Asian Grilled Tofu with Quick Stir-Fried Greens

Over the past couple of weeks I have been getting a lot of emails about vegetarian and vegan food.  Everyone says I focus a little too much on meat.  While bacon is my favorite food, I also dabble in other types of food.  Yesterday my friend Craig from college emailed me about some vegetarian recipes.  So I decided to do a post or two on things other than beer and bacon.  I know some of you just want bacon and beer, but I am all about compromise.  Plus, this recipe is awesome.   The kicker is that you get to use a grill too.  I couldn’t give up on all of my favorite things.  So back in the day I found a recipe on Epicurious.com that was grilled tofu with Asian greens.   It was good but it needed some flavor.  So I came up with this little take on it to give it a little more flavor.

The tofu absorbs the marinade very well and has a great grilled flavor.  The greens were also amazing and worked perfectly with the dish.

Asian Grilled Tofu with Quick Stir-fried Greens – (adapted from Epicurious.com)

• 14oz Extra Firm Tofu – 1 package
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbs vegetable oil – (we are grilling so use vegetable oil over olive oil)
• 1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flake – you can add more or less depending on the heat that you like

Greens

• 2 bags of Spinach – Sorry but it is pre-cleaned – Nothing sucks more than sand in your teeth.
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 3 tbs reserved marinade from the tofu

The first step is to drain the tofu.  Then cut it into six equal thickness slices.

Place a paper towel on a sheet pan, then arrange the slices on the paper towel.

Cover with another sheet of paper towel and then place another sheet pan or flat object on top of the tofu.  Cover the top sheet pan with a couple of cans or bottles of wine.  I just happened to have a couple of bottles of wine lying around.  Go figure.

Let sit for 3-4 minutes.  Then dissasemble the contraption and reassemble with new paper towels.  You will have to do this a couple of times to get the tofu dry.  Since we are grilling we want the tofu as firm as possible.  By removing the liquid from it, it will allow the tofu to firm up.  Plus, drying out the tofu will help the tofu absorb the marinade.  Two birds with one stone.  Awesome.

While the tofu is drying out, assemble the marinade in a flat bottom pan.  I found a 8×8 pan worked great.  Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, minced garlic, grated ginger, red pepper, vegetable oil and rice vinegar and mix thouroughly.  Then place the dried tofu in the dish.

Marinate at room temperature for about 10 minutes.  Flipping every 2-3 minutes.

While the tofu is marinating heat up your grill or grill pan to medium heat. If using a grill pan, make sure to oil it.  If using a outdoor grill, make sure your grates are clean.

Gently remove the tofu from the pan and place on the grill.  Remember to save the marinade.

Grill for 4 minutes and flip.

Grill for another 4 minutes and it is done.

Remove the tofu from the grill and cover while you make the greens.

I wanted to use 1 lb of broccoli rabe for the greens but the bunches at the store look hideous, so I used spinach.  If using broccoli rabe follow the same directions except you need to quicly blanche them in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Remove from the water and put immediately in ice water to stop the cooking.  Then continue with the directions.

In a large skillet or wok, heat up 1 tbs of vegetable oil on high.

When heated, place all of the greens into the pan.  It will look like a lot, but it will cook down nicely.

Gently stir for 30-60 second until the greens start to wilt.  Then add the marinade to the pan.

Stir for another 30 seconds and the greens are done.

Place the greens on a plate, then top with the grilled tofu.

A quick and easy meal that is high in protein and full of flavor.