Recipe Friday: Ginger Garlic Tofu

I LOVE tofu!  Olivia seems to be following in my footsteps.  I know that it's a soy-based product and I should be staying away from soy as much as possible, but tofu is just so versatile that I use it every week.  It's a fantastic transition between meat and veggie.  Last week a made the omnivores in the house  chicken, ham and smoked gouda with a mushroom sauce.  Olivia and I (and Vince ate some too) had baked tofu with the gouda on top and the mushroom sauce.  This week I'm doing pork chops with an apple glaze and you guessed it--the pork will be substituted by tofu for Liv and I.  It's my go-to when I don't feel like making two entirely different meals.  It's been so long since I blogged about a recipe that I just decided to do a quick search of my blog and see if this title popped up.  It didn't so this is what I'm giving you today.  Sorry if I've already posted it.  We had it for dinner last night and it was quick and easy.  It's from Chop Chop magazine which is a really cool magazine targeted at kids and focusing on healthy eating.  All of the recipes are written so kids can follow them and are therefore great choices for "can I help with dinner?" nights.   Here's the link to the actual recipe on the website, but I'll post it below as well in a modified version for adult cooks.  (I'm going to omit the part where I tell you to take the tofu out of the package first. )

Ginger-Garlic Tofu

 Ingredients
14 oz block of firm or extra firm tofu
3 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 C water
1 TBSP minced fresh ginger
1-2 minced fresh garlic cloves
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes or more (I omitted this for the kids but Sriracha would be good in this too!)
1 TBSP canal oil
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds
2 scallions, sliced (I did green parts only)

Slice the tofu block in half so you have half the thickness.  Then slice each half into 4 equal parts  horizontally and one cut vertically to give you 8 pieces per half of tofu.  Or dice it or slice it-whatever.  However you want to do it is fine for this recipe.  Press the tofu for 30 minutes.  (Click here for directions on how to press tofu.)
Mix the soy sauce, water, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and chili flakes in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and  simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce reduces by about half.

Add the canola oil to the skillet.  When it is hot, saute the tofu on both sides until golden.  Add the sauce to the pan and cook for one minute, tossing the tofu to coat.  Plate and garnish with the scallions and sesame seeds.

Picture of the day:

Jack didn't run the race in this, but he wore it up until the start.  Clearly he loves it.