If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm all about comfort food. It's a woman's prerogative. I don't eat a ton of tofu. It's just not a texture I love. But when I do crave it, it's simply a slab pan-fried with a side of buttery toast and some baby greens. Oh, and it's gotta be by Vermont Soy. I swear it's a completely different species than the usual supermarket brands. So, if you haven't tried a locally made artisan-style tofu, I encourage you to do so!
Anyway, I had some tofu to use up (I eat it so rarely it generally expires in my fridge and gets fed to the chickens). I'd been toying with the notion of some sort of sweet/tangy/BBQ-y marinade for a couple days, and I had a couple sweet potatoes on my counter. Back in the days of fish consumption, my favorite thing to put on salmon was a maple-mustard sauce...and my favorite side to that was sweet potato. So I threw this together, using the sprouts to add some crunch and texture and also to break up the sweetness all around them.
The Tofu/Sprouts:
A bag of fresh Brussel sprouts - washed, trimmed, & halved
1 large onion, sliced
1 pkg extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
Peanut oil
4 Tbsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp rice vinegar (balsamic would be nice too)
2 Tbsp low-sodium tamari
1 Tbsp mustard
The Whip:
2 large sweet potatoes, diced
2 Tbsp Earth Balance butter
Salt & Pepper, to taste
A good dash of powdered ginger
1 Tbsp maple syrup
Heat some (1/2 to 1 cup) water and sprouts in a saute/fry pan. Cook until tender, adding water as necessary so they don't burn. Then remove from pan and set aside.
Heat peanut oil in the same pan, and add the onions, cooking til tender and slightly browned. Then remove them and put aside with the sprouts.
Add more oil to the pan if necessary and saute the tofu.
In a small bowl mix the tamari, syrup, vinegar, and mustard and add to the pan. Add the sprouts and onions back in too, and stir. Heat through.
Meanwhile boil the sweet potato in water for 5-10 minutes until tender. Drain, and add the remaining ingredients.
Whip with electric mixer til smooth.
Top with the tofu/sprouts and settle in with the family to watch another episode of M.A.S.H., or if you must, the news.
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