Wednesday 15 August 2007

Tofu.

I always think it strange when people tell me that they don't like the taste of tofu. I remember when I first starting eating vegetarian a little over 11 years ago and I was trying to figure out how to prepare tofu, the recipe book I had said to think of tofu as if it were flour, most people wouldn't want to eat flour straight out of the bag but you can sure make a variety of tasty things with flour. You can use flour to make all kinds of sweet or savoury things. Tofu is the same, and I think that most everyone can find ways that they will enjoy it. It isn't really meant to be enjoyed plain out of the package - although E likes it that way.
I forget if I mentioned this book already, it is called Simply in Season and I am really enjoying it. (the library bought it so you can borrow it from there) It has good, simple recipes all placed in order of the seasons, so if you have a ton of summer produce you can just look in the Summer section and choose a recipe. The recipes are interspersed with all kinds of interesting information on farming, organics, and the health of our earth. Last night I used one of the recipes (sort of) to marinade some extra-firm (no comments please N) tofu to make kebabs. E had asked me if we could have "food on a stick" because the last time I made kebabs we had company over and for convenience sake I had taken his food off the skewers and put it on a plate for him (thinking that I was being helpful and thinking ahead to save myself from doing it once I sat down to eat my dinner with our company). It turns out he had really been looking forward to eating the food right off the stick and was very disappointed.
W wanted to be the one to put all the things onto the skewers and arranged them quite nicely, I noticed that only half of them had onions on and those were "for you and Dad."
We also grilled what we are now calling "slabs of zucchini" as we are running out of creative ways to prepare the abundance that we have. We just sprinkle big slices of it with olive oil, thyme, garlic and salt and pepper. If anyone has any tried and true ways of zucchini preparation that they are willing to share I would love to hear them.Any finally, finally I got this pair of felted clogs done. These were meant to be a thank-you gift for our neighbour who very kindly took care of my sick cat while we went to Maui in January. Yes, January. Then I thought that I would get them done for her birthday in May....that's right, May. Anyhoo, they are done now and I felted them last night so that I could give them to her today. And, yes, I did forget them in the washing machine while they were felting. Of course I did, I always do, but they turned out nicely anyway.

5 comments:

Nicola said...

Now why would I make a comment about extra-firm, after all extra firm is the best way to be, eh! Re the best way to prepare zucchini, I would say it's simple - lift the lid of the compost bucket, toss in, and leave to marinate until it's time to walk down the garden and toss it in the compost heap ;-}

Katherine said...

Good analogy with the tofu, Heather. MMmmm those kebabs look so good. Good to hear that there's a recipe book that is organized by way of season. Thanks for the recommendation.

Another fine looking pair of felted clogs! Well done! I'm sure she'll love the gift no matter what.

Anonymous said...

Love the clogs!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have a recipe for what I call Zuchini Pizza. It's more of acassarole.
You need:
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced zuchini
bread crumbs
basil, oregano, parmesan cheese
chopped onions, I use the dried kind
butter
bread crumbs
olive oil
sliced cheese, I use whatever is on hand, provalone, cheddar, american
Dribble a little oil in a cassarole dish layer the tomatoes, zuchini, spices, onions and cheese, keep repeating layers til you get to the top of the side of the dish. Top with bread crumbs and pats of butter and bake at about 350f. Until cooked through. I guess about 30-40 minutes. Enjoy!

Heather said...

Hey, thanks so much Lisa. That sounds so good. When I get back from holidays and am faced with loads more of tomatoes and zukes I am going to make a bunch of those, I love all those flavours together and never thought of doing that. It sounds almost like lasagna without the fuss of having to cook noodles. Hmmm, maybe Nicola will be sad she made such disparaging remarks about zucchini now and will want to come over for dinner to try the casserole. ;-)