Tofabulous

Since I gave up meat for Lent, I decided to pull together a tofu-themed dinner tonight. I definitely earned it with my afternoon workout:

• 35 minutes on the stationary bike
• 5 minutes running to test out my new sneakers (I’m supposed to be resting my shins so shhhhh)
• a back/booty/ab/arm combo workout I ripped out of a magazine
• a 12 different move ab workout

Sheesh! I’m tired just thinking about it. Anyway, here’s what we had for dinner:

Hot and sour soup (3 WW points):

 
Followed by seared tofu over sauteed spinach with toasted pine nuts (3 WW points):

 

 
Since it was a spicy meal, we finished it off with some nice fresh watermelon chunks sprinkled with sea salt (0 WW points, and 17 bonus cool points for eating with drumstick chopsticks):

 You want to make this? It’s all SOUP-er easy! If not,we're done here. :)


THE HOW-TO:
HINT: Before you start making the soup, drain a package of firm tofu, slice it into slabs, and lay out between paper towels with a heavy weight over it to get the water out. You can come back to this after you eat your soup.

Hot and sour soup (modified WW recipe):
In a sauce pan, combine the following and bring to a boil:

• 4 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 package shiitake mushrooms (I used to think it said shit cake), thinly sliced
• 1 package lite extra-firm tofu, cubed and drained
• 8 oz can of bamboo shoots, drained and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar (I used white wine vinegar and it was fine)
• ~2 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (less or more depending on how hot you are)
• ~2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• handful of sprouts (optional)

Once it boils, reduce to a simmer for about 15 mins until the mushrooms are cooked
Then bring it back up to a boil and stir in the following:

• 3 tbsp of scallions, sliced
• 1 tbsp of cornstarch dissolved in water
• 1 egg, scrambled and drizzled into the soup while you stir like so:
  
  

 Done with that. Eat up and then go back into the kitchen for the EASIEST impressive thing ever.

Seared Tofu Over Sauteed Spinach with Toasted Pine Nuts (WW recipe)

Marinate the tofu in some soy sauce with fresh grated ginger, doesn’t have to be for too long

While that’s marinating, toast some pine nuts in a dry pan. Honestly, they don’t really do anything for the meal but you’ll feel special utilizing such an expensive nut (giggle). Put those little guys aside.

Next, sear the tofu in a frying pan with just a little bit of olive oil. Don’t worry about over-cooking, you can’t really dry tofu out. The more seared the better.

 
While that’s searing, heat up some olive oil and fresh chopped garlic (you know how to do this but I took a picture anyway because who doesn't love sauteed garlic?):

 
Once your garlic gets a tan, add a bag of baby spinach and toss over low heat until it wilts.

 
When that’s done, you’re done! Plate it any way that makes you feel happy. Ryan wanted his side-by-side and I wanted my tofu to rest peacefully on a comfortable bed of spinach tossed with pine nuts (we bonded, me and the tofu).

Chopped Watermelon with Sea Salt:

Pretty self-explanatory…I bought the chunks pre-cut. Also, true fact: chopsticks make everything better.