Five years ago, I published a post just after the New Year titled: Detox: Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Nuoc Cham. The sesame crust for this tofu included panko, which led one commenter to note it “wouldn’t actually be part of a detox because of the panko. Detoxing excludes gluten or wheat products.” News to me. I am a hopeless detoxer. I will never give up bread or legumes or grains or any other vilified foods this time of year. I cannot imagine a January without thick slices of quinoa-flax bread toasted for breakfast and lentil soup for lunch and Marcella’s stewy white beans or Cal Peternell’s Moroccan chickpea soup for dinner with a hunk of bread on the side. All of this said, this time of year, I do find myself, like many, wanting to eat more healthily. I’ve been craving vegetables and making a ton of them: roasted carrots with honey and almonds, the kale salad that started it all, roasted mushrooms with gremolata bread crumbs. (All of these, by the way, are from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons — can’t wait to share more!). More than any other time of year, too, I find myself reaching for the tofu. This recipe from Deb Perelman’s latest, Smitten Kitchen Every Day, satisfies all of my January proclivities: crispy tofu and broccoli with sesame-peanut pesto, a super-flavorful sauce modeled after the sauces dressing Deb’s favorite “deliciously inauthentic” take-out noodles. As you know, I don’t have a kitchen (update below!), but even so, this recipe came together incredibly easily: in sum, you roast broccoli and tofu on separate sheet pans, the broccoli tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, the tofu with oil, soy sauce, and cornstarch (which makes for an especially crispy crust); while the broccoli and tofu cook, you make a sauce with peanuts, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and a few other ingredients; to finish, you dress the roasted broccoli and tofu with the creamy-but-textured pesto and drizzle it all with hot sauce if you wish. That’s it! It’s incredibly delicious and satisfying, friendly enough to make any day of the week, but perhaps best suited for curling up with on the couch on a Friday night, your latest, favorite series ready to be devoured just as quickly. PS: More tofu: Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Nuoc Cham; Baked Tofu with Kale and Coconut; Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce Here’s a play-by-play: Set something heavy over a block of tofu to drain out the liquid: Cut the broccoli into florets; peel away the rough exterior of the stems, then cut into rounds: Place broccoli on one sheet pan: Place tofu on another: Roast at 400ºF: Meanwhile, make the pesto:
I used my extra coffee/spice grinder—a food processor is a pain to clean without a sink—which worked moderately well:
When the tofu and broccoli are crispy… combine them, then drizzle with the sauce, and … serve! Cabinets! Sink! 4.9 from 17 reviews Though I haven’t tried, I imagine this would double easily. With my kitchen under renovation, I am using quarter sheet pans that fit into my portable oven. One of these sheet pans fit the entire pound of broccoli and another fit the entire block of tofu. If you want to feed more than 2 people, I think you could easily roast 2 pounds of broccoli and 2 blocks of cubed tofu. Double the sauce, of course, too.
