Mara’s Tofu With Mixed Grains

We regularly make the Broiled Tofu recipe from "The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home," using low sodium soy sauce, sesame oil and grapeseed oil for the marinade. We skip the step of pressing the extra-firm tofu and it comes out of the oven crisp and dense with a savory, smoky flavor. Even our picky son loves it. With sauteed kale and brown basmati rice it makes a great weeknight supper.

I was intrigued by this recipe, which sounds delicious, but was not familiar with Bragg's liquid aminos, so looked it up. The Bragg's site gives the 'the Average Nutritional Breakdown per 1/2 Teaspoon as: ... • Natural Sodium 160 mg ...' So 6 Tsp of this ingredient alone amounts to almost 6 grams of sodium, or 1.5 grams per serving, about 50% more than the recommended daily maximum intake. Just be aware if you need to limit sodium. Regular soy sauce is the same, BTW.

I've found that the simplest way to season tofu is to add about 1 tablespoon of Chinese fermented bean curd (functionally the same as Japanese Miso, but a lot cheaper) to the tofu when it is about half- fried, mashing and spreading it so that it seasons the tofu uniformly. Regular vegetable oil can substitute for coconut oil, and halving the amount of oil saves you the trouble of draining the tofu after frying.

The 6 tablespoons are for marinating, so a lot of it would be discarded.

I regularly cook tofu by melting butter and putting ginger or garlic in the butter. Then pour the melted butter over sliced tofu in a baking pan, sprinkle with nutritional yeast and bake until crispy. Sometimes I add a little soy sauce if the butter is unsalted.

Two extras- I learned to freeze fresh ginger as soon as I buy it. So when I need it I take it out, run it under hot water for 10 seconds and grate it directly into the dish I’m making. It is much quicker that way. Also, used sea salt instead of table salt. It was great.

Tried this last night for the first time and really enjoyed it. The tofu crisped up nicely and provided a great salty-sweet contrast to the nuttiness of the rice and quinoa. It also warmed up well as a second-day lunch. We used snow peas, added sesame seeds to the rice mix for a little extra flavor, and finished it off with a squeeze of lime, but otherwise followed the directions as above. For next time, I'd modify the marinade to include a little sesame oil and some fresh grated ginger.

Good God--how in the world are you possibly able to enjoy food and cooking with such an analysis?

"Hippie tofu" as I know it starts with the firmest tofu you can find. Press it in a towel to squeeze out some excess moisture, slice thin or cut into small squares, dip in tamari soy sauce and then dredge in plenty of nutritional yeast- (taking care of excess liquid thereby); sample yeast first to make sure it's not a bitter brand.It should be bright yellow and good tasting. Fry crisp and use ketchup if needed. Some even melt cheese on top.

Second time making: I sautéed some baby kale in the pan used to fry the tofu (1 pkg) and when that was done, fried a few eggs. Then I divvied up the rice, tofu, kale among several low bowls, topped each with a fried egg, and drizzled all lightly with a homemade Sriracha mayo. Delicious—no longer dry and sturdy enough for a meal. The rice/quinoa pilaf only needs 20 minutes; otherwise it’s somewhat mushy. If you stick to the 5 minute marinade time, the tofu is perfectly seasoned. Not too salty.

I made this because it evoked the days before The Silver Palate Cookbook, when Bragg's was a common pantry ingredient, Balsamic vinegar was not, and fried tofu passed as dinner party fare. I made it for meatless Monday, cooking rice and quinoa together in the Instapot for 10 minutes. The tofu does indeed absorb the flavor of the Bragg's and gets salty-sweet and crisp. Cilantro is nice. We all felt wholesomely nourished, but no one is clamoring to add it to the weekly rotation.

Was excited to make this but a huge disappointment and I followed the directions as written.

Since you're draining away the excess after marinating it should come out to somewhat less than that in the final dish.

I'll be honest: I think Samin's recipes are usually great, but this one was a miss.Not a "quick weeknight comfort meal" for me. Frying the tofu meant it was novel & delicious, but it also meant I had a terrible cleanup after dinner and an apartment that smelled like fried coconut. I appreciate the textural contrast but I'd saute it next time, or roast it, and then add another element for textural contrast (toasted sesame seeds & roasted nuts?). "Comfort" was the last thing on my mind eating this

Haven't yet this tried, but for sodium reduction, coconut aminos, gluten free, and a frequent sub for soy sauce, has 90 mg. sodium per tsp.