Friday, May 16, 2008

Foooooooooddddd!!

I was told that this is a fantastic restaurant that we should check out. http://www.crystalsunflower.com/

Also, here a few Tofu recipes my co-worker swears by:

"pan seared tofu:
pan sear quarter inch thick slices of firm tofu in olive oil on medium high heat until browned and crispy on both sides. This is your foundation for many firm tofu recipes. If you season with just salt and pepper it works great with a side of vegetables as diet food. You can also top with curries or sauces. You can also prepare tofu this way and use as a meat substitute in pretty much any recipe.

Soy sauce (firm or soft) tofu topping: 4 TBSP light soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, pinch sugar, minced scallions, red pepper flakes (I'm not sure about the measurements but any variation of this is good. You can also do a half and half mixture of soysauce and vinegar with a pinch of sugar and use as a dipping sauce for the pan seared tofu) You can aslo add minced garlic to the soy-sesame sauce, top and layer the seared tofu in a baking seet and bake until garlic is cooked and serve tofu with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

Silken tofu salad:

dice into cubes, let sit in collander for 30 minutes so some of the water drains out. Place in mixing bowl, add jullienned English cucumber, thinly sliced cabbage or lettuce (really thin), alfalfa sprouts, thin slices yellow bell pepper (you can whatever veg but make sure it's mild)

In a mortar crush 2 TBSP of roasted sesame seeds (or maybe just 1) with a TBSP of pinenuts or almonds but pinenuts are better. Transfer that to a small bowl, add equa amounts of light soy, vinegar or rice vinegar and olive oil, pinch sugar to taste and pour over tofu salad just before serving. If you don't drain out the water from the tofu, you will get gross watered down salad. Don't mess this up if u make it..it's my special recipe.

hot spinach and sesame salad:
Take firm tofu and boil it until heated through. put in cheese cloth and mush while draining 75% of the liquid. With this you don't want the tofu too dry but if there's excess moisture it will turn out gross. I think the consistency should be slightlydrier than cottage cheese. boil or sautee spinach and drain/squeeze out all liquid. toss in mixing bowl together, add course salt to taste and sesame oil to taste. I like to serve this with baked salmon and steamed veg or brown rice or just eat by itself for lunch...this is soooo good. "

It appears that we're going to be doing ALOT of real cooking this month. So much for the Foreman. :)