This recipe is adapted from Everyday Food's Roasted Chicken with Tangerines and Olives. Although the tangerines and olives have strong flavors, the sauce is much more subtle, making it important to adequately press your tofu before you start cooking. By doing so, the tofu takes on the sweet flavor of the sauce, which contrasts nicely with the saltiness of the olives. Serve this dish over couscous or brown rice for a filling Mediterranean-style meal.I'm not a huge fan of tofu. Although many people dislike the texture, for me it's more the taste. The main virtue of tofu, according to tofu lovers, is its lack of flavor. This lack of flavor gives tofu its versatility—you can use it in a variety of dishes, from soups to pastas to desserts. But for me, I definitely do taste tofu. Or, at least, I taste that stanky flavor of the water tofu sits in at the supermarket. Blech!
So when I make anything involving tofu, it's absolutely imperative that I get every last bit of stanky tofu water out. I've tried just about every method for doing this, but I've finally settled on using a tofu press. While it's more expensive than the old cast-iron-frying-pan-and-soup-cans method, it's much more effective. When you press all the tofu water out, the tofu can better absorb the flavors you add to it. And if you don't get all the water out, the tofu is too saturated to absorb sauces and other ingredients.
Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup tangerine juice
- ¼ cup honey
- cooking spray or oil mister
- 1 14 oz package extra-firm tofu, pressed for 30 minutes and sliced into 8 pieces (I use the Tofu Xpress)
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- ¾ cup pitted olives
- 3 tangerines unpeeled and quartered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk together tangerine juice and honey.
- Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray or mister. Lay tofu slices into the dish and coat with half of honey and juice mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Add tangerines and olives to dish and roast 20 minutes.
- Turn tofu slices over and coat with remaining honey and juice mixture. Return to oven for 20 more minutes or until olives are shriveled and tangerines are browned on edges.
Liz @ ANIAN says
I can't do tofu, but my daughter loves it, so I'm gonna share it!
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! I like tofu sometimes, but not others--I get why people don't like it.
Menopause Symptoms says
You can make tofu yourself. I have an excellent recipe, and I can share it) But if you don’t want to cook it yourself, or there is no way to do it, you can always buy it.
I generally really liked this recipe. I think it will turn out very tasty. You must definitely try to cook! The only thing I would add to this recipe is kumquat instead of mandarin. It seems to me that a more refined taste will be obtained, although perhaps not as intense as with tangerines. It is necessary to try to cook in two interpretations. Maybe it's all just because I'm a fan of kumquat)))
Grumpy Grateful Mom says
What a beautiful dish! I've only used tofu a couple times to make a potato type salad. I had no idea I was even suppose to press the water out!
The Type A Housewife says
Tofu in potato salad? Hmm, sounds interesting! If you buy the shelf-stable tofu, you don't need to press it--only the kind that's refrigerated. And you don't HAVE too, but it's just how I like to prepare it. 🙂
Brenda Williams says
I I am not a tofu person, but this sounds like it would be good. Thanks for sharing.
The Type A Housewife says
I think tofu has to be prepared right to taste good. I dislike it a lot of the time too!
Kenzie Schwartz says
Delicious! Even better topped with feta cheese and pine nuts!
Kiersten says
I've been wanting to tinker with this recipe a little--thanks for the suggestion! 🙂