Spicy Peanut Tofu (+ A Giveaway)
I have a confession.
I’ve been a vegetarian for about 7 years, and I’ve never prepared tofu. (There was that one time when Brett made me dinner, and I watched him cook tofu. Does that count?) I know, I’m a poor excuse for a vegetarian 😉
Thankfully, the awesome folks at Nasoya offered to send me the Spork Foods, Spork-Fed cookbook, and some coupons for tofu, so I could give this a try! (They also gave me some awesome shorts. More on that later.) I flipped through the cookbook, which has tons of vegan recipes. They don’t all use tofu but I wanted to try one of those, because I’m always looking for a new adventure.
I flipped to this recipe with spicy peanut sauce, and since I love all things peanut, I figured this would be a good place to start. I did make some tweaks and substitutions along the way, based on what I had in my kitchen. I don’t keep as many vegan products on hand these days, so I had to get a little creative.
Tofu Satay with a Decadent Peanut Sauce
Based on the recipe from Spork-Fed Cookbook
Tofu Ingredients
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 2 tbsp vinegar (it called for rice, I used regular)
- 1 tbsp natural tasting high heat oil, plus 2 tablespoons (I used coconut)
- 1 tbsp palm sugar (I used plain granulated sugar)
- 2 tbsp tamari (I omitted this)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp finely ground pepper
Peanut Sauce ingredients
(I changed this a lot, so it’s not quite like the original!)
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 almond milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp red pepper flakes
First things first, you have to press your tofu. I just put mine on a plate, and stacked another plate on top of the tofu, and topped with some heavy books. After an hour or so, it was good to go! I sliced it into 8 triangles. Then I mixed together the next 6 ingredients, and marinated the tofu in that for about an hour. While that was marinating, I mixed together the peanut sauce.
I just grilled the tofu on my George Foreman for about 3 minutes. You could also use a grill pan (or a regular grill) but I didn’t have either of those, so George did just fine! I had the peanut sauce on the side for dipping, and ate this with some mix veggies stir fried in soy sauce.
And now, you have a chance to win some goodies of your own!
One lucky reader will win:
- A copy of the Spork Fed cookbook
- (5) Coupons for one free Nasoya tofu product
- A pair of Tofu U gym shorts; (Tofu U is Nasoya’s online tofu college teaching users how to press, prep and cook tofu)
To win, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite way to use or cook with tofu! [If you have a link to a favorite recipe, I’d love to see those, too.]
You can get a bonus entry for liking my Facebook page! (Just let me another comment so I know that you did!) The winner will be announced on Friday!
Holy yum this looks good! I love making my own marinades for tofu I definitely have to try this!
can’t believe you never had tofu before! guess we all have our go to foods!
this recipe has become a favorite of mine this summer: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/07/grilled-tofu-with-blueberry-peach-salsa.html
also i was always feeling ridiculous pressing tofu with a bunch of paper towels and textbooks – this sucker has cut down on all that! http://www.tofuxpress.com/
Hahaha I was totally doing the paper towel book method 😉 Maybe I should invest in one of those presses! Thanks for sharing the link!
I like putting it in stirfry. Lots of veggies + tofu + Braggs/soy sauce + ginger + nutritional yeast and garlic. So yummy!
I just discovered the awesome deliciousness of Braggs, so I’m definitely going to have to work that into these recipes!
This recipe sounds so good, and so simple! I already have everything to make it in my kitchen!
I don’t cook with tofu a lot, but when I do, I like to slice it up and bake it.
I love all pretty much any dish that has peanut butter involved so I’m sure I would love this.
I really like marinating the herbed Twin Oaks tofu in a tamari, garlic and ginger sauce and using it in collard wraps. Amazing!
I keep hearing that Twin Oaks is awesome! I’m definitely going to have to try it 🙂
Sounds like a great recipe! I haven’t eaten meat for about 15 years, but I’d never tried tofu until very recently. We don’t have access to lots of tofu variety in the UK so the one we tried was pretty soggy, but hopefully I’ll try again and find a better one
Yum! This recipe looks delicious. I’ve been on a peanut sauce kick lately but haven’t made a homemade version yet. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Lately I’ve been marinating my tofu in TJ’s Island Soyaki Sauce and then grilling it on my George Foreman. It’s SO delicious. If you’ve never tried that sauce, I highly recommend it. (:
I haven’t tried it!! I’ll definitely add it to my TJ’s list though 🙂 I swear, every time I go in there, I end up with a cart full of new (and awesome) things!
I like to roast tofu cubes with the sesame vinaigrette from Trader Joe’s….it’s seriously awesome!
Ohhh I haven’t tried that dressing yet!! I love the pear champagne vinaigrette one though!
I was also a tofu virgin until very recently and now i’m addicted. I found it hard to narrow done my favourite tofu recipes to just one so i picked 2 instead.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10769/singapore-noodles-with-tofu
-i some times get lazy and just add a simply tomato sauce.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/588637/soba-noodle-and-edamame-salad-with-grilled-tofu
-i use a green pepper if we have no cucumber
I have to admit i’m not a huge fan of peanut butter but i think i will give this recipe a go as it looks amazing.
Thank you for sharing those recipes!!! I’m always looking for new things to try 🙂