Chewy Baked Tofu and Salsa Verde

Tomatillos are one of those things I always mean to try but never do. I finally saw them in the grocery store [[Kroger, for those in Columbus looking for some]] and I had to try them out. I suppose next time I should try something more creative than a salsa verde but I had to take a stab at it myself. Besides, I was really craving that tangy goodness.

I decided to make a tofu wrap. Whenever I used to make tofu burritos, Andrew's brother would complain that the tofu is too soft and doesn't really work well texture-wise. In a lot of ways, I agree. It's important to contrast textures in a burrito. Mushy tofu with mushy guacamole, while delicious, is too soft. So I baked the tofu and broiled it so it was both crispy and chewy. Topped it with some salsa verde and it was perfect.

I'm starting to think I have a crazy addiction to things in wraps. I've always loved burritos and it's a strange situation when you meet someone who doesn't like avocado/guacamole. I should open a wrap stand, or something.


[[Salsa Verde]]
I don't have a picture of this for one reason. I used a red onion, because I forgot to buy a white one, and it came out looking purple. But if you do it right, it should come out a pretty green. You can see a little purple in the picture above if you look closely.

4 tomatillos
1/2 WHITE onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 chopped cilantro
6-8 pickled jalapenos, chopped
a squirt of lime juice
1/2 tsp raw sugar

-- Remove paper husks from the tomatillos and cut in half. Turn your broiler on high. Place halved tomatillos on a cookie shit lined with tinfoil and roast until skim blisters. See photo aboved.
-- Remove blistered skin from tomatillos. Place those and all ingredients in a blender and blend until fully combined.
-- Chill before serving.

[[Chewy Baked Tofu]]
I don't really have an exact recipe for this. But I'll do my best to explain how to recreate it.

tiny, cubed tofu
nutritional yeast
whole wheat flour
cumin, smoked paprika, chipotle powder, salt, pepper
grapeseed oil

-- Wrap tofu in paper towels or a cheesecloth and cover with a heavy object. Press for about an hour.
-- Preheat the oven to 375 F
-- Lightly dust the cubed tofu with whole wheat flour until fully coated. Then do the same with the nutritional yeast. Obviously you'll be using a little less nutritional yeast since the tofu should already be pretty well coated with flour.
-- Then lightly dust with seasoning. Go light on the salt and pepper. You just want a trickle of flavor on each piece, so try not to over season.
-- Line the bottom of a baking dish with about 2 tbs grapeseed oil. Add tofu and cook in oven about 45 minutes. Half way through cooking, flip the tofu, mix it up a bit, so the other side gets golden. Then for the last minute of cooking, turn the broiler on low.

-- I put the tofu in a whole wheat wrap and topped it with salsa verde, avocado slices, lightly sauteed spinach with red pepper, hot sauce, and a little tofutti sour cream. It was off the chain.