Monday, August 30, 2010

Back with Sesame Tofu!!

A big hello to everyone! Posting after almost 6 months. My apologies!!!

These days I have been trying to eat more healthy, nutritious food for the only reason to be more fit and healthy. My blog as a result, needs some changes in order to be in sync with my eating habits. Cravings is all about what I experiment with food. I have decided to make Cravings a health food blog. I strongly believe that healthy and nutritious food doesn't have to be boring.  You can make it interesting by using your endless creative ideas.

I am going to start off with some sesame tofu which was Friday night's dinner.




It was a stir fry with vegetables and I served it over brown rice. So forget about the Chinese takeout/delivery which probably has more oil in it. Instead cook yourself a great sesame tofu. This way you can control the ingredients going in. Way more healthy and thoughtful than just ordering it over the phone.Gives you a great feeling of doing something good for you.

Ingredients I used-:

Firm tofu 8 oz- drained and pressed to remove excess water.
Low sodium Soy Sauce- 1tbsp
Olive oil- 1 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger- about 1/2 inch
Vegetables - whatever veggies you have on hand, which suits stir fry.
Sesame seeds- about 1/2 tbsp

For the marinade-
Low sodium Soy sauce
Teriyaki sauce- just a dash
Black Pepper
Salt.
Red pepper flakes

Tofu is really like a sponge, you can be absolutely creative when it comes to marination. It will be delicious. I marinated it with some soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, black pepper, and some salt for about half an hour. The longer it sits the better it is absorbed.

I pan fried tofu with some olive oil in a non- stick pan. You can use wok if you happened to have one.
It took about 15 minutes on a medium flame to cook tofu completely and had that brown chewy texture outside and softer inside. Then I added chopped garlic in to the same pan. After a minute, I added the Soy sauce and the vegetables. Saute everything for 3-4 minutes. Do not overcook the veggies. It should have it's crunch. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Turn off the heat and serve it as a side dish with Brown rice or whole wheat pasta. You can also serve it with couscous or the great Quinoa.

It is delicious and healthy with the protein packed tofu and the goodness of all the vegetables in it. Soy sauce and teriyaki marinade gives the dish great taste, and the sesame seeds add a nutty taste. All in all, a good weeknight dinner in very less time....:)

Enjoy..:)


Brown Rice- WHFoods
                      Nutrition Facts

Tofu-   Nutrion facts

3 comments:

Pavithra Srihari said...

welcome back and that truly yummy and satisfy the cravings tooo.. wow .. looks too good

Puneri said...

Well, delicious blog indeed. Now, since I have been trying to cook different things your blog is an inspiration and great source of interesting recipes.

Manali said...

@ Pavithra- Thanks so much for the kind words.

@ Puneri - Thanks. I would love to know your experiments as well.