A quick note about my blogging and cooking. As I've mentioned before, I'm a resident (doctor in training) at a very busy uptown hospital center. Though I have the luxury of living practically next door to the hospital, my hours aren't the best. I generally throw together dinners and spend most of my time cooking things for breakfast or lunch. I do this at about 9pm and on days when I have a 2 hour block after 9pm, I make 2 or 3 dishes. I rarely ever post more than 1 dish at a time though, and the reason for that is so that I can spread out my posts and still have something to say about cooking when I've barely set foot in the kitchen. So for those who are curious, I don't have the time or the desire to cook every day, or even close to it. Instead, for example, if I am making one thing that has to sit in the oven for 40 minutes, I take that time to make something else. That way, I don't sit around just "watching the bot boil" so to speak.
Ok, back to the post...
Two nights ago, Boyfriend ate half of a block of extra-firm tofu. Having no real plans for the second half, I decided to cut the second half of it into 4 (roughly 60 cals/slice) and throw it into a zip-lock baggie along with a drizzle of dark sesame oil and soy sauce.
I left it in the fridge overnight and got to it when I got home from the gym the next day.
I made the same mixture as I did for my panko-crusted tuna burgers (i.e. a few handfuls of panko crumbs and 2-3 tsp black sesame seeds) in a bowl and proceeded to dunk in the wet tofu.
I sprayed a non-stick pan down with Pam and placed the crusted tofu down. Every couple of minutes, I turned the tofu until every side (except the base of the triangle) was a nice golden brown color.
They received rave reviews from Boyfriend, who is generally a staunch eater of animal-proteins.
I'd probably clock these in at about 100 cals/slice (60 for the tofu, 20 for the breadcrumbs, 20 for the oil/soy).
I did have a lot of oil left over in the baggie so I assume all of it didn't get into the tofu.
Future directions: cut into 8, not 4 because then the tofu will soak up more of the marinade (maybe?). Add the wasabi mustard to the marinade. Consider egg whites?
FYI, the first half of the tofu became a tofu-salsa salad. The tofu got a liberal sprinkling of seafood seasoning (why? because it was there) and got sauteed. Boyfriend added our favorite Dessert Pepper Corn and Black Bean Salsa. It was definitely somewhat tasty =)
Ok, now, on to a little personal stuff. I really want to wax poetic about salsa. The stuff is incredible. Vegetables, low calorie, spicy....what can't salsa do? Having tried almost everything that's common, I've learned that this El Paso Dessert Pepper stuff is the best. Specifically the corn and black bean variety that I use to 1) moisten turkey meat for turkey burgers/meatballs 2) spice up my omelets (or omelet muffins) and 3) as a good ol' condiment.
The black bean dip salsa can be substituted for hummus. I ate a few sticks of celery with it today and it really takes the edge off of hunger. The tomatillio salsa verde is great on fish and shrimp, especially in a taco context.
I honestly always have at least 2 and sometimes 3 salsas in my refrigerator. You really have to wait a long time for them to go bad and they're just a great investment.
Anyway, I'm going to actually post this tomorrow morning, though I also will be posting about my third go at a doughy smoothie (with chia seeds) as well as a huge prep day where in less than 2.5 hours I made falafel, spaghetti squash and the aforementioned smoothie. That's going to be breakfast + 2.5 lunches + snacks for BF.