Welcome, autumn!
The season may have changed within an afternoon, but our Sunday-night cookouts remain in full swing. Soon, we’ll be switching over to the smoker for our weekend barbecues – it doesn’t require as much hands-on work, which is conducive to the colder months – but today the weather was gorgeous, so we sat outside and tended to the grill.
I started marinating the tofu this morning with a honey barbecue sauce, tossing some tofu strips with the sauce in a plastic ziptop bag and putting the mixture back in the fridge until cookout time.
When we got closer to the time when I lit up the coals, I sliced a delicata squash (from our CSA, Great Country Farms) in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds, and then cut half-inch strips crosswise to make little half-moons. I put the squash pieces on a pizza pan, tossed them with a little bit of olive oil, garnished everything with salt, and put them in a cold oven to wait until Go time.
Just before I fired up said coals, I sliced two zucchini squash (also from the CSA) into coins and placed them on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzling some olive oil and sprinkling some Cajun seasoning on top before I sealed the foil up and added one more sheet for good measure.
And then it was time for the fire! Once the grate was heated up, I added the zucchini to it and started the delicata squash inside at 425, flipping them every 10 minutes or so (the whole cooking process took about 35 minutes). About 20 minutes into the zucchini’s cooking time, I added my strips of barbecued tofu to the grill and tossed once, 10 minutes in.
Everything came together in short order, and LeeLee and I feasted! The tofu was almost – almost – as good as what we used to eat at our favorite little Soul Vegetarian food truck down in Tallahassee, which is far and away some of the best food I’ve ever had. To even get close was a feat!
But the real star of the show was the delicata squash. Man oh man – roasting is the way to go! The squash turned out almost like French fries – salty and crispy, but with a creaminess after the first bite. Each slice was fantastic, and we lamented that we only had one squash to share between the two of us. I hope Great Country Farms brings us some more this week! We now have a new cool-weather favorite.
Have a great week!
:)