Year of the Vegan, indeed! This was a great turnout, taking into account the below freezing weather – of course! Although we’ve been putting on these dinners for nearly a year, we’ve never really featured tofu as an entree ingredient. (Well, maybe; there was all that scrambled tofu at our ‘Breakfast for Dinner’ Chomp last summer). Excitingly enough I was able to get some local, GMO-free bulk tofu through my job at Watercourse Foods. I brought home about 30 pounds and froze it immediately. I thawed the soybean curd in question and proceeded to press out excess water by utilizing plates, baking sheets, books, cans and many handtowels. I wrapped the cut tofu in the towels, placed plates and flat surfaces on top and piled on the cans and books. After a good 30 – 45 minutes I unwrapped the tofu and gave an extra little press between my hands over my kitchen sink to really ensure excess moisture was minimal.

Onto the Citrus Tofu recipe, itself!!

Ingredients:

This should serve 4 – 6 people.

1 pound firm tofu (non GMO/organic and local if you can!!)

1 cup fresh orange juice (I used juice purchased at a store in conjunction with fresh oranges I squeezed myself, I also zested about 6 – 8 oranges, and added the zest to the marinade)

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce (Tamari for Gluten Free Goodness, non GMO/Organic if you can!)

1/4 cup canola oil

4 tsp. dark sesame oil (for Chomp I used a toasted sesame oil, I like the little smokey nuttiness the toasted oil adds)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 TBSP fresh ginger root, minced

2 green onions, cut into 1″ strips

1/4 cup. fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Optional Spiciness: Add 1 or 2 fresh red chili peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips

Method:

So I froze my tofu, thawed, and pressed it. Prior to pressing it I cut it into slabs by placing my block of tofu onto it’s short side and slicing into square wedges. If you wanted to do triangle little tofu slabs, cut the tofu block into 4 thin square wedges, then diagonally for triangles. For tonight’s dinner, I had cut my blocks into thicker wedges, then pressed them, then cubed them.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, oils, garlic and ginger.

Separate the tofu pieces and arrange in a baking dish in a single layer. Cover your tofu with the marinade and sprinkle the onion, cilantro, and chili, if using. Cover and marinade anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Pour off some of the marinade, so the tofu is covered halfway. Bake 40 – 45 minutes, without turning, until the tofu is golden and most of the marinade is absorbed.

I love the flavors in this one, I feel like every ingredient of the marinade stands out within the tofu!