Our back yard is still snow-packed – though in some places I can now see the bricks peeking through again! – so for what I hope is the last week for a while, we cooked indoors instead of barbecuing on Sunday night. No matter; the show must go on! We can still chow down on grilling fare even if no grill is actually involved. To the oven!
Early this afternoon, I sliced a block of tofu into thin rectangles and placed them in a zip-top bag, dousing them in barbecue sauce and letting the slices marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
When we were ready to start cooking dinner, I pulled a spaghetti squash (courtesy of Bigg Riggs Farms) out of the veggie bowl, pierced it with a fork eight or 10 times, and then put it on a baking sheet to roast at 400 degrees for an hour. After the first 20 minutes of baking time, I pulled the barbecue tofu out of the fridge, placed the strips on a baking sheet, and added them to the oven as well, turning the slices over after another 20 minutes.
After an hour had elapsed, I pulled the squash out of the oven and let the tofu continue to bake for a few more minutes while I separated the spaghetti strands and heated up a pot of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Once the spaghetti squash was safely in a bowl, I added a dollop of vegan butter, plus some salt and pepper for good measure. Next, I put the mixed vegetables in a serving bowl and topped them with chipotle powder and some Daiya mozzarella shreds, just for fun.
Finally, it was time to take the tofu out of the oven! We placed several strips on our steak rolls, added some mayo, lettuce, onion, and tomato, and began to chow down!
Longtime readers of this blog will know that BBQ tofu is one of our favorite cookout standards, so it’s no surprise we both mightily enjoyed this meal. The spaghetti squash, for its part, was incredibly tender after an hourlong stint in the oven, and we left no strand un-eaten. And as usual, the mixed vegetables served as a wonderful way to bind the meal together with lots of green goodness.
Though the sides are history, we do have a little bit of tofu left over for tomorrow’s lunch. It’ll be a race to the fridge to see who gets to enjoy it first!
:)