Crispy Roasted Tofu and Veg
Song suggestions:
Other Side of the World - Frances
Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5 feat. Megan Thee Stallion
Ingredients (2 bowls):
1/2 courgette
1/2 large sweet potato
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
100g block firm tofu
Three small bowls with cornstarch, soy milk and a flavoured breadcrumb coating (use 1 tbsp breadcrumbs, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp nutritional yeast and pinch of salt if making your own)
Recipe:
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
Wash and chop all your vegetables. Lay in a tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.
Grab some kitchen roll and wrap your tofu in it. Very gently press to absorb any moisture on the outside, but don’t squeeze so hard that you remove any moisture or liquid from the inside.
Slice the tofu.
Set up a lil assembly line: a bowl with cornstarch, a bowl with soy milk and a bowl of flavoured breadcrumbs. Pass each slice through your assembly line. Coat well in cornstarch, fully submerge in the soy milk and roll in breadcrumbs to finish. Lay on a baking tray once completely coated.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Depending on your oven and top v bottom shelf classics, one tray may need an extra couple minutes, so keep an eye on them both and at the 30 minute mark use your best judgement.
Serve in a bowl with salad! A cashew cream drizzle or sriracha dip for the tofu works really well here if you have any.
A Bite Out of Life
There are few prettier sights to me than completely finished plates - could almost have been licked clean, looking-fresh-out-the-dishwasher type clean. During the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, in March 2020, our final year house of five became four when our housemate Freddie moved back home to be with his family. Four then became five once more, in our final week of uni together, and we had a welcome-home dinner for the day he arrived. We did a big taco night with rice, salsa, guacamole, and a sweet pepper and black bean filling. The kind of meal that has everyone leaning into the back of their chairs to stretch their stomachs slightly once finished, having us debate whether there was room for dessert (who were we kidding, there’s always room for dessert) and feeling content to all be reunited around the same table once more.
