Save Swine, Eat a TLT

The last thing you are probably pining for this very moment is a warm plate of ... tofu.  But seeing these narrow bodies neatly lined up in rows made sharing this recipe hard to resist.  

Save a pig.  Eat a soybean.  The slogan still needs work.  Luckily, the tofu does not.

This idea is inspired by the ever-enchanting site, 101 Cookbooks.  The original recipe was for a “TLT,” a take on the beloved classic BLT.  It featured tempeh though, which—try as I might—I just cannot endorse. Tempeh and I are not friendly.  So I’ve been making the sandwich with tofu ever since.

The thin strips soak in a marinade that is meant to recall an essence of bacon.  If you really want a BLT, you had better use swine.  But the liquid, which is smoky and a little spicy from the chipotle, sweet from the maple, and salty from the tamari, can easily hold its own.

Thus, if you welcome the TLT as a singular entity, it makes a wonderful vegetarian-friendly counterpoint, employing the usual sidekicks: lettuce, tomato, and mayo.  The sandwich itself is not far off from the soy BLT MIT-based Clover Food Lab sells.  Their mantra being, local fast food done a la vegetarian.

I’ve used the Clover menu for inspiration on more than one occasion by tucking TLT components into a pita, roasting up some shoestring rosemary fries, and downing a pint of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project’s Jack D’or.  The tofu, native.  The beer, home-based in Somerville.  And the meal, made in my kitchen.  A local fast food feast all its own.

So, perhaps, save a BLT.  Eat a TLT.  It is not meant as a substitute for the adored piggy classic.  But it makes a t.asty l.ittle t.ofu sandwich all its own.

TLT Tofu

Inspired by 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:

1½ tbsp olive oil (plus more for the pan)

¼ cup tamari (soy sauce)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup

4-5 tbsp adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers)

about 14 ounces firm or extra firm tofu (1 block)

Instructions:

In a rectangular baking dish, mix together the oil, tamari, vinegar, brown sugar (or maple) and adobo sauce.  (Use less adobo if you don't like spice.) Slice the tofu into 4-5 rectangular slabs and then slice each slab into 3 pieces lengthwise, so you get long strips.  Lay the strips into the baking dish with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap, and let marinate in the fridge overnight.

Heat a medium sauté pan on medium to medium-high heat and add a glug of oil to the pan.  Add half the tofu (or all of it, depending on the size of your pan) and half the marinade to the hot pan.  Cook the tofu for about 5-7 minutes, or until the tofu starts to gather color on its underside; flip the tofu and cook until fairly firm to the touch (about 10 minutes in total).  If the tofu starts to burn, turn the heat down.  Wipe down the pan and repeat the process, if cooking in two batches.

Makes 12-15 strips

Notes:

- For the sandwich: I don’t need to tell you, you know how to make a BLT.  Use your favorite bread with tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo.  Sometimes I put a little lemon zest in the mayo. I like the TLT either on a brioche bun (if you’re feeling it, see here for a recipe) or in a pita (see here for a recipe).

-21st Century Tofu and Chang Shing Tofu are two local brands.

-The original recipe uses oven-dried tomatoes, which is brilliant in winter.  However, I found the sandwich too cloying for me, too one-notey.  It needed some brightness and the fresh tomatoes provided that.

-The sauce has a tendency to burn on you, so be sure to watch it and turn down the heat (or add a little more sauce to the pan) if needed.

-I like tamari (made solely from soybeans), so that’s the sauce I stock.

-Clover Food Lab now has food trucks and standalone units in Cambridge and Boston.  I like their restaurant in Harvard Square.  They have colored drawings done in crayon or marker tacked up on the walls and a vine growing up the back of their indoor space.  They also have beer.

-Please note: the BLT is one of my favorite sandwiches on earth.  I love pig.  But I also eat soy.   There.  I said it.  I feel better now.

Caramel and Macadamia Nut Tofu, a Much Needed Intervention

I’ve been really overdoing it lately.  Carrying on as though there is an award for self-exhaustion.  And it needs to stop.  I need an intervention.  

