That would be unlucky #13.
[I dedicate this deliberately ugly photo to my brother who called me last week and suggested to me that I stop photographing my Meatless Monday meals. While he may be right, I consider that at least half of the fun.]Believe it or not, it tasted delicious. But… It looked like ______. (See above photo and fill in the blank below in the comment section.)
It all started with baked tofu.
And brown rice.
And coconut milk.
I should know better than to ad lib. When Morgan asked what I was making, I demurred. When pressed I said, “Ummm. I’m not sure. Some type of coconut rice and…” (voice fades out). She knows the drill. She said, “It doesn’t always go so good when you do that, you know.”
And so, the 15 year old was right. How it pains me to say that.
Let me also say this: baked tofu is disgusting. And I actually like tofu. Maybe I did something wrong. Or maybe it was low quality tofu. Is there such a thing? I think, by baking all the water out of it, it concentrates the flavor. In this case, the flavor ended up tasting like metal. The texture was cool– nice and chewy– but the taste was *blech*.
So, this will be an I’m-Not-Sharing-The-Recipe Meatless Monday, because frankly, you’d have to be pretty hard-up to want to make it. Not to mention that I doubt I could replicate it. Let’s see if I can even remember the general ingredients:
- Brown Rice
- Baked Tofu
- Lite Coconut Milk
- Shallots
- Basil Paste
- Kale
- Oh MY GOSH! I JUST REMEMBERED: Pickled Eggplant! Which actually added a nice amount of ‘brightness and acid.’ [I’ve been watching Top Chef. Can you tell?]
- Toasted Cumin and Mustard Seeds [The Indian food jag rears it’s delicious head]
- Cilantro
- And…. drumroll please…. Since I didn’t have mint, I used Mint Tea, which I thought was brilliant.
I’m sure there was more, but let’s just leave it at that, shall we?
The craziest part? We sat down. My family said nothing. They served themselves up.
And they ate it.
I’m still shaking my head. Maybe they really are that afraid of me?
Mo Warner says
I might have to agree about the photo — it looks like the bottom of my sink when all the water drains out. I’m sure it was tasty — but I would have eaten it, too. I am afraid of you. xoxoxoxo
Rachel says
I was so excited to see a meatless Monday with tofu since I have been wanting to serve it to my carnivorous husband for years but know that I have to make the crown jewel of tofu dishes on the first try lest it be rejected forevermore. However, I can not tell for sure if this is a “delicious” or “blech*” recipe.
If you have one that reigns supreme please post it. 🙂
As always a pleasure to read!
admin says
Perfect! It DOES look like the bottom of the sink. Yuck. the strainer. So, when did you come to fear me? It can’t have been always, are we reversing roles as you age???
admin says
Well, I wouldn’t use THIS recipe to win over your meat-lovin’ man! Honestly, it was really good. In fact, I had some leftovers for lunch today and marveled at how something could look so bad, and taste that good. It made me second-guess my decision not to post the recipe. But it is so ridiculously hideous that I am going to stand by that decision. I, too, am keeping my eyes open for the crown jewel of tofu dishes, because both Dave and Charlie don’t like it. Only Morgan and I do. So we are still trying to convert them. Chalk this recipe up to a FAIL.