Vedgehead 101

My friend decided the other day that he wanted to learn how to cook vegetarian, and asked if I would teach him how (of course!).  For the first "lesson," I wanted to make something that was both a) nom-tastic, and b) unique to vegetarian cuisine, HOWEVER...I wanted to keep things simple as well.  Since I've been stockpiling tofu in my freezer for Idon'tknowhowmany months, baked tofu seemed like the way to go.  It's one of my favorite comfort foods.

We also stir-fried some broccoli and carrots, and topped it with nutritional yeast. 

Baked tofu is superdupereasy to make.  I kind of want to bread mine next time.  =p  Yay for comfort food.

Baked Tofu

You'll need:

1 container of Nasoya firm/extra firm tofu
1/3 cup oil of choice (we used olive oil)
Seasonings of choice (we chose garlic, onion, and basil)
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Drain tofu and press (if you're not sure what I mean by this, just ask; it's really easy) for about ten minutes.  Cut into pieces approx. 1/2 an inch thick.  Spray baking dish -- you could even use a cookie sheet, if you don't have anything else -- and place tofu on it (place the pieces far enough apart so that flipping them won't be too much of a hassle).  Mix seasonings with oil and pour over top.  Bake for 30 min -- flip pieces after the first 15 min.

Tofu doesn't have much flavor on its own -- basically, it's a sponge for other flavors, so what your tofu tastes like depends entirely on how you season it!  The tofu my friend and I made the other night seemed to absorb the flavor from the oil and basil quite well.  The garlic and onion, not so much.  It didn't quite fit the definition of "nom-tastic," but it was still pretty decent!

PS -- Dude, any of you ever seen these before?

DOUGHNUT PEACHES!!  :D

Yes, that's really what they're called (this picture was taken at Walmart, and, after seeing the not-so-appetizing state of most of their produce, I thought these were just some poor little reject peaches that no other store would sell...)!  Doughnut peaches were originally grown in China, and were introduced in the US during the late 1800s.  Supposedly, these are sweeter than regular peaches, and have an almond-like taste.  I think I need to try one of these!