Peanut butter baked tofu + how to perfectly cook bulgur

Happy Monday everyone :),

  How was your Easter?  Good I hope.  Mine may not of been spent with family, and I may not of had a big fancy smancy dinner, but I had a good day.  I started off with a killer smoothie, which honestly filled me for six hours.  I am even more grateful now that it tasted so fantastic and was so incredibly filling.  It makes me want to make it more and more quite often.  The day followed by me doing my strength work out, and then followed by some biking.  I recently bought a nice hybrid bike and took my dads mechanical-like-thing to make my bike stationery.  I am seriously in love with this contraction.  If I don't do my strength work out at work, I come home and bike for 15 or 20 minute intervals once or twice before making my lunch then heading to bed.  It's perfect.  I enjoy it, and I feel healthy mentally and physically while doing so.  I am looking very forward to the summer, when the weather is nice and I can bike outside and breathe in the fresh air, but until then, this is doing me wonders, I already feel much stronger, and notice improvements each time I hop on.

How to Perfectly Cook Bulgur

Recipe taken from here

After my work out I decided to make some lunch.  As I was perusing Katie's blog I found a recipe on how to cook Bulgur perfectly.  Every time I cook Bulgur it is always in the rice cooker, the way she did it was so easy that I figured why not.  Now, I haven't posted any recipes using Bulgur, but I have been slightly obsessed with it over the past couple of months.  I love it's hearty, crunchy, earthy, yummy oatmeal-like texture and taste.  I use this as a rice substitute, I eat it in the morning like oatmeal, I sometimes make stir-fries with it, I love it.  The way that Katie makes it though is definitely something I wouldn't of thought of, but truly love.  I found that making it this way other than in the rice cooker resulted in a much more fluffier pilaf.  It is also so simple, that you can schedule certain things around it while it cooks, and it takes barely any time at all that if you didn't want to make a big batch at the beginning of the week because you're not sure whether you'll eat all of it, it's quick enough you can even do it the night before, and it still tastes' wonderful.  This is definitely going to be my go-to method from now on.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup bulgur
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Cook in the microwave for 4 minutes, then leave to sit in the microwave for 15 more minutes.

Either drain off any excess water or don’t drain, but cook for another 2 minutes and let sit for another hour, then put in the fridg.

Now add whatever you want!  

Peanut Sauce Baked Tofu

Recipe taken from here

 

With my bulgur, I made a delicious recipe that caught my eye last week and which I'd been dying to make.  I have been slightly in love with peanut butter ever since I started making my own.  Then, when I found out just how amazing peanut butter and jam really are together I became in love.  When I saw a recipe for peanut butter and tofu, I knew I had to bookmark it with out even looking at the recipe.  Well, I decided to make it for my Easter lunch, and heck yes it was good.  I loved it, from the moment I had to start flipping the tofu, I started eating it off the pan... scalding hot and everything.  It was awesome, especially when paired with the Bulgur.  The tofu itself was sweet (next time I would cut down the maple syrup just a bit) but the Bulgur seemed to balance the sweetness.  This is definitely a keeper recipe.  If you are not a fan of tofu, or are just starting to cook tofu this is certainly something that will definitely make you fall in love, yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 package tofu, pressed -extra firm
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp agave (or honey/maple syrup or combo)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• Pinch of cayenne (more to taste, if desired)
• Pinch of chili powder (more to taste, if desired)

Directions:

Press your tofu, and slice pressed tofu into 1/4 inch strips.

Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a bowl (it will not be pretty) and allow tofu to marinate for at least 20 minutes but a few hours or overnight is ideal.  The longer the better.  Reserve a couple tablespoons of the marinade that’s likely at the bottom of the bowl.

Line a cookie sheet with foil to save on cleanup time and spray with cooking spray.  Broil the marinated tofu for 5-6 minutes on the first side.  Flip, and broil for another 3 to 5 minutes on the second side.  Apply what’s remaining of the reserved marinade to the top side of the flipped tofu.

Refrigerate leftovers for many days.