New recipes: Homemade Hummus and Asian Tofu

I would never have written these words a few years ago! How time changes how I eat! I hope I haven’t lost you yet. These recipes don’t go together, I just made them on the same day.

Also, I won a vegetarian cookbook over on Heather’s blog. Hooray for blogger giveaways. And look for some more veg dishes to come. How fitting on a day I experiment with tofu.

Red Pepper Hummus

I buy hummus every week for my lunches, so I thought I’d try making it for once! Here is a recipe I saw from Dorry that I adapted a little.

1 can garbanzo beans

1 medium fresh red bell pepper (could do roasted from a jar)

2 tsp. tahini

juice of 1 lemon

splash of red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic

2 T EVOO

generous pour of salt and pepper

Blend in food processor until smooth.

This was very creamy, had a pretty red color, and tasted homemade. There are so many varieties and textures of hummus–and many that are sold in stores seem very processed, but this was a nice consistency. And only one bowl to clean!

The tahini came in a big container, kind of like peanut butter. What else can you make with tahini? I thought it would have been a paste or small tube.

2 Ingredient Asian Tofu

I like to eat tofu, but I have no idea how to cook it. It is great from Whole Foods with Asian flavors or pesto, great at sushi restaurants with stir fry, but I don’t know how to replicate it. I have tried before, but it comes out mushy and tasteless. This time I followed a recipe that had two ingredients and hoped it would be fool-proof. Anne did this for tofu, so I followed her.

Ingredients:

1 pack Extra Firm O Organics Tofu Block

1 tsp Peanut Butter

1 tsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp water

Instructions:

Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, and water in a bowl until PB is broken up. I let mine sit for a few minutes to mesh together. Cut tofu block into 5-6 pieces and lay on foil-lined baking sheet. Spoon liquids over tofu and bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I had 2.5 pieces and served it with steamed snap peas and 1/2 sweet potato.

When the block is split 5 ways, one piece has 80 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g carbs, and 8 g protein.

The marinade was very tasty and simple, and I will try tofu again with similar flavor combinations. I should have let the tofu sit out of the oven for a few minutes after it finished baking because when I went back for another piece, it had hardened a bit more.

How do you cook tofu, and what do you serve it with?