Tofu Triangles in Thai-style Peanut Sauce with Quinoa
Vegans and gluten-free folk get a pretty bad reputation. I merrily contribute to that horrid reputation, only partially because I am, in fact, a horrid person. Mostly, though, it's because vegan food can be so, so bad. Low in good flavors, high in bad flavors, does weird things to your digestive system, doesn't make you feel full, etc.
I'm struggling to believe that this recipe is both vegan and gluten-free (for all that I made it and KNOW it is both of these things) because it is so, so not what I normally associate with the word "vegan." It's flavorful, has great textures, it left me feeling full (even after a 23-mile bike-ride), and it wasn't overly expensive or a pain in the ass to make. Qualify that: I made this meal in under an hour while half asleep and not trying to rush. Didn't eat it fresh, packaged it up, microwaved it to heat it up after said bike-ride. AND IT'S STILL AMAZING AND DELICIOUS. That's some skill, there. Mad props.
Oh wait, I just gave myself mad props. I ACCEPT.
(Pair it with a nice crisp, light beer, and you've got a real treat. :D)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water, brought to a boil in a saucepan
1 cup quinoa, well-rinsed
1ish lb extra firm tofu, patted dry (if you can only find something dumb like 20 oz or 14 oz, that's fine)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (you can use smooth if you want, but it's not as good)
2 1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 tbsp minced garlic (or, uh, like 2-3 cloves? idek)
2 shakes red pepper flakes
Uhh ... black pepper "to taste." For me, this meant I ground fresh black pepper into it while ranting and stopped when I ran out of rant.
1 bag fresh greens (I've used both baby spinach and kale mix, and both were delicious)
Instructions (please don't mind the bolding, it's for the sake of my brain's inability to scan efficiently)
- Put 2 1/2 cups water into a saucepan and set it on the stove to come to a boil. I used a medium saucepan, but I think the small one would have worked just fine.
- Preheat oven to 400*F. This is terribly convenient if you plan to make cornbread muffins at the same time, since they bake at 400* as well. No, cornbread muffins do not go with this meal.
- While the oven is preheating, drain and pat your tofu. This should use one of the small pieces of paper towel, the ones that are rectangular, not square.
- Slice the tofu so that it is 1/4" thick. This should give you slabs that are ~2"x4"x1/4", if that helps you pick out which side to start slicing.
- Cut each slice of tofu in half so that you now have a bunch of squares.
- Arrange the squares on a baking sheet covered in either parchment paper or that neato silicon baking sheet your mommy gave you for Christmas because she loves you. The squares shouldn't be touching, but they can be really close. They'll shrink a bit as they bake.
- Your water is probably boiling by now. Put your well-rinsed quinoa into it and set a timer for 20 minutes. Stir the quinoa occasionally during those 20 minutes or it'll burn to the bottom of the pan, probably.
- Once the oven is preheated (I'm guessing it is by now) put the tofu into it for 10 minutes.
- Turn the squares of tofu after 10 minutes and bake them on the other side for 10 minutes (total of 20 minutes)
- While you're waiting for your tofu to bake and your quinoa to cook, make the peanut sauce, like so:
- Put 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter and 2 1/2 tbsp honey into a small mixing bowl.
- Add a small amount of the water and work it into the peanut butter/honey until they're combined. Be patient, this first addition of water is the worst.
- Add more of the water, make it play nice with the peanut butter/honey.
- Once all the water's integrated, add the soy sauce, lime juice, and garlic, stirring until it's all combined.
- Add the pepper flakes and black pepper; stir until combined.
- Dump that entire mess into a pan, which you will set over medium-high heat. I usually use my big skillet for this, but since it was in the oven smoking like a bad 70s porno, I used a medium omelette pan instead, and it worked just fine, so don't think too hard about anything.
- Once the sauce starts to bubble a bit and thicken - and I should mention here that it will thicken and burn pretty easily, so stir it frequently - dump in the greens. Do this in maybe 3 stages, since the greens will be uppity until they've wilted down.
- Once the greens are wilted nicely into the sauce (this part will take only a few minutes) and the sauce has thickened some, pour it back into the mixing bowl in which you mixed it originally.
- Take the tofu squares out of the oven (once they're baked - they should be a nice golden brown).
- Cut them diagonally to make pretty little triangles.
- Serve the quinoa into four bowls (once it's cooked).
- Divide the sauce into those four bowls.
- Top with triangles.
I assume this is really good when it's first put together, but haven't tried it yet. Mine was served, then sat in the 'fridge for ~4 hours before I microwaved it and ate it. It was phenomenal like that, so I'm guessing it's good fresh as well? Try it and let me know (or wait a bit and I'll try it m'self).
