Friday

Tofu ranchero (recipe in the comments)
Corn tortillas and guacamole mixed with salsa
Melon

Hot tea
Chocolate
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Here's another dish I truly CANNOT believe we haven't blogged. This seems like such a standby tofu recipe for us. This is another one of our no-fail tofu preparations. It has a Mexican-style sauce and you load it all into corn tortillas with some guacamole. We bought the melon for last night, but forgot to cut it up. We obviously had enough food! Anyway, this is a pretty easy meal with incredibly tasty results - a good choice for grocery list night :) That said, our typical version was pretty radically changed tonight as we somehow lost a can of black beans (essential to the posted recipe). For tonight we omitted the black beans entirely and heated some refried beans we had and used those as a base layer in the tortillas. Taste-wise this was just as good, but the tortillas fell apart more, so, overall, I would stick to the standard (posted) recipe. Also, don't omit the guacamole - it really makes the dish.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Mushrooms, squash, melon
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: Go ahead and make it early and re-heat as you warm the tortillas.

Reaction
J: "Tofu is for all nations."
M: "A very well rounded dish."

Wednesday

Tofu with peanut-ginger sauce (recipe in the comments)
Cucumbers with lemon and salt

Hot tea
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This was the first tofu recipe we ever made that we hadn't eaten somewhere else first. Regular readers will remember that our first positive experience with tofu came at our friend F's house, with the amazing Grandma's Savory Tofu Casserole AKA Tofu Loaf. We made that first and, thus, began our quest for great tofu. Tofu with peanut-ginger sauce was our first foray on our own and we were richly rewarded. Not only is this an excellent dish, but this was the source of our transformative no-fail skillet tofu base recipe that MANY other tofu dinners are based on. This is an unusually hearty tofu dish and the flavors are intense and yummy. It's really hard to beat.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Tofu, zucchini, scallions, garlic, ginger, cucumbers
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: You can make the sauce ahead, but do the tofu last minute.

Reaction
J: "Peanut perfection!"
M: "Hearty, stick-to-your-ribs tofu!"

Thursday

Saag tofu (recipe in the comments from Jan 2)
Jasmine rice
Cucumber salad

Hot tea
Candy
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Apparently we didn't look back at the blog when we planned tonight's dinner as a welcome meal for my mom, L. We made this for her when she was visiting last January!!! I have no recollection of doing so, but, luckily, she liked it then and liked it now!!!! This is a great tofu recipe with plenty of leafy green spinach, without the heaviness of the saag dishes you get in most Indian restaurants. Trust me, I love that heaviness when I'm there, but am not inclined to cook that way at home. Anyway,this is a fabulous dinner that relies on our "no fail tofu" preparation. M was at a work related dinner, so it's just mom and I for reactions tonight.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Tofu, onion, garlic, ginger, cucumbers
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: This saves very well.

Reaction
J: "Tofu and spinach - what could be better?"
L: "Very delicious! A great combination of flavors."

Friday

Punjab spinach sauce over our classic tofu (tofu recipe in the comments)
Basmati rice
South Indian spiced purple cabbage (our version in the comments)

Hot tea
Candy (we're almost done!)
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It's grocery list night and we're trying a new convenience product - well, new to us: Trader Joe's Punjab spinach sauce. I saw this sauce mentioned in an article about healthy prepared foods and thought, "Indian, spinach, healthy, easy - what could be better!" This has very low sodium for a prepared food (one of my major peeves with convenience fare) and when simmered over our no fail tofu, makes an super easy dinner. I was VERY impressed with this sauce and I always love our tofu, so overall a total success. The cabbage is a new easy Indian side dish I found on a blog I've been checking lately, Raspberry Eggplant. It was mentioned in the Mark Bittman article on microwaving that I posted last week and has some great recipes. M and I are always looking for good, ethnic sides to compliment our meals. The issue is we don't want to do something as complicated as the main dish (obviously not really an issue tonight, but still), but we don't want to have the same side every time we do something, say, Indian (cucumber salad again, eh?). We have a great okra recipe, and this cabbage is a good new addition. It a tiny bit more labor intensive, but the product is excellent, very colorful, and I think it still gets filed under easy.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy main, easy side
Chopping: Tofu, cabbage
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: Jarred products are always "made ahead" :)

Reaction
J: "Indian food is SO excellent."
M: ""