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Friday, February 13, 2009

Golden Tofu Stack

I came home today with one thing in mind...food.  All of a sudden I just couldn't wait to cook something.  I've been forcing myself to go to the gym right after school, and when I get home, I just don't feel like it.  But not today.  Fridays are nice!  

I stopped at my favorite store, near the school I am teaching at, on the way home.  Picked up some favorites; carob raisins, GoRaw bars, Mint Chocolate Builder bars, some staples; cheapest TVP ever ($0.90 for half a pound), green beans, chard, tofu, and some new stuff;  golden beets, miso soup packets, and my Valentine's Day present to myself:

Can't open it until tomorrow though!  

At the other store I go to (near my college), they have a prepared food bar, and I always get this tofu that they have because it is delicious.  I decided to take a stab at recreating it to go with my beets for dinner.  

Golden Tofu Stack

1 golden beet
1/4 butternut squash
3.5 ounces extra firm tofu
2 tbps maple syrup
1/2 tsp Bragg's/tamari/soy sauce
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 blood orange
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1.  Slice tofu thin, into five pieces, and marinate in maple syrup, soy sauce/Bragg's/tamari, and 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar for at least 30 minutes.
2.  While the tofu is marinating, peel the beets and squash, and cut into rounds, and matchsticking a few of them for garnish (optional).
3.  Set oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with foil, coat with cooking spray.  Arrange the tofu, beets, and squash on the sheet, and spray with cooking spray, and season both sides with salt and pepper (veggies and tofu).  Cook 10 minutes, remove matchsticks, flip the sliced beets, squash, and tofu, and bake 10 more minutes.
4.  Blend the fruit of one blood orange with 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar.  
5.  Stack it all up, drizzle with the blood orange sauce.

Serves 1
Nutrition Information:  256.5 Calories;  5.3g Total Fat;  0.7g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  41.5g Carbohydrates;  7.8g Fiber;  12.8g Protein

I suggest serving it with the beet greens, of course!   

Do you usually buy ingredients with a dish in mind, or buy ingredients, and then come up with a meal?  I bought a whole bunch of stuff at the store, and the whole plan came to me on the way home (again, all that time to think in the car), but I think I usually do it the other way around.      
This was so good, and I was totally thrilled that it tasted almost exactly the same as my favorite salad bar tofu...better even, because I cut it thinner, and it was slightly crispy around the edge.  Totally yum, and I will most definitely be making it again (and again, haha).  

This was also my first time having golden beets.  If you haven't had them, and happen upon them..try them!  Yummy stuff. 

As much as I love my student teaching gig, I am looking forward to a three day weekend, hopefully filled with lots of good food!  Lots of yoga too.  I hope everyone else has a good one! 

11 comments:

  1. Your tofu dish sounds good. I love butternut squash and beets!

    That chocolate bar sounds very interesting, I hope you enjoy it.

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  2. Whoaa, that tofu dish looks TOO good! Great recipe.

    Mmm, enjoy the chocolate!

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  3. Oh yum, that chocolate sounds amazing! I haven't seen that flavor before, but I really love their ginger variety.

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  4. I love the look of that tofu stack. What a creative name! Maple syrup and balsamic sound great together. I think tofu is great for marinades that are both sweet and sour. My standard is tofu marinated in orange marmalade, vinegar and soy sauce.

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  5. I just had golden beets for the first time this week! Really good, right? And I always eat the beet greens :)

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  6. I love golden beets - so buttery and delicious! That dish looks amazing Gina...AMAZING! I always come up with a dish and then buy the ingredients. Explains why I am at the grocery store every other day needing another ingredient. I need to work on coming up with recipes from ingredients I already have on hand!

    Hope you get in lots of yoga this weekend. Enjoy!

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  7. I haven't had that exact chocolate bar, but I've had one from that brand. I'm pretty sure I bought it for the packaging.

    I also bought myself a chocolate bar as my Valentine's Day present to myself. Good thinking!

    The Golden Tofu stack looks delicious! yum!

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  8. Your tofu stack looks amazing! I haven't tried the chile + chocolate mix yet, looks interesting!

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  9. Mmmm... I love the Cocolove bars. Haven't tried the ones with chilie yet though. Awesome gift to yourself! :)

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  10. Hey Gina--
    Just wanted to let you know that I'm totally into your blog. Justin and I are not Vegan, but your food looks awesome and I am definitely going to try some of it. We do try to eat healthy and your recipes look delicious.

    ALSO, I'm psyched to see that you are so into yoga. I had no idea! I noticed that when you can't get to class that you do the yogamazing podcasts. I've tried those before, but they're a little short. If you're ever looking for a pretty intense, full hour podcast, try yoga to the people: http://www.yogatothepeople.com/

    The studio is on St. Mark's Place in the city, and they have a bunch of podcasts you can get on their website or on itunes. Some people complain that it is hard to follow, but if you do a lot of yoga I don't think you'll have a problem. Also the guy is kind of annoying-- I recommend Lara's class (I think it's 6/16/08). Warning: they're BIG on lunges.

    So anyway-- keep up the good work with your cooking, teaching, and blogging. I'm so glad Nick is (sort of) back. I hope to see you soon!

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  11. Thanks everyone! The tofu stack really was yummy, I will definnitely be making the combo again.

    Megan, thanks for stopping by, and thank you soooo much for the yoga suggestion! I never really looked very hard for a yoga sub, but I will definitely be using that one when I need it. The yogamazing podcasts are really short, especially since I am used to a 90 minute class.

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