FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Winning!

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I was hoping spring rolls would be an easy to whoop up kind of dinner before heading to the Celebrate The Web Event “Raising The Bar”.

There turned out to be a significant amount of prep work involved.

Softening the noodles, frying the tofu, cutting the veggies…

I was racing against the clock.

However, once all of the details were taken care of, finishing was easy breezy.

We used rice stick noodles, fried tofu, mango, cilantro, red onion, and cucumber as the stuffing.  And at some point during my speedy roll construction, I completely forgot to add the lettuce!  A little bit of a bummer, but they were still super tasty.

Ariel and I ate (standing) as we rushed to get ready while Matt cleaned the whirlwind of a kitchen that I left behind.  Savior.

Then we were off!

We re-watched all thirteen web pilots, anxious to find out who would be Winning! that night.  When they announced Relapse as the Audience Choice Winner, I looked next to me only to find a completely frozen Team Discovery Channel.  It wasn’t but seconds later, the entire crew hopped on stage to humbly accept the award they so deserved.

Sharing this moment with Ariel couldn’t have made me an ounce happier!!!

And then we celebrated!

Summertime, I Can Almost Taste It

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As an early University of Florida Building Construction student, if you had asked me what I thought of BBQ…  You would have gotten a mouthful of nothing positive and a grossed out facial expression to match.  By senior year, on any given day, you could have spotted me at an XYZ BBQ table, eating lunch with five of my favorite boys of all time.  Total 180.  Who would have thought?

Last Tuesday, a subcontractor catered BBQ lunch at my office (mind you, I’m still a construction gal by day).  They delivered a heaping load of food that lingered until Friday, which induced extreme BBQ and summertime cravings.

Then it dawned on me, it’s not the meat I crave, it’s the sauce.

Simple fix – BBQ Tofu.

Two tips:

1.  Tofu found in the ethnic aisle is significantly cheaper (see brand above).

2.  If you buy pre-made sauce, pick some up at a local restaurant or the local section at Whole Foods.  Keeping it local is never a bad thing!

FoodFash’s BBQ Tofu

Cut extra firm tofu into french fry like slivers and cover with BBQ sauce in an appropriately sized container for 30-ish minutes.  Place tofu slivers on foil (or foil covered cookie sheet) sprayed with olive oil Pam.  Set foil on the top oven rack and broil for 5 minutes.  Flip tofu slivers over, cover with additional BBQ sauce, and broil for an additional 5 minutes.

I am not a tofu lover, so I’m convinced that this is a dish that tofu skeptics would enjoy as well.  The broiling process removed the excess moisture from the sauce giving the BBQ tofu a “chewy” exterior that was unexpected, but thoroughly enjoyed.  And I totally two-bird-one-stoned this meal by adding strawberries and satisfying my summertime craving too!