I have been meaning to share the magic of crispy waffle iron tofu for a while, but somehow kind of forgot. Yesterday when talking to my (not quite) mother in law she mentioned the bean waffles I made a while ago and suddenly I had a very real need to go home and bust out the waffle iron and make some tofu. And some of you may be thinking that this sounds weird, but its not. Waffle irons are not just for waffles, you can cook just about anything in them. I compare then to a George Foreman grill (remember those) or even a griddler. . Works the same way, just makes everything waffles shaped.
As for the rest of this open face toast situation, it just makes so much sense.%u00a0 Crispy cumin lime tofu, avocado, mashed up squash…. A heap of things that are so freaking good.%u00a0 I actually made the sandwich for the mr and was a little bit worried he was not going to like it, but worry I need not. He got down with it too. You could even ditch the bread and eat waffled tofu slathered in the squash and tofu alone, or maybe swap out bread for greens (that’s what I did) Whatever you do, it will be good and your tofu will be so nice and crispy (without having to deep fry) that you may never cook tofu anther way again.
The stuff. Tofu, some roasted squash (any squash or sweet potato works), and half an avocado. Going to need a lime, some cumin and a pinch of chili powder, salt and pepper and little olive oil. And some type of bread that is good for toasting.
The cumin and chili powder go into a bowl with lime juice, a little oil ans a pinch of salt ans pepper. Give it a good whisk and set aside.
And now tend to the tofu. You want to get as much water removed from the tofu as you can.%u00a0 I do this by pressing the sliced pieces between a clean tea towel a bunch of times until the tofu is as dry I can get it without falling apart.
While you are doing this, preheat your waffle iron.
Once the tofu is a dried as you can get it, dredge each piece of tofu, front and back, through the cumin lime mixture.
And place it on your preheated, lightly oiled waffle iron.
Close iron and let the tofu iron itself cripsy.
And in about 7-10 minutes, you got yourself some super fantastic crispy, oh so tasty tofu.
Now to put it all together.%u00a0 Bread is toasted and topped with mashed up squash.
Next goes the tofu then top that with the avocado. Finish with a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt.
And sriracha if you like it..
Not deep fried, but super crispy tofu! And squash! and avocado! and toast!
It’s amazing.
-C
Make 2 pieces of toast
For the tofu
1/2 a block of extra firm tofu cut about an inch thick slices
Juice of half a lime
1 heaping teaspoon cumin
pinch of chili powder
salt and pepper
3 teaspoons oil plus more to brush onto iron
And for the rest of the sandwich
a piece 4-5 inch piece of baguette or 2 slices of thick bread (use gluten free bread if you want)
About a 1/3 cup of cooked or roasted squash or sweet potato
sriracha (if you are into it)
1/2 an avocado
the other half of lime
In a shallow bowl, mix together the juice of 1/2 the lime,the cumin and chill powder, a pinch of salt and pepper and 3 teaspoons of oil. Set aside
Preheat waffle iron to either the on setting or if it has variable setting, high.
Take your tofu and remove as much of the liquid as you can by pressing it between two clean kitchen towels. When you get as much of the liquid out as you can, take the tofu and place into the cumin mixture and coat both sides.%u00a0 Ready the iron by brushing each side with a little more oil just to make sure it doesn’t stick and place the tofu on the iron, close it up, and let it do it’s thing for about 8-10 minutes. (check after 6-7 to see whats what and if is as crispy crunchy as you like, remove. If you think it could use another minute or two, well close it back up and keep ironing it.
And when the tofu is done, it’s time tot make compile it all together.
Toast you bread you are going to use. Once toasted mash a good amount of squash onto toast. Place tofu on top of that and thinly sliced avocado on top of that. Finish with a sprinkle of salt, a squeeze of lime juice and if you are feeling a bit more spicy, a few drizzle drops of sriracha.
Eat right away. Do not share…they can make their own.
Sometime the best things in life are the simplest things. For example; a walk through the woods, a really pretty smooth rock, a perfectly timed 80’s ballad song for the last push during a workout, or falling asleep on the couch and managing to not drool all over the newly washed pillows.(You know what I am talking about). I mean, can one really ask for much more?
Same goes with food. The simplest foods can really the best. Take this cashews cheese for example. All it is is soaked and blended up cashews with a bit of seasoning to cheese it up. Nothing fancy, nothing labor intensive, just straight up and straight out. You can up the greatness by adding thick cuts of fresh, sun kissed, bright and happy tomato, and a chunk of fresh bread%u2026Not much better then that. So simple and yet so good.
