THE LOVELY CRAZY

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.

The other day the mister and I started reminiscing about some of our earliest memories of what our parents fed us or what they used to eat when we were growing up. One of the dishes that we both remember eating was the classic creamed beef on toast, or as my mom use to call it, shit on a shingle. %u00a0 Yup, shit on a shingle. (who ever started calling creamed meat on toast is a freaking genius)%u00a0I think that as a kid, I liked %u00a0the dish just for the mer fact that I could say the word shit and get away with it. %u00a0I think my mom liked it for few reasons; she could make a big butt load of it really fast, for a crap load of kids, on the super cheap. And I think that she just really like it. %u00a0

Shit on a shingle is one of those foods that I like to call “trash food”, you know stuff like beefaroni or pork and beans. Stuff that we all loved as little kids but might think twice about feeding to anyone now. ( I’ll still feed nick a can of beefaroni.. he likes it)%u00a0As a throwback to our earliest food memories, (also a lack of food in the house and wanted to make something fast, easy, and cheap.. thanks mom!) I made the mister my rendition of the classic. Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on toast. Not quite as trashy as creamed beef (lentils, mushrooms and onions are not trashy) but you get the same reminiscing feeling. I guess I could call it something like “stuff on a shingle” or lumps on a shingle”, but what kid (or adult) %u00a0would want to eat that. Let’s just stick with shit, it makes it more awesome to eat it.

The shit%u2026.. A few mushrooms, a bit of onion, cooked lentils, flour, milk, oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. And the shingles.. 2 pieces of thick white country bread.%u00a0Slice the mushrooms and the onion and toss into a skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until browned and fragrant..Remove from pan.In the empty pan still on medium heat, add in the olive oil and the flour. Whisky constantly, slowly add in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Add in %u00a0salt, pepper, and garlic powder.Add the mushrooms and the lentils into the sauce and give it a good mix. Oh, and don’t forget to %u00a0toast up the bread. Now dump that shit all over those shingles! Oh the memories.

If you need to, make it classy by serving it with a cloth napkin and a nice fork and knife. But eat it however you need to. (As kids we like dirty hands and no fork, preferably with a big tall glass of overly sweetened red flavored kool-aid)

Enjoy this fantastic Spring weekend!

-C

%u00a0Shit on s Shingle (Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on Toast)

One serving

  • 1 cup cooked lentils
  • 2- 3 mushrooms
  • 1/2 small onion
  • 1 cup milk (cow, nut, plant%u2026 whatever you want)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 pieces of nice thick but soft white sandwich bread

Slice the mushroom and onion and toss into a pan or skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until brown and fragrant than dump onto a plate. In same skillet, add the oil and the flour and mix with a whisk while slowly adding in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce starts to thicken. Turn heat to simmer and add in the cooked lentils and the saut%u00e9d mushrooms and onions. Push down the bread in the toaster.. and when it pops up, dump the shill over it.

%u00a0Some days making an effort is just too much. The upcoming holidays are taking up most of my brain capacity. I need the day to decompress and I don’t want to worry making any meals. Not to mention I am running low on food in the house, my winter farm share doesn’t start until next week (HORRAY!!) and I really don’t want to go to the grocery store. I have avocado, I have tomato, I have bread. Smoosh avocado on toast, top with a few slices of tomato, and give it a sprinkle of salt. Wa La..There you have it. Easy and delicious and is suitable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don’t like avocado? Well today, that’s not my problem. I am sure you can find %u00a0jar of peanut butter. Note: Peanut butter anything is also suitable for any meal replacement. Thursday Thursday!!