Top 10 Best Tofu Marinades

Marinades easily, simply, & brilliantly get tofu to “pop” with flavor. If you get the marinade going ahead of time, they’re also fast.

Squeeze or drain the tofu very well beforehand, slice it (see below), put in a watertight lunch container with the marinade ingredients, and refrigerate for 1/2 hour or more (1 hour is better), shaking or turning upside-down every 15-30 min (you can even open the container up and rearrange things to help ensure maximum absorption).

To pan-sear: Cut tofu into 3/4-inch cubes and marinade. Once marinaded, arrange, sans oil, in your favorite super-nonstick, tofu-friendly pan and sear each side until firm and crunchy (should be the color of medium to well-done toast, but not burnt).

To bake: Preheat oven to 400° F. Cut tofu into 1/2 slices, then slice crosswise into strips 1/4 to 3/8 inches wide and 2 to 3 inches long. Prick on both sides with a fork, marinade, then place in a nonstick or lightly-oiled baking sheet, reserving any unabsorbed marinade if serving tofu on its own. Cover sheet with parchment paper or foil and bake 30-45+ minutes (depending on how dry you want it), turning ever 15 min or so. If serving tofu on its own, after baking, add back the reserved liquid and test seasoning to add more sauce or herbs as necessary.

The Recipes:

• 1-6 – Basic Baked Tofu (also: Spicy, Sweet & Sour, Chipotle, Barbecue, and Southern Tofu)
• 7 – Lemon-Herb Tofu
• 8 – Emily’s Magical Baked Tofu
• 9 – Spicy Asian Tofu
• 10 – Easy “Italian” Tofu
• 11 – Extra: Tangerine Tofu

Bonus Tips:

• Timing: I like to put together the marinade before going out on a run or hike; after I’ve cleaned up, the tofu is ready to cook for an easy dinner, along with rice (or pasta) and a salad.
• Tofu: I like Trader Joe’s firm tofu because it’s in 2 containers for easy halving and is more amicable to getting the juice REALLY pressed out of it. For Azumaya tofu I cut out the top label along the inner edge of the tofu container, then use the plastic to press the tofu down while I squeeze from the sides. Instead of squeezing, the tofu-wary &/or faint of heart can just slice the tofu and put it between two plates, bottom plate tilted to drain, with some books on top (takes longer, though).
• Meat Eaters: Most of these are equally superb with tofu or chicken, but if you’re going with real meat, cut the soy sauce down by half, add another tablespoon of oil, and marinade overnight or up to 3 days, depending on how juicy and tender you want the results to be. For longer-marinaded items slated for the barbecue, be careful not to cook at too high a heat, or the juicy middles will stay undercooked while the outsides burn. Easy solution: halve breasts lengthwise-flatwise before marinading. Obviously, always discard marinade used for meat; never use it for anything afterward. If you need additional marinade, make a separate batch that won’t touch the raw stuff.

Polly’s Cranberry-Rosemary Glaze for Tofurkey

Originally a pork glaze, this recipe evolved through 2 or 3 of my friends and acquaintances to make something truly wondrous out of the common-or-garden Tofurkey. Great on its own as a normal glaze, it also combines incredibly well with the Tofurkey’s gravy to make a sweet, tasty sauce. (See the end of this post for easy vegetarian side-dish suggestions for a vegetarian “traditional” Thanksgiving.)

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion, sliced pretty thin and then chopped stir-fry style
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth (save the rest of the broth for stuffing)
• 1 can cranberry sauce
• 2 Tbsp rosemary
• Zest of 1 orange
• Juice of 1/2 large (or 1 small) orange
   
• 2-3 large carrots, chopped
• 1-2 lb red potatoes (5-7 of the little kind), chopped into large cubes

1. Sauté the onion in the oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, cranberry sauce, rosemary, and orange zest and juice and bring to a boil, mixing thoroughly.
Reduce heat and simmer until sauce loses its watery texture and just starts to congeal into a jelly-like texture.

