Alaska

Maple-Pecan Silken Delight

Michael H. (original recipe)

I visited Alaska as a kid. I remember giant insects and how it never got dark. I may have lost my favorite pillow case.

I wanted to go back as a teenager (we did drive across Canada) but we realized how far north Alaska is and decided to go down to California instead.

I vaguely remember making fun of Michael for being a 10-year-old with sophisticated taste. This recipe seems fun though. There is no reason you couldn't modify our land salmon recipe from New Hampshire and take it in this direction, but I've decided to embrace my initial instincts and this time try tofu. Specifically, I think this recipe will lend itself to silken tofu.

Ingredients

• 1" slab firm Silken tofu

• 1 small clove Garlic, minced

• 1/2" fresh Ginger, minced

• 1/2 tsp. Red Fresno chile, minced

• 1 Tbs. Maple syrup

• 1 tsp. Soy sauce

• 1 Tbs. chopped Pecans

• Juice of 1/4 Lemon

Quinoa

• 1/2 cu. Quinoa

• 1/2 cu. Carrots, chopped

• 1/2 cu. Peas

• 1 cu. Water

Preparation

Place the slab of silken tofu on a parchment-paper-line baking dish. Whisk together maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red Fresno chile, then pour over the top of the tofu, covering as much of the top as possible. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

I made my quinoa in a rice maker so it was as simple as combining all ingredients and hitting 'on.'

When ready to serve, squeeze lemon juice on the tofu. I squeezed some on the quinoa too.

Discussion

This was easy and better than I expected. The quinoa came out beautifully and, when eaten with tofu, wasn't noticeably bland despite the lack of seasoning. This outcome was by no means assured, since the silken tofu itself doesn't add a ton of flavor. However, the sauce was sufficient to carry the dish and there were pleasant textures.

I was a little concerned about the garlic clove clashing with the sweet flavors but it turned out nice. I think maybe it was a joke. See, one year, perhaps not 2014, but in one year's recipe collection, practically every other recipe included an anchovy. I joked the kids were trying to see what their parents would let them get away with in the kitchen, so they would try to slip an anchovy into completely inappropriate dishes. Since I was veganizing, my suggestion was to replace the anchovy with a clove of garlic. Convoluted as it seems, I hypothesize this is how we arrived at the single garlic clove in our maple-pecan delight (even though this explanation makes no sense).

I really did consider taking Michael's serving suggestion of steamed asparagus, a mandarin orange, and a glass of (plant) milk. That would make for a fancy dinner perhaps but it was more than I needed at lunchtime.

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