Soy-Ginger Baked Tofu

Tofu can be bland and weird and if you've never cooked with it, it can be quite intimidating. I always tell people to grill tofu first because grilling it really gives it a lot of flavor. But today it is raining and cold and I had this package of tofu calling my name for weeks. I sometimes saute tofu but it just doesn't keep the flavor in like I like so I attempted to bake it today. Here is a step by step recipe for baked tofu and some pointers to help you feel more comfortable attempting your own tofu recipe!

First thing you should know about tofu is that it is a sponge. It soaks up whatever flavor you put on it BUT first you have to squeeze all that water out of the tofu so it can have a chance to soak up your flavor of the week. 

 I drain the tofu, cut it into cubes and place on a paper towel lined hand towel. Fold over the tofu and lightly squish down. I let the tofu stay like this while I'm mixing the marinade.

Ingredients for the marinade:
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced or grated
- 1tsp fresh grated ginger (Side note: I buy ginger root and then freeze it for when I need it!)
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1/4 cup or less of soy sauce
- A pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1tsp honey
- 1tsp canola oil
Mix all of these up in a container that you can easily toss the tofu in.

I use a tupperware container that has a lid so I can (carefully) toss everything together.

Toss and let sit. Toss and let sit. Toss and let sit. The longer you let them sit, the more they will soak up and the better they will taste!

I was impatient today and only let my tofu sit about 15-20 minutes. Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 400 if you haven't already. You can let the tofu marinate while the oven preheats!
Next up, line a pan with foil and coat with non stick spray. Place tofu on pan and bake for 15 minutes. Flip and cook for another 10 minutes. (These times are totally approx. I set a timer for 15 minutes but didn't hear it go off so I just flipped when I smelled the tofu and then let it go for about 8 minutes after that.)
Final product:

Totally delicious little browned soy nuggets. I actually stood over the stove and popped about 10 of these in my mouth in 5 minutes. Lily ate two - cut into four wedges. These are awesome with stir fried veggies and brown rice or tossed into a salad or in a California sandwich!
I had to step away from these before I ate them all. Portion control, Al!

The leftovers. Store in tupperware in the fridge and reheat in the microwave for an easy snack! 

Whatever I have in my Pantry - Bean Soup

This past week I've been fighting a terrible "cold" that finally took me into the doctor (for those that know me, I hardly ever go to the doctor - for myself at least.) I started antibiotics yesterday and thankfully started feeling better within a few hours - hallelujah! I celebrated by making a big pot of soup. There is nothing more comforting to me than a big pot of homemade soup, that and rice. I can eat a big bowl of rice with soy sauce and feel like I've been wrapped in a big blanket - it's a weird comfort food but it's mine! 
So, I started looking around for something that combined both soup and rice one day and happened upon this gem, a Black Bean and Wild Rice Soup. It was delicious and smoky and filling. Since falling in love with that recipe I have made many different versions. I usually tweak it to what I have available. Here is one version of it but believe me, I've made this plenty of times and change almost everything about it and it's still wonderful.

Red Kidney Bean and Rice Soup:
- 1 can tomatoes (I use petite diced because that's what I like. The original recipe does not call for tomatoes so if you don't like them, leave them out - it's still great!)
- 1 can rinsed red kidney beans (or any bean!)
- 3/4 cup rice (I like more rice in my soups but if you don't, leave it at 1/2cup. I've used wild rice mostly but was low on that last night so I used a combination of wild and jasmine rice.)
- Chicken stock (again, can be made with beef or vegetable stock!)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Chopped carrots
- Half chopped onion
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1.5 tsp chili powder
- dash of cayenne
- S&P to taste

Add onion, carrots, garlic in soup pot with about 1T canola oil, saute.

Add spices and rice, stir until well coated. Add tomatoes, stock, and beans. Cover and simmer about 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. Serve immediately.

