Orange Juice Glazed Tofu

Another glazed tofu post, this one I made a long time ago but never got around to posting. The coconut milk, orange juice, soy sauce and mirin reduce down to a syrupy glaze that makes this tofu inhalable--and it must be eaten with rice! Now that I know what I do about GMOs, I'd buy an organic mirin, since the Kikkoman brand has high fructose corn syrup as one of the first ingredients. The recipe also uses a little Sriracha--I doubt its GMO free, but the good news is, OrganicVille makes one! See? There's a solution to every problem.

The recipe for this glaze is inspired by Dave's Party Potstickers on Food Network's Recipe Showdown.  I've used it several times with frozen veggie potstickers and everyone loves it.

The method is similar to my other glazed tofu, but there's a lot more glaze. Oh, and I always use fresh orange juice with oranges from farmer's market or the organic section at the grocery store. I stopped buying orange juice when I heard about flavor packets. And you could totally sub the mirin with more orange juice. Here's the recipe!

Orange Juice Glazed Tofu
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup organic mirin
2 Tb organic soy sauce
1 ts organic Sriracha
2 Tb chives
1/2 ts onion powder
1/2 ts garlic powder
1 15.5 oz Extra Firm Wild Wood Sproutofu
Olive oil for frying

Slice the tofu and press the water out using a heavy bottomed skillet and several paper towels.

Combine  the first eight ingredients. Heat the olive oil on medium heat and wait until the oil is shimmering, but not smoking. It should sizzle when the tofu hits it. Arrange the slices of tofu in the pan of hot oil and allow to sit, undisturbed, until tofu is golden underneath. Flip tofu and wait until the other side is golden underneath. When both sides are appropriately crisp, pour in the glaze and watch it sizzle. It will seem like a lot, but soon it will reduce down to the thick, dark syrup you see in the picture. Leave the heat on medium or turn it up to medium high to speed up the process. Cook until liquid is reduced.

Vegan Homemade Raviolis With Macadamia Nut Alfredo

Last night I was perfectly willing to sit on the recliner and do absolutely nothing, but Jason kept insisting on doing something fun, like make raviolis. It was thursday night, which is the one night a week Ava goes to Oma and Papa's house. So there I was, sitting on the recliner, telling Jason we could just eat leftovers, when he continued to talk about doing this fun activity. We had the semolina flour from a time we tried it out before, a bunch of veggies for the filling, macadamia nuts for the Alfredo, and a jar of red sauce. Knowing I wouldn't have to go to the store was one incentive to get started--now all I had to do was get off the recliner. 

Two hours later we were blessed with raviolis that were both fluffy and dense, filled with carrots, cauliflower, and spinach, and topped with the perfect balance of Alfredo and red sauce. Not only that, but we had a great time doing it. It was the perfect date night activity! 

Jason was in charge of the filling, and I was in charge of making the dough. Then we ran the dough through the pasta machine together, working in perfect harmony. You know you make a great team when you don't have to talk to each other--you just know what the other person wants you to do. We used the famous Vegan Pasta recipe from Vegan Dad. I would love to use whole wheat or even sprouted whole wheat flour, but Jason wanted to be a little wild so we used white flour, along with the semolina. Oh, and I doubled the recipe to make 40 circles, which made 20 raviolis. I had some leftover filling so you could even triple it.

So here's what you need to know about making dough. First, if its a little dry, add a touch more water. As you run it through the machine, there will be holes. Don't worry. Fold it once, then run it through again. You will eventually get a smooth sheet. Our method was to divide the dough into small pieces, make small sheets, then cut out small circles using something round. I used the other side of a posticker making tool like this one, but you could use the rim of a glass or ramekin. Once I got all my circles, I spooned a tablespoon of the filling onto one, placed another circle on top, then sealed the edges with a fork. 

My wonderful husband doesn't measure, but sometimes its fun to do away with the teaspoons and just shake it! Here's a rough estimate for the filling.

Veggie Filling for Ravioli

5 carrots

1 head of cauliflower

a bunch of spinach

salt

pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

dash of cayenne

olive oil for frying

Pulse carrots and cauliflower in the food processor. Saute in olive oil until veggies are soft. Add salt and spices. Stir. 

Add spinach and stir until wilted. Add more salt and seasonings if needed.

I made the silky smooth Alfredo, so I do have exact measurements for that! 

Macadamia Nut Alfredo (Makes enough for 20 raviolis)
3/4 cups raw macadamia nuts

3/4 cups filtered water

1 Tb olive oil

1/2 ts salt

1/2 ts onion powder

1/2 ts garlic powder

1-2 Tb chives

Blend in a high powered blender until smooth. Enjoy!