Crispy Tofu Spinach Bites

Being a good source of protein, extra firm tofu is a staple in my fridge, and I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. Typically I marinate and bake it, which gives it a firmer texture, but it isn’t as crispy on the outside as deep fried tofu. Not wanting to deep fry, I was looking for other ideas and found this vegan fried chicken recipe. Wrapping in rice paper and then pan frying - what a brilliant idea! Instead of wrapping each piece of tofu individually, I decided to use two tofu slices with some sauteed spinach sandwiched in between. The rice wrapper helped contain the delicious juices from the spinach and the tofu marinade, while the crust was nice and crispy.

Ingredients (Makes 10 tofu sandwiches: ~4-5 servings)

14 oz extra firm tofu

Marinade (Any other marinade will also work)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced (or garlic powder)

1/2 tsp grated ginger (or ginger powder)

1 tsp honey

Adjust ingredients to taste if required

Spinach filling

10 oz spinach

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 Tbsp coarsely chopped cashews

1 tsp sesame seeds

Soy sauce or salt for seasoning

1 tsp sesame oil (or any other oil of your choice)

 

Crispy wrapper

5 rice paper wrappers

1 egg beaten + salt + black pepper to taste

Optional:  ¼ cup rice flour + garlic powder + salt + pepper

Oil for pan frying

The tofu and the spinach filling can be prepared separately ahead of time.

Prepare the tofu

Drain and slice the tofu about ½” thick. Cut each slice in two to get about 2x2” pieces. Using a paper towel squeeze out excess water from the tofu slices.

Mix all the marinade ingredients and soak the tofu slices in the marinade for at least half an hour.

The marinated tofu can be used as is, or the slices can be baked or cooked in a pan on the stovetop. I used the stovetop method - lightly browning the tofu on both sides in a non stick pan over medium heat (no oil required).

Spinach filling

Heat oil and saute garlic, cashews and sesame seeds over medium heat for a few seconds. Add spinach and mix well. Take off the heat once spinach is wilted but still crunchy.

 

Assembling

Break the rice papers in half and soak in warm water until softened.
 

Place one of the wrapper halves on a plate. Place a piece of tofu close to one end. Top it with a Tbsp of spinach filling followed by another piece of tofu. Fold the sides up and start rolling from the end. Keep rolling tightly till you get to the other end of the rice paper. Set aside the wrapped tofu 'sandwich' and repeat with the remaining ingredients.

These wrapped tofu bites can be eaten as is with a dipping sauce if you don’t want to fry them. For the crispy pan fried version, heat a few drops of oil - just enough to lightly coat the bottom of a non-stick pan. Dip the wrapped tofu in the egg, then dip it in the flour mixture, dust off excess flour and pan fry on all sides until golden brown. The flour dipping definitely gives extra crunchiness (picture at the top of the post), but I liked it best just dipped in egg before pan frying (picture below).

Drizzle with your favorite sauce (I boiled and reduced the marinade; added some more vinegar, honey to make the sauce), and serve warm.

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Thursday, August 27, 2015

Crispy Parmesan Cups

A few years ago when I finished graduate school, my foodie friends Meghana and Vikram gifted me a super fancy cookbook titled “The French Laundry Cookbook”. The author, Thomas Keller, is the chef/proprietor of the renowned French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, among other fine dining restaurants. Starting his kitchen journey as a dishwasher, he climbed his way up to be a chef and restaurateur, currently holding 7 Michelin stars between 3 restaurants, and is also a James Beard award winner. Both the food and the photography in this book are brilliant. Every dish is elegant and is beautifully plated. Vikram and Meghana themselves are artists with food, and this wonderful gift from them is simply full of food art.

One of the recipes that caught my eye was a goat cheese mousse served in parmesan crisps. The combination of delicate crispy parmesan and the goat cheese seemed like a great idea, but I thought I’d try to make it just a little bit healthier by adding some greens. I still wanted to have the goat cheese component without making the mousse, so I made a goat cheese salad dressing.

The Parmesan crisps in the original recipe are prepared by melting the Parmesan cheese in the oven, but I didn’t want to heat up the oven just for that, so I decided to try this on the stove top. It was really quick and easy, with extremely satisfying results.  

Ingredients:

Parmesan cups (for each cup)

~¼ cup (loosely packed) finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese.

Freshly grated from a block of Parmesan is best for this because it is not as dry and you can grate it finely, however pre-shredded fresh Parmesan would work. Don’t use the dry granulated “grated Parmesan” sold in the plastic canisters.

Salad

Mixed greens

Cherry tomatoes

Sliced cucumbers

Sliced radishes

Any other ingredients of your choice!

Goat cheese salad dressing

1 Tbsp soft goat cheese

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

Heat a nonstick pan over low-medium heat. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly in a 6” circle. Don’t leave any big gaps. Let the cheese melt and get bubbly. Take the pan off heat after ~2 minutes (once the bubbling reduces and cheese starts to change color). Using a thin spatula, gently start peeling the Parmesan crisp from one side. Once you lift it a little, you can peel the rest of it carefully with your hands. Don’t worry if it breaks - you can use the broken pieces of the Parmesan crisp to top any salads unless you scarf them down while making the next one like I did.

Quickly place the hot Parmesan “sheet” on an inverted bowl and press on the edges gently but firmly to form the “cup”. Hold for a minute until hardened then take it off the bowl. Now step back and admire your awesome lacy edible creation!

Combine all the salad ingredients. Make the dressing by mixing the goat cheese, honey and lemon juice. Adjust the amounts to taste. Theres a lot of room to get creative with the salad ingredients as well as the dressing!

Carefully add the salad to the Parmesan cups and drizzle the goat cheese dressing on top.

This would make a perfect dinner party first course since it is not time intensive. The parmesan cups are fairly quick to make - the only time consuming step is grating the cheese. The cups can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. The salad and the dressing can also be made ahead of time and stored separately in the refrigerator. Just put together all the components right before the meal and get ready to impress your guests.

~Gayatri

Spinach Sesame Crackers

I was looking for a quick savory snack on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Something crunchy, that could be made quickly and would not need much cleanup. This spinach crackers recipe seemed to fit the bill. I made a few ingredient modifications (added rice flour, milk, pepper) and adjusted some quantities. These turned out great, and I can’t wait to play with more flavors. But for now, here’s the spinach version.

 

 
Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour (if using whole wheat flour, add a little extra oil and/or milk)

⅓ cup rice flour (can use all purpose flour, but rice flour increases the crispiness)

1½ tsp baking soda

2 cups packed fresh spinach

¼ cup water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

~1 tsp salt

¼ tsp crushed black pepper (optional)

 
Preheat oven to 400 F.
 
Puree the spinach with the water, oil and milk. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, salt, pepper, sesame seeds. Add the spinach puree and mix everything to form a soft dough. If too soft, add some more rice flour. On the other hand if it’s too hard, add some more milk. 

Roll out the beautiful green dough on a lightly floured surface to ~3-5 mm thick. Having even thickness helps bake them evenly! Cut into 1” squares (or shapes of your liking) and spread them out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 20-30 min (depending on thickness of the crackers) until lightly browned on the bottom and sides, and hard to touch on top. They harden a little bit once out of the oven, so don’t over bake.

 
Let the crackers cool a little before enjoying your savory snack. These taste great on their own, or with hummus or a yogurt dip (Greek yogurt, honey, cumin powder, paprika). But I think they’re best simply dipped in ketchup!
 

 
~Gayatri