Best meal I have ever made myself!

Well, not sure if my family agreed, but I loved every bite.  And, unfortunately the final meal's photos were somehow deleted from my iphone.  My best creation ever - all proof GONE.  I do not understand how things disappear from my phone, my computer and my saved blog file.  But I do have one lonely photo of the tofu before it went into the oven!

 

On to the meal:
Spicy Orange Greens
This recipe is from a new cookbook Everyday Happy Herbivore.  And the recipe is found in a downloadable pdf with several of her recipes.  Here is the link:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/sample-recipes-from-everyday-happy-herbivore/

I will not write out the recipe, because I really want you to check out the pdf, it has several great recipes.  For my spicy greens, I could not find an orange marmalade without corn syrup, so I used apricot preserves.  For my greens, I used kale.  This recipe was AMAZING.  I wish I still had my beautiful picture.


Orange Beets
I bought the prepackaged, already cooked beets from Trader Joes.  Yes, I would prefer to buy them from the Farmers Market, but sometimes I use short cuts.  I emptied the beets in a dish and poured a little balsamic vinegar and orange over them.  No precise measure, just enough to give flavor.  I served these cold. 

Tofu
My description of this tofu is simply - AWESOME.  I sliced the tofu (extra firm) and pressed the water out.  (This is key to the final tofu not being soggy)  I wrap mine in a dish towel and put a heavy dish on top while I prepare the marinade and crust.  Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Marinade:
2TBS Tahini
2 TBS Water
1 tsp GF Tamari
whisk these together, and spread on the top and bottom of the tofu (I put little slits in my tofu, so the marinade will soak through the middle).  Do not use all marinade, save half for later.
Put tofu on baking dish and roast at 350 for 12 minutes.
Crust:
In my Vitamix, I combined
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup walnuts (You can use any nuts that you like, I try to incorporate walnuts for the Omega 3)
2 tsp cornmeal (makes this recipe gluten free!)
1/4 tsp cumin
2 TBS cilantro
turn vitamix on low - medium for a few minutes
Take tofu out of the oven, put more marinade on, and pour the crust on top (I did not use all of the crust). Place back in the oven for 10 more minutes.  I broiled mine at the end to make the tofu a little more brown, but watch it carefully. 

Omnivore hint - I saved some of the marinade and crust for Chad to use on his grilled chicken!  He loved the kale as well.  He is not a beet fan.  The girls enjoyed the kale, tofu and chicken.  Not the beets.  Which just meant more beets for me.