Grilled Tofu with Sriracha

Today is an extra-special day as I have been given the privilege of co-hosting Angie's Fiesta Friday #107,with a seasoned co-host and an excellent blogger Margy @ La Petite Casserole. I hope I can stand up to the trust placed by Angie on me. If you don't yet know what Fiesta Friday is yet, it is time to check it out! It is one of the friendliest blogger parties ever! I joined Fiesta when I first started blogging two years ago. Over the past two years, I have made several friends at the Fiesta, learnt a lot from all the wonderful bloggers who party there. The best part about Angie's Fiesta is that everyone is so willing to impart whatever they know to you. This place is a blessing to new bloggers.Check out the guidelines here for coming to this party. Link up your posts at Angie's Fiesta and to both the co-hosts!

 I have created this recipe especially for my friends at Angie's Fiesta Fiday! I am looking forward to tons of chit-chat, sharing and caring over the next few days!!

Tofu and I have a kind of a love-hate relationship. What is tofu? Tofu is basically bean curd that is made by curdling soy milk and then pressing I into a solid block, just like the way cheese ( paneer is made).

 I like the concept of tofu and all the good things that it stands for, but I have never come to like the taste of it; until now! I have tried incorporating tofu in my diet on several different occasions. I have made scrambled tofu, I have substituted it in place of paneer and made our traditional paneer dishes like malai paneer, paneer chilli, I didn't like it. I have made stir-fry using Tofu; didn't like it. For some reason, it just didn't appeal to me. It tasted bland, weird.. I don't know.. Just not right. I used to often see my very good blogger friend, Sonal @Simplyvegetarian777 rustle up amazing tofu dishes. I would just look at her posts and let them pass.

Then one day, I went out to dinner at this Korean restaurant downtown. One of the dishes that we ordered was rice with vegetables and something. The name was quite fancy. When the dish was served it looked great and tasted out of this world! One of the items in that dish was slices of Tofu. It was so flavorful and delicious,  I cannot even describe! Looking at that dish, I realized that the trick for cooking Tofu and making it flavorful is marinating it right. Tofu is essentially bland with no particular taste. It is askin to an empty canvas. It imbibes the taste of whatever sauce that you put it in. This gave me a renewed determination to try Tofu again!

 I marinated it in a spices honey barbecue sauce and grilled it in my grill pan over the stove top. The result was a delicious tofu steak that is super-flavorful and made a wonderful side for my meal! The best part is that there is not much prep involved and is super quick and easy to make! Perfect for a weeknight dinner. All you would need to do is at some point ( read previous night)  marinate the tofu steaks in the sauce and leave it in the fridge. Extra firm tofu works best for this recipe.

Servings: 6  ( One 1.5 cms thick steak per person)

Ingredients:

Organic Extra-firm Tofu : 1 package
Honey barbecue sauce: 1/4 cup ( any brand will do. ( I used some leftover gourmet honey BBQ sauce that I had).
Soy Sauce: 1 tbsp ( use gluten-free if gluten-intolerant ).
Sriracha sauce: 1 tsp ( you can use any hot sauce if you don't have Sriracha)
Olive oil: for greasing the grill pan.

Method:

Slice the tofu into 1.5 cms thick slices ( steaks). Keep aside.

Add honey barbecue sauce, soy sauce and Sriracha sauce to a bowl. Mix well.

Brush each tofu slice with the marinade and place in a bowl. 

Pour the remaining on top of it. Cover and keep in the refrigerator to marinate a minimum of 30 minutes.

Heat the grill pan on the stove stop on medium heat. Grease the pan using olive oil. When the pan is hot enough, place the tofu slices on the pan. Cook for 5 mins on low flame. Flip it over and cook for another 4-5 mins.

Serve hot with grilled vegetables, noodles or fried rice.

Enjoy! I am also bringing this to our friends at Throwback Thursday.

Cooking made easy:

As you can see, any combination of sauces with flavors that you desire could be used. I usually take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and see what comes out of it. If it is good, I share it with you all. You win some and you lose some. But you won't know until you have tried! Be creative!

Tip for healthy living:

Tofu is a great source of protein for vegetarians and vegans as it is one of those few foods that contains all eight essential amino acids. It is also an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous.  It is also a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1.  However, I personally prefer to use organic and non-genetically modified tofu.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu
http://www.livestrong.com/article/378597-is-tofu-healthy-to-eat/
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-tofu

Food for thought:

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them. Albert Einstein

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!