FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Tofu Xpress Giveaway

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It’s no secret that I’m obsessed, well beyond obsessed, with pressing tofu.  The differences in pressed tofu are a vegetarian game changer, which is why I was obsessed prior to owning any gadget as you can see here.

The frequency in which I pressed tofu grew exponentially after this handy dandy tool made its way into my kitchen.  No more paper towels, no more ruined cookbooks, just self contained pressing goodness.

Pressing tofu is like squeezing a sponge, you take as much moisture out of it as you can so that it will soak up as much marinade as possible.  Coincidentally, plain tofu has about as much flavor as a sponge, so you can see how important this whole pressing thing can be.

Pressing tofu also changes its texture, giving it a less spongy, more meaty feel. In fact, if I would have chopped these tofu squares into smaller pieces, I’m not sure I would have been able to tell the difference between this salad and chicken salad.

Here’s how you win one!

Contest Entry Instructions:

Each of the steps below will count as one contest entry, with a maximum of 4 entries per person.  The contest will run between now and 8PM EST on August 6th.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry as each individual comment represents a number and a random number generator will be used to select the winner.

1.  Follow me on Twitter and tweet “I entered to win a @TofuXpress  at @FoodFash and you should too! https://foodfash.com/?p=2591″ and then leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.  (If you’re already following me on Twitter all you have to do is tweet and comment on this post)

3.  Follow TofuXpress on Twitter and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.

4.  Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so. (If you’re already following me on Facebook all you have to do is comment on this post)

5.  Follow TofuXpress on Facebook and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.

The winner will be announced on Sunday, August 7th.

Best of luck to you all!

Resolution #Fail

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So… I’ve officially broken all but one of my New Year’s resolutions.  My 365 Project lasted only a few weeks.  I try to make the most of Tampa, but I can’t stop longing for LA.  I just couldn’t help myself in the dairy department when faced with sea salted caramel brownies at the Taste of South Tampa.  And then meat…  I hadn’t had a single non-seafood meat craving until I went to Animal (THE carnivorous hip spot in LA) and sampled all sorts of animal.  It was at that point that I downward spiraled.  It’s a darn good thing I’ve been keeping good company!!!

On my last day in LA, Hansell grilled a feast complete with feta filled risotto, meat skewers, and grilled glazed donuts toped with melty ice cream.  Even I’m not crazy person enough to turn down that degree of temptation.  I gorged.

GORGED.

Upon my return home, I immediately reverted back to my non-dairy veggie state. Relief!  Relief that was totally destroyed when car accident Friday happened.  I nursed my neck-ache with champagne, fume blanc, and real cheese pizza.  Oh and I had real cheese pizza in LA.  I had fallen so far off the wagon.

But it gets worse…  When I drove home from St. Pete on Saturday, I lost complete control.  To avoid completely grossing you out, let’s just leave it at… I ate both Taco Bell and McDonalds on Saturday.  Are the WTFs flying yet?!

Even after all of this, I had zero intention of being a perma-meat eater again. But I’m not one to deny myself a little bit of out of control (OK a lot a bit of out of control).  I decided to give myself a proper send off  to veggie-ville by visiting an ultimate favorite of mine, the bar at Bern’s Steakhouse.  I ate the whole shebang: french onion soup, salad, baked potato with sour cream, chateaubriand, onion straws, and veggies.  Leftovers?  Ha!  Not at all.

The moral of this gluttonous story is…  My body is so far out of whack that I’m happily returning to non-dairy, veggie Kristin.  I stocked up on my pre-LA guilty pleasure spring rolls (which seem a lot less guilty now) and stir fried some marinated tofu and green beans for dinner.

 

Srirachatized

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Look what I found today!!!  I was so pumped when I saw The Sriracha Cookbook on sale at Urban Outfitters.  So pumped.

I pressed some extra firm tofu for the occasion and marinated it in Intensity Academy’s Green Tea Gourmet sauce.  I’ve used this marinade with tofu before and I think the flavor absorbs pretty quickly without overpowering other parts of the meal.

In the meantime, I sauteed garlic, onions, and green peppers in a little bit of Earth Balance until they were sufficiently browned.

Then I turned to my new book for sauce inspiration and mixed 1/4 cup of Tofutti with 1 teaspoon of Sriracha.  Holy heck!  Every sandwich should be topped with this combo!

I slathered both sides of a sourdough bun with the Sriracha/Tofutti mix and then layered with veggies and fried tofu.

The only thing I would have changed was using a softer bread.  It was a impossible to eat without squeezing all of the good stuff out of the sandwich.

But that obviously didn’t stop me from finishing every last bite…