin, but I'm really glad I did, because the texture that squicks the kids out was MUCH less noticeable.  The carmelized marinade made this dish SO awesome.  I'm experimenting with making a stir fry sauce similar to this marinade... I'll let you know how it turns out.