Maple Tofu Bites - Simple Saturday

These Maple Tofu Bites are more of a tasty-treat-tip than a recipe. They make a fun, pick-up sweet appetizer for a cocktail party or a kid's party (and the best part is they're so good for us.)

Maple Tofu Bites

I was lucky enough to be invited by Allison of SushiDay.com to a Tofu Workshop that was being taught by Rachael of LaFujiMama.com.

We started with dried soy beans.

They were soaked and ground up.

Allison doing the grinding~

They were heated and pressed,

Andrew of EatingRules.com doing the pressing~

which gave us warm, toasty soy milk.

Rachael guiding us~

It was so nutty and delicious I may be spoiled for store-bought forever. The soy milk was curdled and then the pillowy curds were ladled into a wooden press.
After and hour, we ended up with creamy, fresh tofu.

We didn't even throw out the nib-like paste, called Okara, that's left over from pressing the ground beans for the soy milk. We each took some home to use in cooking other things. (hint: post to come?)

Our Tofu was silky melt-in-your-mouth light and we topped our bites with chopped scallions and grated daikon.

Then Allison told us how she and her boyfriend, Son, like to eat tofu drizzled with pure maple syrup. What? What? Doesn't that sound incredible? Well, turns out - it IS incredible and how easy is that? Of course, Allison didn't just bring up the idea without also bringing out the maple syrup so we could test this brilliant tip.So, now I pass it along to you with the added plating idea of making tiny lollipops out of them for serving at a party or to kids (who love eating anything on sticks. Who doesn't, really?)

I know the generous and talented Allison will be posting the whole workshop on her site soon, so check out SushiDay.com and follow her for updates. You can also visit LaFujiMama.com for tofu making and other wonderful recipes.

Maple Tofu Bites:

Firm Tofu
Real Maple Syrup

1)Use a small cookie cutter to cut your tofu into small bite size pieces (or cut into small cubes)

2) Drizzle with Maple Syrup, or pre-soak in Maple Syrup for a few minutes before placing small wooden skewers or sandwich picks into the tofu pieces for serving. Garnish with chopped nuts, if you desire.Happy Saturdays and here's to simple scrumptious ideas~ Thanks for stopping by.

TEMPTING TEMPEH

Today is the second in a series of Virtual-Friday-Lunches, started by the adorable and brilliant Cheryl at ATigerInTheKitchen. The #LetsLunch item this go round is BURGERS, so here's my spin on it ---

TEMPEH SLIDERS !

I know...I know...what the hell is TEMPEH, right? For a long time I only thought of it as the weird bumpy package that sat beside the Tofu in the market. But, maybe you're like me; have a vivacious curiosity and a giant desire to eat healthier. And, maybe like me you just need a little more info and a few minutes to experiment. If so, then you're gonna love this little TEMPEH BURGER.

Just to be factual, and use my new found knowledge: Tempeh is a cultured cake of beans and/or grains originally from Indonesia (one of the only soyfoods not from China). It's fermented, and when cooked properly has a nutty, meat-like, earthy...I'm making myself hungry, again...hardy bite. Tempeh contains more protein than chicken or beef, and loaded with Riboflavin and Manganese (which helps our bodies utilize nutrients, keeps bones strong and provides good function to our thyroid and nerves.) You won't read that on a Happy Meal box.

It took the US until the late 1970's to really get on board with Tempeh - but that was also the time we had the most growth in our national awareness for health, world hunger, fitness and childhood nutrition.

Class dismissed, time for Kitchen Playground.

The Tempeh I bought (although many actually make their own) came in a 6x8 slab. I used a small cookie cutter to first cut thick circles out, and then cut those in half to make thinner rounds. Tempeh is a great flavor canvas, meaning that it takes on and needs your ideas for flavor. It's like tofu in that way. I MARINATED the Tempeh circle/burgers for 30 - 45 minutes in a mixture of:

MARINADE:

1/2 cup Soy Sauce
Juice of 1 orange
2 Tbls. lemon juice
2 tsps. garlic powder
2 tsps. Garam Masala (Spice mixture: if you don't have it use a pinch of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and cumin)
1/4 cup Agave sweetener
2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cover and turn over a few times while marinating to make sure all pieces are flavored.

When ready to saute, pat the tempeh burgers dry on a paper towel. Then, heat a saute pan with 1 tbls. olive oil and saute for a crispy outside (about 2 minutes on each side.)

Remove burgers and place on mini-rolls with condiments of your choosing.

For my Tempeh Sliders: I used Vegan Mayonaise, roasted Yellow Beet, Roma tomato, Baby Romaine lettuces and placed them on a Green Tea/Black Sesame hand-made roll. I developed those rolls for "Fete du The" by ALGABAR.

These would make great appetizers, small plates or just cut them bigger and serve for a full burger meal.

ALSO, the scraps, from the tempeh not cut out, can be marinaded along with the burgers and also sauteed. I held them in the fridge and sprinkled them over a salad the next day. OMG, very deep, nutty and delicious topping for greens with red onions and roasted curry cauliflower. Try it, impress your friends...impress your body. Attempt Tempeh!