Heavenly baked tofu & stir-fried green beans

I’ve discovered a new love. Baked tofu. Yes, you heard me right. With proper preparation and marinating baked tofu is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Heavenly little morsels.

In the 22+ years I’ve been cooking unsupervised, I’ve rarely attempted tofu. I was intimidated. I thought my family would hate it. I had no idea what to do with it. I did have a little success adding it to fried rice and it would be like scrambled eggs in it, but frankly, it wasn’t any different from egg and egg was always on hand.

Now that I’m mostly cooking for just me, I wanted to try again. The January/February Vegetarian Times had an article called “The Ultimate Guide to Tofu” that provided the inspiration – and how to basics – I needed.

Finished product - so, so good.

Ingredients

• 16 oz. package firm or extra firm tofu
• ¼ cup soy sauce or coconut aminos or combo
• ¼ cup water
• 1 in. fresh ginger – finely grated
• 1-2 tbsp. fresh snipped cilantro (optional)
• Pinch or 2 red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. tamarind paste
• ½ tsp. agave
• 1 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. avocado oil
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1-2 tsp. sesame seeds, divided
• 1.5 tbsp. coconut oil
• Couple big handfuls fresh green beans
• 2-3 more cloves garlic – minced

Instructions

Remove tofu from package and drain water. Wrap tofu in tea towel or paper towels, place on a plate to drain, and put something heavy on top (like a cast iron skillet, canned foods, heavy pot.) Let drain for 30-60 minutes. I went for a run and then made the marinade during this time. You can do whatever you want. I kinda pressed down a bit right at the end to get out excess moisture.

Wisk ingredients from garlic through avocado oil together to form the marinade.

Slice tofu into strips or cubes. I cubed mine. Well, actually they were rectangularish and about 1”x1.5”. Place in shallow dish in a single layer. Pour marinade over tofu. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 min. and up to 24 hours.

Remove tofu from marinade, reserving marinade, and place in a single layer on baking sheet. (I lined mine with a silicone mat.) Using a fine mesh sieve, sift half of cornstarch over tofu. Flip pieces over and sift other half over other side. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. sesame seeds. Bake at 375 for 30-40 min., turning once after about 15-20 min.

Toward the end of baking, add coconut oil to skillet or wok over medium to medium high heat. Add additional 2-3 minced garlic cloves. When fragrant (less than a minute) add the green beans and stir to coat with garlic and oil. Cook 3-5 min. Add reserved marinade to green beans, reduce heat to medium low, and stir to coat. Continue cooking a few minutes more until heated and slightly thickened.

You can either add the tofu pieces to the green beans or serve on top. I like to keep them separate so that leftovers don’t get soggy. Serve over rice, quinoa, or something else or just as is and sprinkle with remaining sesame seeds.

I made this again a short time later with asparagus and broccoli instead of green beans. Use whatever veggies you have on hand and just adjust cooking time accordingly. There are also many, many marinade possibilities.

In this moment, I’m inspired to do things I’ve always wanted to do but found a million excuses not to do. I hope you do something just for you. And maybe some of that will end up on your table, too.