Five years ago, I published a post just after the New Year titled: Detox: Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Nuoc Cham . The sesame crust for this tofu included panko, which led one commenter to note it “wouldn’t actually be part of a detox because of the panko. Detoxing excludes gluten or wheat products.”
News to me. I am a hopeless detoxer. I will never give up bread or legumes or grains or any other vilified foods this time of year. I cannot imagine a January without thick slices of quinoa-flax bread toasted for breakfast and lentil soup for lunch and Marcella’s stewy white beans or Cal Peternell’s Moroccan chickpea soup for dinner with a hunk of bread on the side.
All of this said, this time of year, I do find myself, like many, wanting to eat more healthily. I’ve been craving vegetables and making a ton of them: roasted carrots with honey and almonds , the kale salad that started it all , roasted mushrooms with gremolata bread crumbs . (All of these, by the way, are from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons — can’t wait to share more!).
More than any other time of year, too, I find myself reaching for the tofu. This recipe from Deb Perelman’s latest, Smitten Kitchen Every Day , satisfies all of my January proclivities: crispy tofu and broccoli with sesame-peanut pesto, a super-flavorful sauce modeled after the sauces dressing Deb’s favorite “deliciously inauthentic” take-out noodles.
As you know, I don’t have a kitchen (update below!), but even so, this recipe came together incredibly easily: in sum, you roast broccoli and tofu on separate sheet pans, the broccoli tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, the tofu with oil, soy sauce, and cornstarch (which makes for an especially crispy crust); while the broccoli and tofu cook, you make a sauce with peanuts, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and a few other ingredients; to finish, you dress the roasted broccoli and tofu with the creamy-but-textured pesto and drizzle it all with hot sauce if you wish.
That’s it! It’s incredibly delicious and satisfying, friendly enough to make any day of the week, but perhaps best suited for curling up with on the couch on a Friday night, your latest, favorite series ready to be devoured just as quickly.
PS: More tofu: Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Nuoc Cham ; Baked Tofu with Kale and Coconut ; Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce
Here’s a play-by-play: Set something heavy over a block of tofu to drain out the liquid:
Cut the broccoli into florets; peel away the rough exterior of the stems, then cut into rounds:
Place broccoli on one sheet pan:
Place tofu on another:
Roast at 400ºF:
Meanwhile, make the pesto:
I used my extra coffee/spice grinder—a food processor is a pain to clean without a sink—which worked moderately well:
When the tofu and broccoli are crispy…
combine them, then drizzle with the sauce, and …
serve!
Cabinets!
Sink!
Description
From Deb Perelman’s new book: Smitten Kitchen Every Day
Though I haven’t tried, I imagine this would double easily. With my kitchen under renovation, I am using quarter sheet pans that fit into my portable oven. One of these sheet pans fit the entire pound of broccoli and another fit the entire block of tofu. If you want to feed more than 2 people, I think you could easily roast 2 pounds of broccoli and 2 blocks of cubed tofu. Double the sauce, of course, too.
For the tofu and broccoli:
- 1 block (12- to 15-oz) firm or extra-firm tofu
- 1 pound broccoli
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
for the pesto:
- 1 tablespoon toasted (or not) sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup peanuts, roasted (salted are fine)
- 1.5 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 small garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar or other sweetener
to finish:
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- chili-garlic or other hot sauce
- Prepare the tofu: Drain the tofu, and place it on a few paper towels; place a few more towels over it. Place a heavy object—like a big frying pan—over the tofu, and let it rest for 10 minutes (and up to 30 , if you have the time) to press out the excess liquid. (I like to do this on a cooling rack set over a pan, see photos below).
- Heat the oven to 400ºF. Line one rimmed sheet pan with parchment (for the tofu); leave another one bare (for the broccoli).
- Prepare the broccoli: Trim and chop the broccoli into florets. Don’t discard the stems (they are so good!): peel off the tough outer skin and knots, then cut the stems into 1/2-inch rounds. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the oil over the bare sheet pan, swirl it to coat, scatter the broccoli over top, drizzle with another tablespoon of oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and toss to coat with your hands. Spread into an even layer.