Lily's bowl. She loves rice and beans! Avocado is a great compliment to this soup too :) 

Garlicky Oven Fries and "Comeback Sauce"

Thanks again to Pinterest we were introduced to these Garlicky Oven Fries tonight with our sloppy joe dinner.
First off, I love that you use a regular ole russet potato with these, something most of us have on hand. Secondly, I love garlic. Third, these look fried and taste super crunchy but they are baked! Love it!
I will be honest though, I messed up the recipe a bit. I didn't add enough potatoes so I had too much other ingredients. It wasn't a huge problem except I could taste the cornstarch a bit. Dennis couldn't, he said these were "picture and blog worthy."
The other mistake I made was to microwave them a teeny bit too long in that they were starting to fall apart when I tossed them with the cornstarch mixture. I was sure I had failed this recipe but no, it's pretty fool proof even with all my "mistakes."
They were packed with flavor, crispy, and all gone by the time dinner was over! I served them with comeback sauce (recipe to follow) but I think next time I'd serve them with sour cream kinda like potato skins! YUM!

Next up is the Comeback Sauce. I made this the other day when I finished a bottle of salsa (so I finally had an empty mason jar to use - Reuse!) I also had to go out and buy some ingredients like chili sauce and such. I did not have onion powder on hand and didn't (ie - forgot) to pick up some so that was left out of my sauce. I'm sure it's great with it, it's great without it too though. This sauce reminds me A LOT of Zaxby's "Zax sauce" for anyone that is familiar with it. I'd like to try it with some "tamer" fries and perhaps on a burger as well to really judge the versatility of it but so far, I like it! And it won't go bad until the mayo does so it's always in there for whenever I need a quick condiment!

Welcome and Jump Right In

I'm not sure yet how to go about this site and would love any feedback anyone would like to give! Would you like full recipes? Links to recipes? Lots of pictures? Step by step pictures?
The reason I wanted to make this besides the fact that I love cooking, is that I also love trying new recipes. But, I also like trying recipes my friends have taken a whirl at. Or a recipe that has plenty of reviews and suggestions. So I thought, I'd try recipes, tweak them if needed, take pictures, enjoy the end products and pass along.
Lately I've been on a new recipe kick with help from pinterest! Some you'll find back on my other blog  but all the news ones will go here.
To start off with, I have a few recipes that I've tried out this past week or two:
1. Broccoli Cheddar Soup

 This soup was decadent and delicious. It was also pretty easy to make and tasted like it came from a bakery! I wouldn't change a thing about it except perhaps try it with some garlic and perhaps diced red bell pepper for a change. Make sure you have some crusty bread on hand! It's a must!

2. Balsamic Glazed Slow Cooker Pork
I made a few changes to this recipe because I did not have any ground sage. I used dried thyme leaves and it did not seem to make a difference. I also, shamelessly, added another clove of garlic 'cause that's just how I roll.
I cooked on low for 8 hours and drizzled the glaze over top. It was amazing awesome - redundant? Nah, not for something this insanely good. It is now in our recipe rotation and something I plan to make for guests next time. Dennis already had plans to make leftover sandwiches before we even finished dinner!
Oh, and LB really liked it! She took one bite and said, "mmm i love it!" Kid approved!
Next time I might add a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes to the glaze to give it a nice kick. I'm not a huge fan of sweet things that should be savory...but it was still awesome.

And lastly,
3. Zucchini Oven Chips

 This pictures needs an explanation. I have no wire rack for any of my pans. I don't even have a cooling rack. Yes, I know, tragic! And I always mean to get one but it's never a priority until I really need it. So I attempted to make my own for this experiment. I think I heard Rachael Ray doing this back in the day before she became famous and got a super weird-scratchy-annoying voice. (sorry RR, it's true. Still love ya!) Results: It worked better than just sitting them flat. Parts of the underside got browned but some were still "raw." Conclusion?: Buy a freaking wire rack. And cooling rack.

Coated with deliciousness

Mmm Browned cheese

I made these as a snack the other day and ended up eating them ALL.
I would add a dash of cayenne pepper. They seemed to lacking that little bit of "oomph" and I would serve it with something to dip. Though they were good on their own (hello, I ate them all!) I just think they could've been taken to the next level with a fun dip. I recently made "comeback sauce" I have not used it yet but will let you know how that goes (and include a link and pictures when I have time!)