2. Remove gravy from heat and make stuffing.

3. Prepare the Tofurkey:
Stuff (or don’t stuff) tofurkey, as you prefer.
Arrange Tofurkey in a medium-sized baking dish, surrounding it with chopped carrots and potatoes.
Pour over everything the vegan “giblet” gravy that came with the tofurkey, then pour the cranberry mix over everything as well.
Cover baking dish with foil. Wrap stuffing in foil, separately, as well.
Bake Tofurkey for 45 min to 1 hour, until vegetables are cooked, adding foil-wrapped stuffing in for the final 30 min.

4. To serve, slice Tofurkey VERY thin. Place vegetables and cranberry gravy into a separate dish.
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Suggestions:

What to make with this for a simple but “complete” vegetarian traditional-Thanksgiving dinner (some of these aren’t vegan):

• Zesty Pecan-Apple-Cranberry Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes and an additional container of Tofurkey “Giblet” Gravy
• Trader Joe’s Frozen Croissants, or homemade Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls
• Green Bean and Fried Onions Casserole (very tasty, but use low-fat soup so it’s not too fatty)

“Meaty” & Delicious Stuffed Tomatoes (or Peppers)

For a dinner with friends tonight, I signed on to make some kind of side using the fresh tomatoes that finally are coming in by the bucketload this summer. After trying a few different options earlier this week, I picked this one, which required almost no adaptation to make vegetarian — I doubled the egg and used Morningstar sausages, but that’s about it. (Meat eaters out there can reverse that to get to square one… or try the original recipe, here.)

This was a good side dish for a 3-person meal (we halved 3 larger, round tomatoes), along with fresh pasta one friend made; he topped the pasta with some stir-fried veggies and we were set.

• 10-12 Morningstar breakfast sausage links, defrosted and cut up small (or 3/4 lb sweet Italian sausages, casings removed)
• 3/4 cups to 1 1/4 cup coarsely grated zucchini (about 1/2 a normal-sized zucchini)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 c minced fresh (or 1 1/2 T dried) parsley
• 1/8 cup fine dry breadcrumbs (I used panko and not the seasoned Italian stuff – cut back on the other spices if you go for the crouton-esque type)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (don’t be stingy)
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh (or 1/4 t dried and crushed between your fingers) rosemary
• 3-4 largish medium-size tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350° F and set rack close to top.

Halve the tomatoes, top-to-bottom, slice them just inside the side that was the top to separate the inside structure from the stem area, and scoop out the middles with a spoon (you can set these aside for tomato soup). Set empty tomato halves in an un-oiled baking dish so that they just touch.

Mix all other ingredients in a bowl. Spoon mixture into the tomato halves, tamping the first bits down a bit and mounding the toppings about half again as high as each tomato half is. Cook 10-15 minutes on upper rack; remove when sausage looks darker brownish and any spilled egg is looking like done, poached egg.

Thai Takeout Cashew Chicken or Tofu Stir-Fry

I made this the other day with tofu separately pan-roasted. Superfast, good taste, refrigerates well. The onion wasn’t in the original recipe, but it was missing something without it.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1lb /450g boneless chicken breasts (or 8oz extra-firm tofu, squeezed and drained [half of a 16-oz package])
• 2 Tbsp / 30ml vegetable oil (I used half olive oil, half peanut oil)
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 4 dried chilies, chopped (double if these are the tiny, pencil-tip-sized ones)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced to 3/4″ / 2cm³ pieces
• 1 small yellow or white onion chopped to 3/4″ / 2cm³ pieces
• 2 Tbsp / 30ml oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp /15ml soy sauce
• pinch of granulated sugar (the spicier you make it, the more sugar you should be adding)
• 1 bunch spring onions, cut into 2in lengths (scissor ’em)
• 6oz / 175g cashew nuts
• Jasmine rice or sticky white rice
• coriander leaves, to garnish (optional)