%u00a0And bonus. No need to turn on any heating units in order to make this cause that would suck, given that we are again having another fucking heat wave.%u00a0
Agh stupid hot weather. STUPID!!!! But enough about that..
Cheese time.
The stuff. Cashews that be soakin for a while in some water, nutritional yeast (to give it that cheesy flavor), lemon, garlic, and salt and pepper. That’s for the cheese, but you are, and should, want to eat it with a large, so fresh and juicy, tomato and some kind of fresh bread situation. So you need that too!
Simple as can be. Strain cashews from soaking water and dump into a food processor with the garlic, nutritional yeast, juice of the lemon,%u00a0a pinch of salt and pepper, and a little water.%u00a0%u00a0Turn on processor.
And it’s done when its all smooth and creamy .Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Tranfer %u00a0the goodness to a lovely jar%u00a0
And that’s that.. some cheese of the cashew.
But wait, you need to eat it.. Smear all over the bread situation, cut up the tomato, place big fat slabs directly onto cashew butter and spinkle with a salt and pepper.
SImply the best%u2026 Better then all the rest!
Happy today! Stay cool my friends%u2026stay cool.
-C
makes about 1 1/2 cups of creamy, cheesy goodness
1 cup of raw unsalted cashew soaked in water for about an hour%u00a0
1/2 cup fresh water
2-4 tablespoons nutrional yeast%u00a0
juice of a lemon
2-3 cloves garlic (optional )
salt and pepper
And not that you have to, but having some freshy tomatoes and some nice bread to eat the cheese on is pretty fantastical.%u00a0
After you cashews have been soaking for about an hour, strain water and add them and all of the other ingredients to a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Scoop into a jar.
Eat some right away on a hunk of fresh bread with lots of thick cuts of fresh tomato and place the rest in the fridge.
The cheese will get a bit thicker after being refrigerated for a while.
Use on anything , in anything, or all on it’s own. Licking jar clean is encouraged.
Yesterday I spent the entire day (ok maybe not the entire day), but a the better part of the afternoon defrosting my freezer. Sure, I do the occasional chip chop here and there, just enough from around the freezer door so it will close, but ever few months I notice that everything in the fridge is not staying cold and that the freezer is not freezing stuff. Thats when I know its for real time to defrost. So a few days ago when I noticed my bananas were turing to liquid in the freezer, I knew it what I had to do%u2026.Completely empty the fridge %u00a0and melt/hack away the 2-4 inches of ice build up that accumulated. It is such a freaking pain in the ass.So on this defrosting day, I took all the stuff from the freezer, stuck it in a cooler, and the rest of the stuff, which is basically all veggies, I just tossed on the table.%u00a0As I am hacking away with a metal spatual, a wooden spoon, and a constant rotation of pots of boiling water, I was thinking about dinner. I figured I might as well just eat up as much of the veggies as I could, you know, so I didn’t have to put them back in the fridge. And also, I was getting pretty annoyed because this particular defrosting session was taking way longer the anticipated, which made making dinner seem like another pain in the ass. %u00a0I figured I might as well just eat everything that is already out on the table, which pretty much narrowed down the “whats for dinner” conversations because it was already all over the place. And so dinner was a humongo salad for me, and for the mister, I made him a monster of a veggie sandwich. (my salad was exactly the same stuff as the sandwich, minus the bagel) Easy, fast, super duper yummy, pretty and piled so high with tons of veggies that the fridge is pretty much empty now.%u00a0
Look at the is beast. I don’t call it a monster sandwich for nothing.
The stuff included in this monster veggie sandwich..
Romaine lettuce, tomato, avocado for there is not real sandwich without them. Thinly sliced radishes, cucumber,a and onion for nice crispy crunch. Shredded beets, carrots, and purple cabbage to give %u00a0more crunch and a bit of sweetness. Then of course there needs to be something pickled, so I used banana peppers cause they are the SHIT!! And lastly some hummus for a nice creamy finish (plus a bit of protein) and yellow mustard because mustard on everything is just right. %u00a0Heres to a mountain if goodness that is no longer in the fridge! Served with a another mountain of roasted parsnips and carrots (more stuff from the fridge) and a tall glass of iced tea.
Lucky that today is farm share pick up cause the fridge is pretty much on empty.%u00a0
Yea it’s Thursday!!!!
