Experimentation...

Experimenting...  No that that kind ;)  The kind with flavors and food.  As stated previously, I have always loved cooking.  From the beginning I made things up on a whim.  I would stand in front of the refrigerator, stare into cabinets, and look longingly into the pantry.  "What can I make with what I have?"  When I first started living on my own, I never made a grocery list that revolved around what I wanted to make to eat, more-so a list of items I just loved.  I always found a way to put things together in a way that tasted good.  No recipe invloved.  Just.Experimentation.

Tonight was one of those nights again.  I was craving tofu.  Can I just say how much I fricking LOVE tofu?  Expecially the extra firm kind.  You cannot go wrong!  So, yes- I wanted tofu, but I also had a refrigerator FULL of fresh vegetables from my weekend grocery trip.  My favorite thing to do with veggies is to roast those little suckers.  Do you have any idea how fantastic roasted brussel sprouts, beets, and carrots are?  OH MY!  If you don't then you must buy some this weekend and get to roasting!

My dilemma:  I wanted to roast my vegetables, and I wanted some stir-fried tofu.  They don't really go together, or do they?  I figured that if I love both things so much, that putting them together would be great for my taste buds.  And I was correct!

First  I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  Then while it was preheating, I scoured the fridge for the vegetables I had.  I chose, beets, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and garlic- all of which I purchased at the Farmer's Market.  I chopped the veggies into bite sized pieces, placed them in a bowl, then drizzled them lightly with EVOO, S&P, and a little onion powder.  I mixed everything together then spread the vegetables out on the baking sheet so nothing was completely overlapping.  Popped those suckers in the oven and checked every 10 minutes until they started to lightly brown.

While the vegetables were roasting,  I made a quick marinade for the tofu consisting of 1T soy sauce, 1/4tsp. of miso paste, salt, pepper, 1 clove of garlic, some fresh ginger, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I prepared the tofu by pressing out any excess H20 then slicing into substantle sized triangles. Then  I used a large skillet and heated it over medium heat for about 30 seconds before lightly lining the pan with oil.  Once warmed, I placed the tofu pieces in the pan to get 'em started.  After about 1 minute, I drizzled the marinade over the tofu and stir-fried until the tofu had a nice brown glaze.  After this I chopped up a greeen onion and added it to the plan for another minute.

My veggies had finished and I decided I wanted everything in 1 bowl.  I LOVE eating out of bowls.  So, I put the veggies straight in the pan with the tofu and tossed to coat.  I then realized I had some extra skinny brown rice noodles from this weekends Pad Thai.  I threw that in there too and BAM!  Awesomeness!

Have you ever just made a recipe up on a whim?  How did it turn out?

'Till later my fine friends :)