Marinated tofu makes a delicious main course. Serve with steamed rice (try red or black rice) and a variety of vegetables. Remove the block of tofu from the packet and pat dry. Cut into portion sizes and marinade the pieces for a few hours, overnight or up to 3 days. For stuffed tofu, make little cuts into the tofu with a sharp knife and push the stuffing gently in with the tip of a knife. You can also push the stuffing all the way into the tofu and smooth over the cut to conceal the stuffing. Place the tofu in a small oven proof dish, pour over its marinade, cover with tin foil and bake for 20 - 30 minutes in an oven with the temperature at around 160 - 170°C (320 - 340°F). If you like, you can then grill the tofu briefly (remove the tin foil), until the top starts to discolour. The following recipes serve 2, so use 2 thick slices of tofu per person, or cut ½ of a block (140g) into 2 'steaks'.
Orange & fennel
4 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp grated orange zest / use dried peel and cut into small slivers
1 tsp olive oil (orange-infused is even better)
1 tsp fennel seeds, dry fried in pan and finely ground
Mix all the ingredients together and marinade the tofu for a few hours, overnight or up to 3 days.Transfer the tofu to a small dish, preferably lined with non-stick baking parchment. Pour over the marinade and cover the dish with tin foil.Bake on the middle shelf in the oven for 20 minutes at 170°C (340°F). Remove the tin foil and bake a further 5 minutes.Remove and serve.
Ginger & kaffir lime leaf
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 - 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tsp soy sauce
1 ml (or to taste) freshly chopped red chilli
1 small kaffir lime leaf, very finely shredded with a pair of scissors
Mix all the ingredients together and marinade the tofu for a few hours, overnight or 2 days (the ginger starts losing its flavour after 2 days). Turn the pieces a few times.Transfer the tofu to a small dish, preferably lined with non-stick baking parchment. Pour over the marinade and cover the dish with tin foil.Bake in the oven on the middle shelf for 15 - 20 minutes, covered.Remove and serve.
Maple syrup & peanut
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp peanut oil
2 tbsp toasted peanuts, chopped medium fine
2 ml soy sauce
Mix all the ingredients together and marinade the tofu for a few hours, overnight or up to 3 days.Transfer the tofu to a small dish, preferably lined with non-stick baking parchment. Pour over the marinade and cover the dish with tin foil.Bake on a shelf just below the middle of the oven for 15 minutes at 190°C (370°F). Remove the tin foil and bake for a further 3 minutes.Remove and serve. Also tastes delicious cold, served like a patty on bread for lunch.
Thyme studded
4 tbsp fresh thyme: keep the leaves on the little twigs, but remove the thick woody stems
2 tsp olive oil
2 ml balsamic vinegar
1 ml herbal salt
cracked black pepper
Cut incisions into the tofu and stuff with the thyme by pushing the twigs into the tofu with a blunt knife.Mix the rest of the ingredients together and marinade the tofu for a few hours.Transfer the tofu to a small dish, preferably lined with non-stick baking parchment. Pour the marinade over and cover the dish with tin foil.Bake at 170°C (340°F) in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, covered.Remove and serve.
Garlic stuffed
2 garlic cloves, cut lengthwise into tiny matchsticks
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp vincotto / balsamic vinegar with a dash of date syrup stirred in
1 ml herbal salt
cracked black pepper
Cut small incisions into the tofu with a sharp knife to make nice clean cuts. Stuff with the garlic by pushing the garlic pieces into the cuts with your fingers.Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over the tofu. Turn the tofu a few times in the marinade.Transfer the tofu to a small dish, preferably lined with non-stick baking parchment. Pour the marinade over and cover the dish with tin foil.Bake on the middle shelf in the oven at 180°C (360°F)for 25 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake just briefly for 2 minutes to protect the garlic.Remove and serve.
Laurinda Erasmus is a vegan chef and author of a vegan recipe book, called Benessere well-being: vegan & sugar-free eating for a healthy life-style, by Quinoa Publishing. The book has over 520 recipes, each with a colour photograph, taken by the author herself. The book won a gold medal at the Living Now Book Awards in New York, USA. She is passionate about the vast possibilities of creating plant-based meals, the increased wellness and energy through plant nutrition and making a smaller impact on our precious ecosystem. Through her book and vegan classes, she shows healthy and fun ways of how to bring more plant-based meals into one's diet. She also travels extensively, always collecting new recipes and re-writing them as vegan dishes. She shares her tips for vegan travellers accompanied by vegan travel recipes on her blogsite http://veganwellbeing.wordpress.com/ and to view her vegan recipe book see http://www.veganwellbeing.net/.
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