This week has just been one endless, mad social calendar…parties, weddings and invites galore, so I was in desperate need of some very healing, very light and absolutely simple healthy food. I’m so glad that it’s my big vegetarian recipe drive this week and so it was the perfect excuse to create a very appropriate dish for the way I am feeling! So, to get back onto track and get my mojo on the go, I’ve rustled up a lovely grilled tofu dish teamed up with bright, fresh greens…I’m already feeling better as I write this!
Tofu is highly celebrated in Far Eastern Asian kitchens and is consistently regarded as a superior source of protein and iron for vegetarians the world over. It’s also known as bean curd and is made from soya milk by coagulating the soya proteins with calcium or magnesium salts. The whey is discarded and the curds are processed. This leave you with a rather bland looking non-descript ‘cube’, that is generally how it appears and sold in most supermarkets.
Yes it has a reputation of having very little flavour, however, this is what actually makes it so attractive to cook with as it’s a true blank canvas that can be lifted with it’s own natural genetic flavours of soy, tamari and warming spices such as ginger and garlic. I also like to cut the saltiness with some sweetness and since all my recipes try and look for a healthier alternative, I’ve used apple sauce here that lends the perfect amount of citrusy-sweetness to this Asian marinade. It’s a beautiful and delicate dish with very few ingredients that showcase how versatile and easy tofu is to cook!
Serves 4
2 blocks of tofu, approx 250gms each, cut into even size cubes
5 tbs tamari OR dark soy sauce
3 tbs of Apple Sauce (shop bought is perfectly fine for this guys – so don’t go mad making home made apple sauce!)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 1×1 inch squares
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
3 cups mixed green vegetables of your choice. (I’ve used broccoli, mangetout, shavings of spring onion and roughly cut pak choi)
2 tbs oil for shallow frying
Pinch of salt for seasoning.
Sweet chilli sauce for serving
- Mix the ginger, garlic, soy (or tamari) sauce , black pepper and apple sauce together .
- Pour the marinade over the tofu cubes and leave to marinade for an hour or two. Don’t worry if you just want to make this instantly – the marinade will still do a great job for adding flavour!
- Take four skewers and thread on a piece of tofu followed by a piece of red pepper. Make 4 skewers, one for each person.
- Heat 2 tbs of oil in a wide pan until very hot but not smoking. (I use my large paella pan as you will need space to cook the vegetables in the same pan)
- Place the skewers in the hot oil and let them sizzle without moving for 2 minutes, before turning and rotating. Repeat this three to four times until the tofu is starting to turn a golden brown and starts to chargrill. This will take 6-7 minutes.
- In the same pan, toss in all the vegetable, stir frying them up quickly. Add a pinch of salt for seasoning. The vegetables should pick up the flavours of the tofu marinade, so no need of any additional seasoning. Fry for 3-4 minutes , ensuring the vegetables still retain their crunch.
- Pile the vegetables on a plate, adding one skewer of tofu per person . Drizzle over some sweet chilli sauce and serve whilst the dish is still hot from the pan.
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