Peanut (or Almond) Coated Tofu (vegan)

Recipe from Avant Garde Vegan

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 3-4 servings

This is actually one component of a recipe from Avant Garde Vegan, but it was so darn good that I thought I should make a record of it to use for lots of other dishes. The original recipe did not include any marinating time at all.  It just called for coating the tofu with the sauce and crumbs and baking the tofu right away, but when I prepared this it was in the morning and so I let the sauce covered tofu hang out in the fridge until dinner time, coated it with the nut crumbs and then baked it. And it was delish.  By the way, the husband asked after tasting it, “Is this chicken?”  Ha!  I didn’t think it tasted so much like chicken, but it certainly had a “meaty” quality to it.  Make up a batch and serve it in your favorite Buddha bowl.  I think it would make a mean sandwich when the local tomatoes are ripe.

1 block extra firm tofu

1 Tablespoon peanut butter or almond butter

2 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

Juice of 1 lime

Pinch of dried red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¾ cup toasted* peanuts or almonds

Tamari or soy sauce, for serving

Drain the tofu and then cut it into 4 slabs.  Place them on one end of a clean towel and fold the other end of the towel over the tofu to cover.  Place a baking sheet on top of the towel-covered tofu and place a heavy pot or book on top of that.  Set aside to dry while you make the sauce. In a bowl, whisk together the peanut (or almond) butter, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, lime juice, red pepper flakes and garlic powder until smooth. Set aside.  Remove the tofu from the towel and cut the tofu slabs in half so that you now have 8 pieces.  Place the pieces into a shallow dish and pour the sauce over the tofu.  Flip the tofu pieces over to coat all the sides.  Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Meanwhile, roast the peanuts (or almonds) and process in a blender or food processor until you have fine crumbs.  (Do not over process or you will end up with peanut (or almond) butter!) Place the nut crumbs in a shallow dish. 

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Carefully place each piece of sauce-covered tofu into the crumbs and flip to coat all the sides.  Put the crumb-coated tofu pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet.  (The original recipe suggested placing the tofu in a dry non-stick pan over medium heat on the stove top for 2 minutes on each side to lightly color them before baking, but I didn’t follow the directions and they turned out just fine.) Bake for 15 to 25 minutes or so until toasty brown, flipping halfway through the cooking time.  Drizzle with a little tamari before serving.

*To toast the peanuts or almonds: Preheat the oven to 325F.  Spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Notes:  You can make this dish even easier on a weeknight if you make a double batch of the peanut/almond crumbs.  Store them in the fridge and then all that needs to be done is prep the tofu and bake.