- Remove the tofu from the towels, and cut into 1-inch cubes. In a large bowl, gently toss the tofu with the remaining tablespoon of oil, the soy sauce, and the cornstarch until evenly coated. Spread out on the parchment-line sheet pan.
- Cook the tofu and broccoli: Place both sheet pans in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, then toss the pieces around for even coloring and roast another 10 minutes. At this point, the tofu is usually done, which is to say golden at the edges and lightly crisp. Remove the pan from the oven. If necessary, roast the broccoli for another 10 minutes to get an extra char on it.
- Meanwhile make the pesto: Pulse all of the ingredients together in a food processor until ground. Adjust the flavors to taste. If the sauce is super thick, you can thin it with some water.
- To finish: In a large bowl, combine the broccoli and tofu, and toss with some of the sauce. Garnish with the scallions. Serve extra sauce and hot sauce, if using, on the side.
Description
From Deb Perelman’s new book: Smitten Kitchen Every Day
Though I haven’t tried, I imagine this would double easily. With my kitchen under renovation, I am using quarter sheet pans that fit into my portable oven. One of these sheet pans fit the entire pound of broccoli and another fit the entire block of tofu. If you want to feed more than 2 people, I think you could easily roast 2 pounds of broccoli and 2 blocks of cubed tofu. Double the sauce, of course, too.
For the tofu and broccoli:
- 1 block (12- to 15-oz) firm or extra-firm tofu
- 1 pound broccoli
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
for the pesto:
- 1 tablespoon toasted (or not) sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup peanuts, roasted (salted are fine)
- 1.5 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 small garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar or other sweetener
to finish:
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- chili-garlic or other hot sauce
- Prepare the tofu: Drain the tofu, and place it on a few paper towels; place a few more towels over it. Place a heavy object—like a big frying pan—over the tofu, and let it rest for 10 minutes (and up to 30 , if you have the time) to press out the excess liquid. (I like to do this on a cooling rack set over a pan, see photos below).
- Heat the oven to 400ºF. Line one rimmed sheet pan with parchment (for the tofu); leave another one bare (for the broccoli).
- Prepare the broccoli: Trim and chop the broccoli into florets. Don’t discard the stems (they are so good!): peel off the tough outer skin and knots, then cut the stems into 1/2-inch rounds. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the oil over the bare sheet pan, swirl it to coat, scatter the broccoli over top, drizzle with another tablespoon of oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and toss to coat with your hands. Spread into an even layer.
- Remove the tofu from the towels, and cut into 1-inch cubes. In a large bowl, gently toss the tofu with the remaining tablespoon of oil, the soy sauce, and the cornstarch until evenly coated. Spread out on the parchment-line sheet pan.
- Cook the tofu and broccoli: Place both sheet pans in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, then toss the pieces around for even coloring and roast another 10 minutes. At this point, the tofu is usually done, which is to say golden at the edges and lightly crisp. Remove the pan from the oven. If necessary, roast the broccoli for another 10 minutes to get an extra char on it.
- Meanwhile make the pesto: Pulse all of the ingredients together in a food processor until ground. Adjust the flavors to taste. If the sauce is super thick, you can thin it with some water.
- To finish: In a large bowl, combine the broccoli and tofu, and toss with some of the sauce. Garnish with the scallions. Serve extra sauce and hot sauce, if using, on the side.
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2018/01/10/crispy-tofu-broccoli-sesame-peanut-pesto/
Where to begin?
Fellow cookbook lovers: you know that feeling you get when you look at a cookbook and your heart races? And you feel as excited as overwhelmed because everything looks so good, and you don’t know which recipe to make first? And you know looking at the book before you go to bed is a bad idea because dreaming about the recipes no doubt will keep you awake?
This is how I feel every time I open Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons , which came out last May, but which somehow I didn’t sneak a peek at till Christmas Day, when Santa kindly tucked it under the tree. I have since spent many hours with the book, and I’ve made five recipes, all of which have been irresistible, each disappearing in record time.
One night I made the roasted mushrooms, gremolata style (photo below) with the intention of serving them for dinner, but I ate every. last. one . (The recipes serves 4).
