Groovin' in the kitchen, dancin' in Missoula.
There’s a story behind this one. We were all staying at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house while my little sister was being born. Grandma shared that she was making Tuna Bun Boats for dinner. Without hesitation, the four of us declared that we hated them, […]
I’ve been out of town for awhile. I got to spend time with my sisters. All of them. I have four. I only cooked hot breakfast cereal. Everything else was either prepared or paid for by someone else. I saw uncles, aunts, cousins. People that […]
Complete recipe written up neatly at the bottom
I had some time yesterday morning. Because my alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning, and even the thought of going to the gym couldn’t get me out of bed. I was tiiiiiiiirrrrrred.
But then, at exactly 6:15, I decided I was awake and had better get out of bed. My workout was scrubbed for an extra 45 minutes of sleep. Sometimes you just have to give yourself those little indulgences.
So, with all my free time in the morning, I decided to marinate tofu.
This tofu was pressed to remove the extra moisture for about 10 minutes.
Then cubed.
Stuff was thrown in a bag.
And then smooshed to combine.
Tofu was added, and then shaken. Not stirred.
And then I threw the bag in the refrigerator and went to work.
When I came home, I turned the broiler on, covered a cookie sheet in foil, and used my new Misto to spray some olive oil on the foil. (Heehee, I rhymed!)
The tofu had sucked up almost all of the marinade, but I tossed it out onto the cookie sheet and poured the last drops of marinade on top.
Once that was in the oven for a few minutes, I started some quinoa.
About ten minutes later, in between stirring the quinoa, I stirred the tofu around a bit,
It smelled so delicious!
Chopped some vegetables for a salad,
And then all that was left was assembly.
This was so fast and easy. From turning the broiler on to sitting down at the table was about 30 minutes.
Although this tofu wasn’t knock your socks off and “call yo’ mama” good, it was delicious and far moister than my typical (10 minutes) marinated tofu.
So if you have some time tomorrow morning, give it a shot.
Easy tofu marinade:
1 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic (or one whole clove, pressed)
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp five spice powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
Wrap tofu in a towel or paper towel and press under a few plates or cook books for about 10 minutes. Dice into desired shape (cubes or slices) and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a ziplock bag or bowl, whisk or shake to combine. Add tofu, then refrigerate for half an hour or up to 8 hours.
Preheat broiler and cover a cookie sheet with foil. Spray the foil with olive oil or cooking spray, and then spread tofu into a single layer on the cookie sheet.
Remove tofu from the oven when the corners are crispy and the tofu is a nice dark color. Serve over quinoa, rice, couscous, or whatever floats your tofu boat!
My husband and I aren’t speaking right now. Ok, that’s a lie. We’re totally speaking and on great terms, but if we weren’t speaking, it would be because he doesn’t like my balls. That’s a lie too. He doesn’t like Mama Pea’s balls. More specifically, […]
I used to hate mushrooms. (I used to hate a lot of things, apparently.) I would flip if I found an occasional mushroom on my pizza or in a salad. “They’re rubbery, slimy, and gross!” Dude. How could I have been so wrong? The first […]
Ok, so the first post was called Pierogies. I was informed (by Nick) shortly after publishing the post that it’s actually Perogies. Subtle, but different. I swear I looked it up! But, I’m going to go with the “spelling that has been used for three generations of my Polish family.” Three generations, huh? I dig.
Anyway, writing the original gave me a major hankering for p(i)erogies, and Nick will never say no to them, so we went for round two. I won’t go into detail about the process, since you’ve seen it already, but I will show you how to put the dough together. Cause it’s super hard. Or something. 🙂
Put three cups of flour and six eggs into a bowl. Using your very clean hands, mix until “rollable.” (Not too floury, not too sticky. I had to add more flour a few small hand fulls at a time.) I found rolling the dough significantly easier after Nick told me to let the dough rest for a bit. Roll it out thinly, and then cut and assemble. Like so:
I seriously almost didn’t get pictures of the end result again! As soon as they were out of the water, we sat down to eat and I had already gotten one down before I remembered. P(i)erogies are that good, according to me. (And you can trust me, right?) After making everything in one go, I totally understand why this process is drawn out to an all day event on Christmas Eve. They’re simple, but time consuming to put together. But, when you’ve got friends in the kitchen and some grown up hot chocolate, the time goes by pretty quickly.
You could get all sorts of fancy with your fillings, but I really just love these the way they are. No matter how long they take. And no matter how they’re spelled.
I remember that first bite vividly. The whole family was staring at me, waiting with bated breath to see my reaction. This was an extremely important dinner, as it would be the deciding factor in shaping my future. You think I’m kidding, but I was […]