-C
A Monster Veggie Sandwich
Note. This is just a guide.. Feel free to use whatever veggies you fancy.%u00a0
Either a bagel, 2 slices of bread, or a big chunk of baguette (use a gluten free bread if you want or need too)
Hummus- Homemade or store bought
Mustard
Something pickled like pickles, banana peppers , jalape%u00f1os or all three%u00a0
Lettuce, spinach or some kind of leafy green
Tomato
Avocado
Onion
Radishes
Cucumber
Shredded Carrots
Shredded Beets
Shredded Cabbage
To assemble. Ready your bread.. Toast if you want, and stick it on a plate
On either side, smear the hummus and the mustard. %u00a0
Pick a side, start to stack by evenly disrupting veggies on top of veggies. Place the second piece of bread on top and %u00a0giving a little smooth to keep it together.
And go at it. Cut in half or don’t. Have a napkin or a long sleeve ready to wipe your face.
THE LOVELY CRAZY
September 18, 2019 by maximios • Blog
I have been meaning to share the magic of crispy waffle iron tofu for a while, but somehow kind of forgot. Yesterday when talking to my (not quite) mother in law she mentioned the bean waffles I made a while ago and suddenly I had a very real need to go home and bust out the waffle iron and make some tofu. And some of you may be thinking that this sounds weird, but its not. Waffle irons are not just for waffles, you can cook just about anything in them. I compare then to a George Foreman grill (remember those) or even a griddler. . Works the same way, just makes everything waffles shaped.
As for the rest of this open face toast situation, it just makes so much sense.%u00a0 Crispy cumin lime tofu, avocado, mashed up squash…. A heap of things that are so freaking good.%u00a0 I actually made the sandwich for the mr and was a little bit worried he was not going to like it, but worry I need not. He got down with it too. You could even ditch the bread and eat waffled tofu slathered in the squash and tofu alone, or maybe swap out bread for greens (that’s what I did) Whatever you do, it will be good and your tofu will be so nice and crispy (without having to deep fry) that you may never cook tofu anther way again.
The stuff. Tofu, some roasted squash (any squash or sweet potato works), and half an avocado. Going to need a lime, some cumin and a pinch of chili powder, salt and pepper and little olive oil. And some type of bread that is good for toasting.
The cumin and chili powder go into a bowl with lime juice, a little oil ans a pinch of salt ans pepper. Give it a good whisk and set aside.
And now tend to the tofu. You want to get as much water removed from the tofu as you can.%u00a0 I do this by pressing the sliced pieces between a clean tea towel a bunch of times until the tofu is as dry I can get it without falling apart.
While you are doing this, preheat your waffle iron.
Once the tofu is a dried as you can get it, dredge each piece of tofu, front and back, through the cumin lime mixture.
And place it on your preheated, lightly oiled waffle iron.
Close iron and let the tofu iron itself cripsy.
And in about 7-10 minutes, you got yourself some super fantastic crispy, oh so tasty tofu.
Now to put it all together.%u00a0 Bread is toasted and topped with mashed up squash.
Next goes the tofu then top that with the avocado. Finish with a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt.
And sriracha if you like it..
Not deep fried, but super crispy tofu! And squash! and avocado! and toast!
It’s amazing.
-C
Make 2 pieces of toast
For the tofu
And for the rest of the sandwich
In a shallow bowl, mix together the juice of 1/2 the lime,the cumin and chill powder, a pinch of salt and pepper and 3 teaspoons of oil. Set aside
Preheat waffle iron to either the on setting or if it has variable setting, high.
Take your tofu and remove as much of the liquid as you can by pressing it between two clean kitchen towels. When you get as much of the liquid out as you can, take the tofu and place into the cumin mixture and coat both sides.%u00a0 Ready the iron by brushing each side with a little more oil just to make sure it doesn’t stick and place the tofu on the iron, close it up, and let it do it’s thing for about 8-10 minutes. (check after 6-7 to see whats what and if is as crispy crunchy as you like, remove. If you think it could use another minute or two, well close it back up and keep ironing it.
And when the tofu is done, it’s time tot make compile it all together.
Toast you bread you are going to use. Once toasted mash a good amount of squash onto toast. Place tofu on top of that and thinly sliced avocado on top of that. Finish with a sprinkle of salt, a squeeze of lime juice and if you are feeling a bit more spicy, a few drizzle drops of sriracha.
Eat right away. Do not share…they can make their own.
Sometime the best things in life are the simplest things. For example; a walk through the woods, a really pretty smooth rock, a perfectly timed 80’s ballad song for the last push during a workout, or falling asleep on the couch and managing to not drool all over the newly washed pillows.(You know what I am talking about). I mean, can one really ask for much more?
Same goes with food. The simplest foods can really the best. Take this cashews cheese for example. All it is is soaked and blended up cashews with a bit of seasoning to cheese it up. Nothing fancy, nothing labor intensive, just straight up and straight out. You can up the greatness by adding thick cuts of fresh, sun kissed, bright and happy tomato, and a chunk of fresh bread%u2026Not much better then that. So simple and yet so good.
