MoFo#6/Balsamic Tofu w/peppers & onions

I hope everyone's weekend has started off to a good one.  The sky is cloudy and grey.  One of the perks with raining is that my water bill is a lot less money.  Bring on the rain!

Thanks for all the get well wishes for Keaton.  He woke up yesterday feeling alot better.  He still has a cough that's lingering but it's random now.

He's bummed because we didn't let him go to Magic Mountain with his friends but that's just a long day and

when Dave was giving him a hug this morning he noticed he was warm.   He'll be fine, rest is all he needs.

There was this meal I used to make for Dave, not myself, in my pescetarian days. It was a balsamic chicken with pepper and onions. This was one of his favorite meals. I gave it a go from memory and it was delicious! If you want to impress dinner guests but don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, this is it. I served it over mashed potatoes. You can adjust the recipe for a single serving to or just make more and just have it for left overs.



Balsamic Tofu w/peppers & onions

Recipe

4 servings

Olive Oil

14oz. Firm Tofu, sliced into strips

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 C. yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 C.  Red Italian or bell peppers, sliced

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1/4 C. White wine

1 T. balsamic vinegar

s & p to taste

Heat up skillet(I use cast iron) and add olive oil.  Once heated up add the onion, garlic and peppers to skillet and saute until soft.  Next add in the rosemary and a bit of salt and pepper, continue to saute for about 2 minutes.  Once done take out vegetables and put into a dish and set aside.  Next add a bit more oil to the skillet and add the tofu strips, sprinkling a bit of salt onto the tops.  You want to sear the tofu on both sides until they start to turn brown and get a bit of a crust on them.  Once the tofu is done add the vegetable mixture back in with it and add the wine.  Stir for about a minute or so until completely warmed through.  Then stir in the balsamic vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over mashed potatoes or pasta.



Using a good balsamic is real important.  My mother-in-law always makes sure I have balsamic vinegar handy and luckily she knows which ones are best.  This one is from Oliviers & Co. and tastes wonderful!  It's more syrupy but not too much and a bit sweet instead of real acidic.  This is the kind you can drizzle over pasta or veggies before serving your guests or yourself.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

We love grilling vegetables on the bbq when the warm weather hits. We kind of bbq all year long but since the move it gets a tad bit colder here so we didn't bbq as much this past year during the winter. Freezing while you grill isn't too much fun. You can grill any vegetables you want and then toss them in a salad. Here are the vegetables and dressing I used for our salad.

First, in a medium bowl I added a nice mixed green lettuce, with tomato and green onion, then put back in the refridger to stay cold.

Vegetables: 2 lg portobello mushroom(kept whole),
1 lg zucchini, sliced long ways
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 lg sweet potato, sliced
2 lg red potatoes, slice 1/4 inch thick
1 lg carrot(grilled carrots rock
1/2 bunch of asparagus
In a small bowl mix olive oil, 3 garlic cloves ( or more)minced, balsamic, salt and pepper. Brush portobello with marinade then toss together the rest of the vegetables with the marinade and set aside.
While the veggies are marinadeing and the grill is heating up, prepare dressing.

Balsamic dressing: Whisk together extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, 1 garlic clove, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. You can add a bit of sugar or agave to sweeten up more if you wish.

I also thinly sliced some organic rustic french bread and brushed with some olive oil on both sides.

When the grill is at a medium heat, grill vegetables until done then grill the french bread on both sides.

Chop up vegetables, slice up an avocado. To prepare plates add lettuce, vegetables, avocado, then drizzle balsamic dressing and serve with grilled french bread. I broke up my bread and tossed it in my salad, it was like croutons but so much better!