Grilled Lemon Tofu Food

LEMON-HERB GRILLED TOFU - VEGAN FRIENDLY

Steps:

• Drain and slice the tofu into 1/2 inch slices (slightly thicker slices if you plan to make kebabs) and place between paper towels. Place a weight on top and let drain for about an hour.
• Pat the slices dry and cut each slich into 3 or 4 triangles.
• Mix the marinade in a zip-lock bag, add the triangles and refrigerate until needed.
• Grill the tofu triangles until slightly browned. You could also skewer them with cut up vegetables and baste with the marinade.
• These are also very good the next day, served chilled with cooked green beans in the leftover marinade/dressing.

GRILLED TOFU

Steps:

• Arrange sliced tofu in a single layer on a paper towel-lined plate. Press top with more paper towels to remove excess water. Arrange tofu in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, or any shallow dish that can hold the tofu in one layer.
• In a small saucepan, combine oil, garlic and ginger over medium; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant, 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, sugar, pepper and 1/4 cup water, and cook, stirring to dissolve the sugar, about 2 minutes.
• Pour hot marinade over tofu. Gently turn tofu slices to evenly coat, then cover dish tightly with plastic wrap to seal in heat. Refrigerate for 6 hours (or up to 8 hours), flipping tofu slices halfway through.
• Heat grill to medium and grease grates well (or heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium and lightly grease). Grill tofu over direct heat until golden and caramelized, about 3 minutes per side.
• Meanwhile, transfer marinade to a small saucepan over medium and warm through, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in scallions.
• Transfer tofu to a serving plate and spoon over the sauce. Serve warm.

GRILLED HERBED TOFU WITH AVOCADO CREAM

Steps:

• For the tofu: Place a nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. (If not using a nonstick grill pan, oil the grill lightly before cooking the tofu to prevent sticking.)
• Cut the tofu in half diagonally to make 2 large triangles. Cut each large triangle in half to make 4 smaller triangles. Cut through each triangle horizontally to make 8 triangles. Brush on each side with olive oil. Season with the herbs de Provence, salt and pepper. Grill the tofu until light golden, 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a platter.
• For the cream: In a food processor, blend the avocado, parsley, broth, olive oil, lime juice, garlic and lime zest until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon the cream over the tofu and serve.

PERFECT GRILLED TOFU

Steps:

• Wrap tofu in a clean dish towel and weight it with something heavy such as a large can; leave it to drain for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix together remaining ingredients in a bowl.
• Cut each piece of tofu crosswise into 6 thick slices and put it all in a baking dish. Pour marinade over tofu, turning to coat, and chill, covered, turning occasionally, at least 30 minutes or up to 48 hours. Longer is better, but shorter is totally fine.
• Preheat a gas grill on high heat (450 degrees F to 650 degrees F) 10 minutes, then reduce heat to medium (325 degrees F to 375 degrees F)--or do whatever the equivalent is if you're using charcoal. Oil grate.
• Transfer tofu from marinade (letting excess drip off and reserving marinade) to grill with a spatula. Cover grill and cook tofu, turning once, until well browned but before grill marks get black, 10 to 15 minutes total. Transfer tofu to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
• Bring reserved marinade to a boil in a saucepan and boil until it reduces to about 1 cup, about 2 minutes. Pour over tofu and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

EASY-AS-1-2-3 VERSATILE GRILLED TOFU CHUNKS OR SANDWICH SLICES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, make the marinade by mixing the oil and soy sauce together with the salt and pepper, and/or extras if you like-- such as fresh herbs, Season-All, some nutritional yeast, a zesty spice like Ras El Hanout, you name it.
• or a different liquid like vinegars or tahini. Some marinade ideas-2TB olive oil + 1TB tahini + 1 tsp cumin for a Middle Eastern flavor, 2TB olive oil + 1 TB soy sauce + 1 tsp white vinegar + 1 tsp lemon pepper for a "faux fish" flavor, 2TB olive oil + 1TB soy sauce + 1 tsp taco seasoning + 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast for a Mexican flavor, 2TB olive oil + 1TB balsamic vinegar + 1 tsp oregano + 1/2 tsp ground rosemary for an Italian flavor, 2TB olive oil + 1TB soy sauce + 1 tsp red wine vinegar + 2 tsp nutritional yeast + 1/2 tsp turmeric + 1/4 tsp cumin.
• Ok, these next few steps in drying out the tofu are super-important and dependent on your microwave's strength-- I get about 8-9 slices if this nukes right, but they can get crumbly and fall to pieces if not left in long enough. (Still edible, but the "cutlet" form is easier to grill and make sandwiches with.).
• First, you have to cut open the tofu packet and get ALL the liquid out while carefully making sure you don't tear up the tofu brick.
• Place the brick on a microwave-safe dish and nuke in 30 or 45 second intervals on high until most of the water is out-- you'll see water come out on the sides between nukings. Blot it with a clean dish towel or some paper towels, and repeat this until little to no water comes out the sides-- but don't overcook!
• Turning over the brick onto the opposite side and wiping up the water coming out of the bottom helps speed this up.
• Cut into rectangles (or another shape if you like, I get about 8-9 rectangles this way.) Put the dried out tofu into a large tossing bowl. Pour on the marinade.
• Toss well to coat. If you didn't nuke for long enough, it can crumble in this step. It's ok, will still be edible, you'll just have more and smaller pieces.
• If you plan on cooking at a future point, put into an airtight container and refridgerate to grill at a later date.
• If you want to cook it now, let the marinade sit on the tofu for about 10-15 minutes. Tofu is very absorbent, all that great flavor soaks through this way.
• Grill them! I wouldn't know how to do this on an outdoor grill, but I use a mini George Foreman grill that works perfect, about 5 minutes does it. You can also use a stovetop grill pan, about 5 minutes on each side.
• For sandwich slices to eat cold--let the grilled tofu cool for about 20 minutes then wrap in plastic wrap or an airtight container and refridgerate.
• Use your imagination in serving and enjoy!