%u00a0And bonus. No need to turn on any heating units in order to make this cause that would suck, given that we are again having another fucking heat wave.%u00a0
Agh stupid hot weather. STUPID!!!! But enough about that..
Cheese time.
The stuff. Cashews that be soakin for a while in some water, nutritional yeast (to give it that cheesy flavor), lemon, garlic, and salt and pepper. That’s for the cheese, but you are, and should, want to eat it with a large, so fresh and juicy, tomato and some kind of fresh bread situation. So you need that too!
Simple as can be. Strain cashews from soaking water and dump into a food processor with the garlic, nutritional yeast, juice of the lemon,%u00a0a pinch of salt and pepper, and a little water.%u00a0%u00a0Turn on processor.
And it’s done when its all smooth and creamy .Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Tranfer %u00a0the goodness to a lovely jar%u00a0
And that’s that.. some cheese of the cashew.
But wait, you need to eat it.. Smear all over the bread situation, cut up the tomato, place big fat slabs directly onto cashew butter and spinkle with a salt and pepper.
SImply the best%u2026 Better then all the rest!
Happy today! Stay cool my friends%u2026stay cool.
-C
makes about 1 1/2 cups of creamy, cheesy goodness
And not that you have to, but having some freshy tomatoes and some nice bread to eat the cheese on is pretty fantastical.%u00a0
After you cashews have been soaking for about an hour, strain water and add them and all of the other ingredients to a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Scoop into a jar.
Eat some right away on a hunk of fresh bread with lots of thick cuts of fresh tomato and place the rest in the fridge.
The cheese will get a bit thicker after being refrigerated for a while.
Use on anything , in anything, or all on it’s own. Licking jar clean is encouraged.
Yesterday I spent the entire day (ok maybe not the entire day), but a the better part of the afternoon defrosting my freezer. Sure, I do the occasional chip chop here and there, just enough from around the freezer door so it will close, but ever few months I notice that everything in the fridge is not staying cold and that the freezer is not freezing stuff. Thats when I know its for real time to defrost. So a few days ago when I noticed my bananas were turing to liquid in the freezer, I knew it what I had to do%u2026.Completely empty the fridge %u00a0and melt/hack away the 2-4 inches of ice build up that accumulated. It is such a freaking pain in the ass.So on this defrosting day, I took all the stuff from the freezer, stuck it in a cooler, and the rest of the stuff, which is basically all veggies, I just tossed on the table.%u00a0As I am hacking away with a metal spatual, a wooden spoon, and a constant rotation of pots of boiling water, I was thinking about dinner. I figured I might as well just eat up as much of the veggies as I could, you know, so I didn’t have to put them back in the fridge. And also, I was getting pretty annoyed because this particular defrosting session was taking way longer the anticipated, which made making dinner seem like another pain in the ass. %u00a0I figured I might as well just eat everything that is already out on the table, which pretty much narrowed down the “whats for dinner” conversations because it was already all over the place. And so dinner was a humongo salad for me, and for the mister, I made him a monster of a veggie sandwich. (my salad was exactly the same stuff as the sandwich, minus the bagel) Easy, fast, super duper yummy, pretty and piled so high with tons of veggies that the fridge is pretty much empty now.%u00a0
Look at the is beast. I don’t call it a monster sandwich for nothing.
The stuff included in this monster veggie sandwich..
Romaine lettuce, tomato, avocado for there is not real sandwich without them. Thinly sliced radishes, cucumber,a and onion for nice crispy crunch. Shredded beets, carrots, and purple cabbage to give %u00a0more crunch and a bit of sweetness. Then of course there needs to be something pickled, so I used banana peppers cause they are the SHIT!! And lastly some hummus for a nice creamy finish (plus a bit of protein) and yellow mustard because mustard on everything is just right. %u00a0Heres to a mountain if goodness that is no longer in the fridge! Served with a another mountain of roasted parsnips and carrots (more stuff from the fridge) and a tall glass of iced tea.
Lucky that today is farm share pick up cause the fridge is pretty much on empty.%u00a0
Yea it’s Thursday!!!!
-C
A Monster Veggie Sandwich
Note. This is just a guide.. Feel free to use whatever veggies you fancy.%u00a0
To assemble. Ready your bread.. Toast if you want, and stick it on a plate
On either side, smear the hummus and the mustard. %u00a0
Pick a side, start to stack by evenly disrupting veggies on top of veggies. Place the second piece of bread on top and %u00a0giving a little smooth to keep it together.
And go at it. Cut in half or don’t. Have a napkin or a long sleeve ready to wipe your face.