Tofu Marinade

Sometimes I buy tofu. And then I cook it and eat it and I think... hm, I don't really like tofu. It's really just flavorless. But I know that I should marinate it or put a sauce on it or do something to make it a little more delicious. So today, even though I didn't plan well, I took the time to marinate the tofu.

First I was using extra firm tofu, so I pressed and drained it. I got out a big dinner plate and inverted a small bowl on top of it. I put the tofu on top of the bowl and then put a small plate on top of that. I put my two very heavy cookbooks on top of that (yes, it was a little precarious) and let it sit for a half hour to forty-five minutes.

While the tofu was pressing I whipped together the marinade. Then I checked the tofu and cubed it up. I dumped it in a bowl and covered it with the marinade.

I let that sit for forty-five minutes to an hour, and then I grilled the tofu.

It turned out great.

Tofu Marinade

1/4 onion, chopped

10-12 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbs olive oil + 2 more tbs olive oil

4 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp cumin

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-low heat. Toss in the onion and garlic and cook them gently. In the meantime, squeeze the lemon juice into a deep bowl (or I just my liquid measuring cup). When the onions and garlic get soft and smell fragrant, drop in the cumin. Stir and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Then add the onions/garlic/oil mixture to the lemon juice. Add the extra olive oil and stir rapidly.

Pour the marinade over tofu and let it soak.

Summer Banana Treat

I had a long meeting at work yesterday. When I left, the sign out in front of the building said 101 degrees. And as I proceeded down the road, the radio said the heat index was 110. And it felt every bit of it.

So I needed a little treat.

I had seen this recipe floating around on the internet. So I modified it a little and whipped it up in about two minutes. And enjoyed every bite.

Now, on the internet this has been called "Banana Ice Cream." Don't let that name fool you. It is not ice cream. And it doesn't taste like ice cream. But it is frozen and sweet and good.

Summer Banana Treat

1 frozen banana (I am the kind of person who buys a bunch of bananas and then freezes them when they are black. It's actually happening regularly these days, so I always have at least one in the freezer)

1 tsp carob powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped macademia nuts (I buy these from the baking aisle, they are meant for white chocolate chip macademia cookies)

Put the frozen banana in the food processor and pulse. The banana will break into small pieces (like dippin dots at the mall). When it gets to that state, dump it in a bowl and stir in the spices. Stirring will make the banana smooth and creamy. I like to add the macademia nuts on top, but you could stir them in as well.

Giant Salad

I think I need a bigger bowl!

Salads are my go-to meal these days. I've definitely enjoyed a little bit of farmer's market bounty, and the warm days and good produce just make salads perfect.

I tend to make one-meal, single-serving salads in these enormous bowls that I have. The picture does not do the size of this bowl justice, but it is very large and is filled to overflowing. That's what makes salads the best.

Italian-style Rice Salad

I lived in Italy for a few years. Italian summers are really hot and humid. It's rather like a North Carolina summer, except in Italy most places don't have any air-conditioning at all. This is true of places of business, but definitely true of houses. So all the Italian people change their eating habits in the summer so they don't have to heat up the kitchen (and the whole apartment). One of the common meals is a cold rice salad. This salad is meant to be served cold and is quite refreshing. You could heat up the rice a little before you toss the veggies in with it though. The other great thing about it is how quickly you can make it if you have leftover rice in the fridge.

As is typical with salad recipes, I totally just eyeball this, so this "recipe" doesn't contain real measurements.

Italian-style Rice Salad

Cooked brown rice

Cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half

Celery

Cucumber

Carrot

Onion or Leeks

Frozen green peas, warmed up

Olive oil, drizzled over the salad

Salt

Pepper

Directions: Chop up all the veggies into decently small pieces. Toss everything into a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Farmer's Market and a Tomato

My Farmer's Market haul on Saturday.

1 large bag of green and red lettuce

1 large box of ripe, delicious peaches

2 tomatoes (a lady walked up as I was purchasing my tomatoes, ate one of the free samples and said, "Wow! They taste like tomatoes! Hey, Susan, come try these, they taste like tomatoes!")

2 fatty cucumbers (and the peel on these is actually edible. No waxy build up)

1 bundle of spinach

1 bundle of kale

This is my favorite way to eat the tomatoes. Room temperature (because I stored them on the counter), sliced, with a tiny sprinkle of fleur de sel (my fancy salt).

Yeah, I'm the kind of person that would eat good tomatoes like an apple.

White Bean Salad and a Party Menu

Last week I hosted a farewell party for two of my coworkers. I asked people to bring a dish to share, but I knew I better have some food on hand.

I decided on a menu that would be quick and easy, that I could either purchase or make in advance, and that wouldn't be far off my "green" list, but that hopefully wouldn't look too weird either.

The menu:

• Shrimp -- purchased frozen and served with a bowl of store-bought cocktail sauce.
• Hummus with crudite and pita chips. The hummus and chips were store-bought, and I just chopped up carrots, celery, and a green pepper into convenient sticks.
• White bean salad -- recipe to follow.
• Watermelon -- cubed up by me.
• Cream puffs -- store-bought from the freezer section.

Others brought meatballs, deviled eggs, and a fruit tray. I always worry, but there was plenty of food, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

White Bean Salad

This recipe is very flexible in size. For the party size, I used 3 cans of beans.

1 can navy beans (or any other white bean of your choice), drained and rinsed.

1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped

4-5 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 tablespoons lemon juice (or the juice from one large, juicy lemon)

2 tsp dried oregano (parsley would also work here)

2 tsp salt

sprinkle of pepper

Put the beans, tomatoes and cucumbers in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk the olive oil and lemon juice until they emulsify and form and dressing. Add the salt, pepper, and oregano to the dressing. Whisk again vigorously.

Pour the dressing over the bean salad, stir, and refrigerate in a covered bowl for at least 2 hours so the flavors can get happy.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

This is also lovely served over a bed of greens.

Grilled Veggie Salad

Summertime is a great time for salads. And here in the middle it is finally summer. We spent all of May at 60-65 degrees. June 1st hit 90. Woo hoo!! I love it!

I had some veggies that were looking a little sad. So this beauty is a grilled veggie salad, which cleans out the fridge so beautifully.

Grilled Veggie Salad

Romaine lettuce and spinach

Fresh parsley

Navy beans -- rinsed and drained really well

Grilled green bell pepper

Grilled yellow squash

Grilled carrot

Dressing -- olive oil, lemon juice, and a dash of salt.

Note: I like to fill the bowl with my lettuces and then dress the lettuces. Then I add everything else and pour a little more dressing over the top.