“You eat vegetarian?’

“What the heck do you feed your kids?”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked those questions when other Moms find out we are a mostly vegetarian family. And by mostly vegetarian I mean we were strictly vegan for about a year, and then when I was pregnant I slowly started integrating dairy and seafood into my diet. My husband would often eat meat when we went to restaurants as he couldn’t stand the standard veggie burger or pasta options on the menu. Now that both kids are starting to have more opinions about food and are going through food phases, we integrate free range chicken and pork into our meals one or two nights a week (because some nights it boils down to if they will eat it, then cook it, right???). But, I still have quite a few vegan & vegetarian recipes in my back pocket that are family favourites which generally make the meal rotation at least once a week. Since I’m often asked the question, I thought I’d start to share a few of our favourite recipes here.

One of those recipes is crispy tofu. Ok, if you aren’t a tofu lover please hang in there with me. This tofu is crazy delicious. So delicious in fact that my husband has declared it his favourite meal. I’ve even converted my Mom over to the tofu dark side with this one! It’s soft and flavourful on the inside with the most delicious crispy crust on the outside. It also takes about 15 minutes of total work, so it’s an easy weeknight meal.

Our go-to meal with the crispy tofu is to eat in a whole wheat wrap with cheese, pickles, tomato, lettuce or spinach and some mayo. But, we also eat it on top of salads or as a protein with veggies and potatoes or rice. It is seriously so versatile.

I can’t even remember where I saw the original recipe for this tofu, but it’s now in my head and I’ve since changed it a bit over time to make it my own.

RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 block of extra firm or pressed tofu (soyganic extra firm is my favourite)
• Soy Sauce (apprx 3/4 C)
• Apple cider vinegar (apprx 3/4 C)
• Nutritional yeast (nutritional yeast is a staple in vegan cooking. It’s often used to mimic cheese flavour. I buy Bob’s Red Mills brand at Superstore, but you can also find it at Bulk Barn or at most organic stores. It will be a bit of an investment up front – the bag I buy is around $10 – but you’ll get about 5 crispy tofu recipes out of one bag.)
• Wheat germ (this is usually found in the cereal aisle by the oatmeal, or in the bulk store.)
• Italian seasoning (one that contains salt)
• Olive oil.

Directions:

• Cut the tofu into cubes.
• Pour equal parts soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and cold water into a bowl. I don’t measure this. You need enough to cover the tofu – I’d guess about 3/4 C of each.
• Let the tofu marinade for a few hours in the fridge.
• Once the tofu is done marinating, remove it from the fridge and set aside while you mix the coating.
• In a shallow dish (I use a pie plate) combine equal parts nutritional yeast and wheat germ. Again, I don’t measure. Start with 1/2  cup of each and you can always mix more. You need enough to coat all of tofu. Add a couple tablespoons of Italian seasoning to the yeast/wheat germ mixture and then combine until it’s well mixed.
• Coat the tofu with the yeast/wheat germ mixture. This does not have to be precise. I generally remove the tofu from the marinade in 2 batches and just smoosh it around in the coating until it’s all covered.
• Pour a thin layer of olive oil into a frying pan over medium-high heat (as Rachael Ray would say – pour the oil a couple of times around the pan). Wait a few minutes for the oil to start glistening. You can test if it’s hot enough by gently sprinkling a bit of coating in the pan. You want it to sizzle immediately.
• When the oil is ready, add half of the tofu to the pan and allow to fry for a few minutes. Once one side is brown and crispy, use tongs to flip each piece. Don’t move it around the pan too much or the coating will start to fall off. In total, you’ll spend about 5-7 minutes frying each pan of tofu. Once it’s dark brown and crispy, remove the tofu from the pan onto a large plate coated with paper towel.
• Repeat the last 2 steps for the remainder of the tofu.
• ENJOY (but be careful because it’s crazy hot!)

I’d love to hear in the comments if you try this recipe out – or if you have any vegetarian favourites of your own.

 

 

 

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