Crispy Tofu with Roasted Veggies

Well today I thought I would try something new with tofu! I’ve been reading up on making crispy tofu and I had limited ingredients in my pantry, so got a bit inventive. What fun to experiment with food.

At the same time, my garden is really coming along and I thought it would be wonderful to try out some zucchini, beets and baby carrots fresh from the garden.

Even though there is room for improvement, as there is with most first time recipes….I was pretty pleased with the outcome. Hey I went back for seconds, it was that good!

Crispy Tofu with Roasted Veggies

The big picture. The first thing I did was get my tofu prepared, you’ll need to marinate it for a few hours prior to getting it into the oven. Prepare all your veggies for cooking while the tofu is soaking up the flavour of the marinade.

When I popped the tofu into the oven to cook, I baked the baby carrots, beets and some onion in the oven in a separate baking dish. The last thing I did was pan fry the zucchini and a few of the beet tops as my last component of my dish.  Here’s how to make the crispy tofu…..

What you’ll need for the crispy tofu:

• A package tofu (medium to firm, your preference)

Your marinade

• 1/2 c Bragg Soy Seasoning

  

• 1/2 c Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 T chopped fresh Ginger

For the dry coating first round:

• 1/4 c cornstarch or arrowroot
• 1/8 c flour
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper

Put it in a bowl and mix well

For the wet bath second round:

• 1/2 c soy milk or other vegan friendly milk
• 1 t vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

Put in a bowl, stir and let sit for 5 minutes, stir again just before using

For the coating third round:

• 1/3 c of raw pumpkin seeds (ground in your food processor)
• 1/3 c of raw sunflower seeds (ground in your food processor

Once ground mix together and put on a plate

The steps to create the crispy tofu:

Step one:

1. To start out press your tofu if you want a denser version of the finished product and if you want the tofu to soak up more of the flavour from the marinade. Use a press or take tofu from the package and wrap in paper towel. Place heavy books on top of the tofu, change paper towels 3 times…until the paper towel is fairly dry.
2. Cut tofu into strips about 1/2″ wide
3. Mix up your marinade, Bragg Soy Seasoning, Balsamic Vinegar and sliced Ginger, put it in a container you can seal and has enough room for your tofu strips

   

4. Place tofu strips into the marinade and marinate for a few hours to really let the flavours get absorbed by the marinade. Turn occasionally so that all of the tofu strips get some action.
5. Remove tofu from marinade and pat dry

Step two:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°
2. Combine your flour, cornstarch, onion powder, garlic powder,  salt and pepper into a bowl or bag and stir well.

   

3. Take each piece of tofu and roll in the dry mixture to completely coat each piece, shake off the excess coating and place on a cutting board till ready for the next step

Step three:

1. Mix up your milk mixture by combining your non dairy milk and vinegar, stir and let sit for about 5 minutes
2. Take each piece of tofu that has been dredged in the dry mixture and dip in the wet bath and then roll each piece till thoroughly covered in your ground pumpkin and sunflower seed mixture.

Step four:

1. Place each coated piece of tofu on a cookie tray covered with parchment paper and place in the oven
2. Bake for 10 minutes, turn and bake for another 5-7 minutes, should be lightly browned.

Step five:

1. Serve tofu with your other components that you created, you know your vegetables and whatever else your heart desires. Enjoy!

PS. I had some leftover baked tofu and it was a yummy snack for the next day!!