Thursday, January 7, 2016

Tofu in Peanut Sauce (vegan, gluten-free)

Tofu in Peanut Sauce - All natural homemade peanut sauce on crispy extra-firm #tofu cubes. A delicious, healthy meal on the table in under 30 minutes! #vegan #glutenfree #healthy #recipes #vegetarian

Tofu is one of my favourite foods. Are you nodding your head up and down right now in agreement or shaking it side to side as in, "You're crazy sweetheart!" I hope it's the first, but if it's the latter, let's address your feelings about tofu right now. If people don't like tofu, it often stems from one of two things - they haven't tried it and it looks plain and unappealing or they have tried it but their first experience with it was of blandly cooked soft tofu.

While tofu is plain on its own, the wonderful thing about it is that it takes on other flavours beautifully. And YOU MUST start off with extra-firm tofu. It's a much kinder introduction to tofu than soft tofu. Extra-firm is amazing cut up in cubes for a stirfry or cut into triangles and baked in a teriyaki garlic sauce!



We had tofu in peanut sauce served on bok choy at our friend/cousin Rose's house recently. Remember she also inspired these Coconut Date Brownie Bites? (Yes it was a yum-worthy day!) My husband really likes peanut sauce so I decided to create a peanut sauce of my own using all-natural (just peanuts) peanut butter.


I started by pressing a block of extra-firm tofu with my fancy tofu press, above. Yep, that's tofu wrapped in a tea towel with a plate and a flour bin on top. Whatever works, right? Hardcover books come in handy for this purpose too.


While the tofu pressed, I worked on the peanut sauce. Super easy to make, as all peanut sauces should be. Into the food processor go the ingredients - natural peanut butter, garlic, ginger, fresh lime juice, sesame oil, Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce) and water. Process it all until smooth and you have yourself a quick, fresh and healthier homemade peanut sauce.


Cut the pressed tofu into cubes, saute in a little olive oil until browned and stir in the peanut sauce. Dinner done in under 30 minutes! If you want to serve the Tofu in Peanut Sauce on baby bok choy as I did, you simply saute the baby bok choy leaves in a bit of olive oil in another pan while you're cooking the tofu.


The peanut sauce smells amazing and it hugs the tofu nicely in a robe of peanutty deliciousness. If you want your peanut sauce to be more smooth (less chunky), remove the tofu from the heat for a bit before stirring in the sauce.

So...lover of tofu or tofu hater? Will you try this recipe and give tofu a chance?


Tofu in Peanut Sauce



by Joann MacDonald
Keywords: vegan gluten-free tofu
Ingredients (serves 4)
  • 350g extra-firm tofu
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4-5 baby bok choy, broken into leaves and washed
For the Peanut Sauce
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp ginger paste or fresh minced ginger
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup water
Instructions

Press tofu to remove liquid. If you don't have a tofu press, wrap tofu in a clean dish towel and place on top of a cutting board. Put a plate on top and weigh the plate down with books or a flour bin or whatever you have handy. Leave the tofu to press while you prepare the peanut sauce.

For the Peanut Sauce
Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until combined. Put aside.

Prepare the tofu
Cut the tofu into 3/4-inch cubes. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium pan. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cook over medium-high, stirring regularly, until browned, about 5-7 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and stir in peanut sauce, just until warmed (less than a minute).

Prepare the bok choy
While the tofu cooks, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Add bok choy. Sprinkle with salt. Cook over medium-high heat until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes.
Put bok choy on a serving platter or individual plates and spoon tofu mixture on top. Serve warm.

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4 comments:

  1. Looks yummy Jo, but I'd say your lentils and rice are still my fav though :)

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  2. Just made this for dinner! Delicious! I added roasted sweet potatoes and mushrooms, but the sauce was awesome! I'm excited for my leftovers tomorrow! Thanks!

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    1. Renee, I'm so excited to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks soooo much for letting me know. And sweet potatoes and mushrooms sound amazing. Enjoy your leftovers! :)

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