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!
I’m not very creative when it comes to tofu, I usually just throw it into a stir fry or tofu breakfast scramble…I can’t help that I love these dishes lol
i love tofu!! in fact i had it for dinner tonight! my favorite way to prepare it is simply marinating it and then baking it but this recipe for blackened tofu is fantastic!! i think it tastes like chicken haha
http://www.dailygarnish.com/2012/03/crispy-blackened-tofu.html
I have such a hard time making tofu. It really is hit or miss for me. I fond out recently though that the fresher the tofu the better it is. And my latest recipe attempt was by far my best. I dipped it in blackening seasoning and pan fried it. SO good.
Definitely the firmer the better! Pressing it helps a lot!! Your recipe sounds delish!
I also liked your Facebook page
I have never cooked with tofu either! My favorite dish with tofu in it is Miso soup. I bet it would be great in a veggie stir fry! 🙂
Mmm this looks incredible! I love peanut sauces- they addso much flavor! My favorite way to use tofu is to bake it in little squares until it becomes chewy. Add some Braggs and I’m a very happy person:) I’m also a fan of tofu smoothies- it sounds gross but you can’t taste it and it gives them such a good texture. Gorgeous pics, too!
This looks delicious!!! I love tofu marinated in some BBQ sauce and then broiled so it’s nice and crispy on the outside. Second favorite is in some delicious pad thai 🙂
Yummm that sounds so good!!
I love dry pan frying tofu to give it a chewy-crunchy outside and then top a salad with it.
Ohhh I’ll have to try it that way!
Those gym shorts are so funny! And hilarious that you haven’t cooked w/tofu as a vegetarian but I enjoy tofu and I haven’t cooked w/it either! I’m scared! So winning this giveaway would help me out…my fave way to cook with it, since I don’t, is to order it whenever I can at a restaurant. This recipe looks great!
Haha I don’t know why it intimidates me!!! But it really wasn’t hard at all! (And it’s not like meat, where the consequences of cooking it “wrong” are way worse! haha)
I hadn’t prepared tofu myself for 6years until these past few months!! Now I loveee making it!