Grilled Tofu with Gorman Farms Bok Choy

If you’ve read my musings previously, you know that 1. I love grilling and barbequing and 2. I haven’t met many animals I didn’t want to eat. Heck, I once surmised that dolphins must taste like a magical cross between tuna and venison (this was a joke, please don’t contact PETA). But think about it, you know they do.

I won’t deny loving meat, but there is no reason to eat it daily and about a million reasons not to. Add to this that one of the P90 girls is a strict *vegetarian (Chic-Fil-A chicken nuggets not withstanding) and you can see why I have been trying to cut back on our meat consumption and looking for other protein sources.

*She’s three, so I assume it’s for taste/texture reasons and not issues of compassion or animal welfare. Side note, Mrs. P90 claims to have never eaten a fast food hamburger (aside from In-N-Out Burger or Five Guys) in her life and to have been a mostly vegetarian child. So who knows if this will stick. I’m fine with it. There is no reason to eat meat if you don’t like it. 

But back to our scheduled topic. Last week, we received bok choy from Gorman Farms CSA. Oddly enough, I had never cooked bok choy. I did what I always do with a “new to me” food and checked How to Cook Everything to see what Mark Bittman suggests. I made grilled tofu with stir-fried bok choy. It was delicious. Here's the recipe. hocofood@@@

For the Tofu:

1. Cut a brick of tofu into four slices
2. Marinate in Trader Joe’s Soyaki (or the marinade of your choice) (if you use the Soyaki, you might want to use 2 parts Soyaki to 1 part water. It’s very salty and the tofu really soaks up a marinade)
3. Grill over medium-high heat for three minutes per side (baste with a little more soyaki as you grill)

For the bok choy:

“Sauce”
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
hot pepper flakes to taste
¼ teaspoons of Chinese five spice seasoning (if you like)

1. Cut the leaves from the stems of the bok choy. Trim the stems as necessary, then cut them into 1-inch pieces. Cut the leaves into wide ribbons and keep them separate from the stems.
2. Put 3 teaspoons of peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the bok choy stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just lose their crunch, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Add the bok choy leaves and the “sauce.” Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the bok choy is fully tender, 5 to 10 minutes; add a little more water if necessary.