I imagine it would go something like this:

You need to start getting more than five hours of sleep … ice cream is not an acceptable breakfast option … nope, not for dinner either … put down the cake … I mean it … have you even been reading Tender? … you know that’s a book about vegetables, right? … no, white Russians do not count as a serving of dairy … you should probably stop using that as an excuse to have cheese for lunch, as well … I know you just got a tetanus shot, but still … keep this up and you’re going to hurt yourself … seriously … I’m not checking you for ticks again … I’m concerned.

So before shipping off to Paris, I thought I’d instill some rules.  Bedtime at 10 pm sharp.  Eat more green, leafy things.  Please do limit the dairy, as you are lactose intolerant.  Step slowly away from anything that has been aged in a barrel. 

In the spirit of compromise, things like whole grain muffins and dried fruit-studded rolls are encouraged.  As are meals that include more than cake.  A source of protein is required.  Ingredients like sugar can be used when intentions are pure. 

And, thus, I cannot tell you how pleased I am to present the resultant dish, born from excess and a little self-destruction.  Sure, it’s tofu, but don’t let that stop you.  Please.  Those in the tofu-hater club, particularly: take note. 

First, you’ll need macadamia nuts.  (A good start, no?) After toasting them, crisp up some tofu in oil until golden brown.  Sauté some aromatics; the shallot was born to play this role.  Then, add back the tofu and—are you ready for this?—toss in three heaping spoonfuls of sugar.  Yes, sugar.  After you let the sugar coat the tofu, add some liquid and a bubbling caramel glaze will form.  Fresh herbs go in at the end and become sweetly lacquered and crispy.  Lemon verbena is lovely, if you have it, but a number of substitutions could be made here.  Mint comes to mind.  Think green and bright and you’ll be fine.

I’m telling you.  This dish is so good it almost feels intervention worthy itself.  When paired with a loose slaw of shredded brussels sprouts, lemon, pistachio oil, and dried cherries it very easily makes it as my new favorite go-to dinner.  So it’s au revoir to all that excess.  Bonjour, tofu.  And hello to my sanity again.

Caramel and Macadamia Nut Tofu

Ingredients:

¼ macadamia nuts, chopped roughly in half

15 ounces tofu (or 1 package), cut into thick strips

~2-4 tbsp olive or peanut oil

½ shallot, sliced thinly

½ serrano pepper, seeded and diced

Pinch of salt

3 heaping spoonfuls of sugar (about 3 tbsp)

Splash of ponzu sauce

~7 lemon verbena leaves

Instructions:

Toast the macadamia nuts in a dry saucepan on low heat until they become fragrant and browned.  Meanwhile, pat tofu strips dry with a paper towel.  Remove the nuts from the pan and set aside.  Add about 1 tbsp of oil to the pan and then add about ½ the tofu strips.  Cook the tofu on one side on medium-high heat until golden brown on its underside and then flip and cook until well done on the other side.  Repeat with the remaining tofu, adding more oil to the pan when necessary and adjusting the heat as needed if the tofu starts browning too quickly.

Set the cooked tofu aside and add a little more oil to the pan to sauté the shallot and pepper.  Add a pinch of salt and cook the vegetables until they start to soften, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the tofu and the macadamia nuts back to the pan and then add the sugar, tossing gently with a rubber spatula to coat.  Add a splash of ponzo sauce; stir gently.  Add a splash or two of water (~1-2 tbsp).  Just enough to help the sugar start to bubble and caramelize.  Stir gently, just enough to help coat the tofu with the caramel glaze.  Add the lemon verbena strips, or other herbs, and cook just until the tofu is fully glazed.

Makes 2-3 rough cups of tofu strips.

Notes:

-The inspiration from this came from the lovely 101 Cookbooks.  The whole dish comes together in less than 30 minutes.

-I imagine a splash of citrus, such as orange juice, might be nice.  Perhaps as a substitute for the water.  Though watch the sweetness.  Surprisingly the caramel doesn't become overly saccharine against the tofu, but adding other sweet items might send it over the edge.

-This is the ponzu sauce I tend to use.