In the intro to the book, Joshua writes: “I make sure every dish has more than just balance—it must have tension, a dance between sweet, sour, spicy, salty, creamy, crunchy.” And co-author Martha Holmberg notes that Joshua told her while writing the book “the goal is for the dish to taste like a potato chip,” meaning it should be “so tasty and savory that you can’t help but take one more bite…and then another.”
This has been my experience with every dish I’ve made so far. Six Seasons , as you might infer, is a vegetable-focused cookbook inspired by — wait for it — the seasons. But because Joshua felt winter, spring, summer, and fall, didn’t adequately reflect what’s truly happening in the fields, he divided the book into six seasons, breaking summer, when all the action happens, into three: early, mid, and late.
Given when this book fell into my lap, I’ve spent the most time in the fall and winter chapters. I first made a raw shaved Brussels sprout salad that calls for dressing shaved sprouts with lemon, making a paste with anchovies, garlic and olive oil, and combining the two with toasted walnuts, breadcrumbs, and Pecorino. I then made the “ kale salad that started it all ” — did you know Joshua started the kale salad craze? — which requires no massaging but a very fine chop of the kale, a lemony-Pecorino dressing, a pinch of pepper flakes, and breadcrumbs. I then made the above mentioned gremolata mushrooms , and, most recently, crushed and fried potatoes with crispy herbs . Photos of all of these dishes are below.
As someone who often finds herself overloaded with CSA carrots, potatoes, kale, turnips, radishes, beets, and others, I love a cookbook organized by season, and I cannot recommend this one enough if you find yourself in the same boat or if, really, you just love to cook. In addition to the recipes, there are so many nuggets, like, in his “Words to Cook By” note, he says: “Build layers into your dish, like you’re making nachos. Hide things on the bottom. Sprinkle things on top.” And he encourages you not to be a “slave to a recipe,” but to “add different herbs, use a new spice, omit something you don’t like—you’re in charge.”
I have about a dozen other recipes flagged to make including brined and roasted almonds, which Joshua describes as “the best almonds ever,” a beet slaw with pistachios and raisins, a cauliflower ragu, a raw cauliflower “couscous” salad, cauliflower steaks with provolone and pickled peppers. There are so many. My heart is racing. I’ll leave you with these carrots.
Here’s a visual play-by-play:
Peel carrots and trim the ends:
Rub them with oil.
Roast until charred around the edges:
Slice them.
Soak them in vinegar.
Season with lots of salt and freshly cracked pepper:
Add butter and honey (I use maple syrup):
Roast again until they begin to really caramelize:
Description
From Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons
Re almonds: if you use sliced almonds, you may not need quite 1/2 cup — start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste. One time I had roasted Marcona almonds on hand, which were delicious here.
If any of you made the dukkah , I find a sprinkling of it on these roasted carrots to be particularly delicious.
- 1½ to 2 pounds carrots, trimmed and peeled, but left whole
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or white balsamic
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- ½ cup almonds, toasted and chopped, see notes
- Heat the oven to 475°F.
- Spread the carrots on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle on a tablespoon or so of oil, and roll the carrots to coat them. Roast until they are very dark brown, even a bit burnt on the edges, but not fully tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Note: I am still without an oven, and my little Waring oven doesn’t really get above 400ºF, so the first roast for me takes about 30 to 45 minutes—just roast the carrots till they look nearly charred on all surfaces. Leave the oven on but reduce the temperature to 300°F.
- When the carrots are cool enough to handle, cut them on a sharp angle into 1/2-inch-thick slices and transfer to a large bowl. Add the vinegar, season with salt and lots of pepper, and toss to coat. Let the carrots sit for 5 minutes to absorb the vinegar.
- Spread them out on the baking sheet again, distribute the butter bits on top, and drizzle the honey or maple syrup over all. Roast until they are fully tender and the butter and honey are making a lovely mess, 5 to 7 minutes. Note: Again, because my oven is a little guy, this step takes longer—just cook until everything looks caramelized. Scrape everything into a serving bowl, taste, and adjust with more vinegar, salt, or pepper. Top with the almonds. Serve warm.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