Enjoy!
I'm struggling to believe that this recipe is both vegan and gluten-free (for all that I made it and KNOW it is both of these things) because it is so, so not what I normally associate with the word "vegan." It's flavorful, has great textures, it left me feeling full (even after a 23-mile bike-ride), and it wasn't overly expensive or a pain in the ass to make. Qualify that: I made this meal in under an hour while half asleep and not trying to rush. Didn't eat it fresh, packaged it up, microwaved it to heat it up after said bike-ride. AND IT'S STILL AMAZING AND DELICIOUS. That's some skill, there. Mad props.
Oh wait, I just gave myself mad props. I ACCEPT.
(Pair it with a nice crisp, light beer, and you've got a real treat. :D)
Tofu Triangles in Thai-style Peanut Sauce with Quinoa
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water, brought to a boil in a saucepan
1 cup quinoa, well-rinsed
1ish lb extra firm tofu, patted dry (if you can only find something dumb like 20 oz or 14 oz, that's fine)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (you can use smooth if you want, but it's not as good)
2 1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 tbsp minced garlic (or, uh, like 2-3 cloves? idek)
2 shakes red pepper flakes
Uhh ... black pepper "to taste." For me, this meant I ground fresh black pepper into it while ranting and stopped when I ran out of rant.
1 bag fresh greens (I've used both baby spinach and kale mix, and both were delicious)
Instructions (please don't mind the bolding, it's for the sake of my brain's inability to scan efficiently)
- Put 2 1/2 cups water into a saucepan and set it on the stove to come to a boil. I used a medium saucepan, but I think the small one would have worked just fine.
- Preheat oven to 400*F. This is terribly convenient if you plan to make cornbread muffins at the same time, since they bake at 400* as well. No, cornbread muffins do not go with this meal.
- While the oven is preheating, drain and pat your tofu. This should use one of the small pieces of paper towel, the ones that are rectangular, not square.
- Slice the tofu so that it is 1/4" thick. This should give you slabs that are ~2"x4"x1/4", if that helps you pick out which side to start slicing.
- Cut each slice of tofu in half so that you now have a bunch of squares.
- Arrange the squares on a baking sheet covered in either parchment paper or that neato silicon baking sheet your mommy gave you for Christmas because she loves you. The squares shouldn't be touching, but they can be really close. They'll shrink a bit as they bake.
- Your water is probably boiling by now. Put your well-rinsed quinoa into it and set a timer for 20 minutes. Stir the quinoa occasionally during those 20 minutes or it'll burn to the bottom of the pan, probably.
- Once the oven is preheated (I'm guessing it is by now) put the tofu into it for 10 minutes.
- Turn the squares of tofu after 10 minutes and bake them on the other side for 10 minutes (total of 20 minutes)
- While you're waiting for your tofu to bake and your quinoa to cook, make the peanut sauce, like so:
- Put 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter and 2 1/2 tbsp honey into a small mixing bowl.
- Add a small amount of the water and work it into the peanut butter/honey until they're combined. Be patient, this first addition of water is the worst.
- Add more of the water, make it play nice with the peanut butter/honey.
- Once all the water's integrated, add the soy sauce, lime juice, and garlic, stirring until it's all combined.
- Add the pepper flakes and black pepper; stir until combined.
- Dump that entire mess into a pan, which you will set over medium-high heat. I usually use my big skillet for this, but since it was in the oven smoking like a bad 70s porno, I used a medium omelette pan instead, and it worked just fine, so don't think too hard about anything.
- Once the sauce starts to bubble a bit and thicken - and I should mention here that it will thicken and burn pretty easily, so stir it frequently - dump in the greens. Do this in maybe 3 stages, since the greens will be uppity until they've wilted down.
- Once the greens are wilted nicely into the sauce (this part will take only a few minutes) and the sauce has thickened some, pour it back into the mixing bowl in which you mixed it originally.
- Take the tofu squares out of the oven (once they're baked - they should be a nice golden brown).
- Cut them diagonally to make pretty little triangles.
- Serve the quinoa into four bowls (once it's cooked).
- Divide the sauce into those four bowls.
- Top with triangles.
I assume this is really good when it's first put together, but haven't tried it yet. Mine was served, then sat in the 'fridge for ~4 hours before I microwaved it and ate it. It was phenomenal like that, so I'm guessing it's good fresh as well? Try it and let me know (or wait a bit and I'll try it m'self).
Enjoy!
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