Sometimes, change is good

The rising cost of gas has triggered several behavioral changes in The Old Red House residents. We carpool to work more often and do our grocery shopping at a store closer to home. This change in grocery stores represents a significant trade-off, as this store often has lower product diversity than our store of choice, but does have good bread, and provides gas discounts (10 cents off a gallon for every $50 spent). We've built up as much as a 60 cents/gallon balance that resulted in a $4.80 discount during a recent fill-up of the Prius. It seemed like a buy 7 get 1 free deal. Yesterday, I filled up the Subaru with a 20 cents/gallon balance. While it felt good to be paying less than $4.00, it was no less of a shock when only $2.73 was removed from my $50 (!!!) tab. Hopefully this tank of gas will last for a while!



The low product diversity at the grocery store resulted in a very pleasant discovery. During a previous shopping adventure, we commented to one of the employees that we found the lack of tofu somewhat surprising. The helpful clerk informed us, that indeed they did have tofu, but they don't put it on display. Customers just need to ask for it. Last week, things had changed - there was tofu on the shelf - Chinese five spice. The recipe that I was making needed plain (or so I thought). Reverting to the old method of asking, I discovered the only other option was "silken." I figured I would pick up the tofu at another store sometime during the week.



A few days passed, and the "Curried "Chicken" Salad" reached the top of our menu list. Dan was cooking that night and dutifully picked up the tofu - the only available product at the local store - Chinese five spice. Low and behold, this is the perfect tofu for the recipe (which follows). Sometimes, change is good.





Curried "Chicken" Salad (modified from Madison - This Can't Be Tofu! and The Moosewood Collective - Simple Suppers)

For the baked tofu:
1 carton of firm tofu (Chinese Five Spice, please)
1 T vegetable oil
1 T sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
2 t grated ginger root
1 garlic clove, pressed
2-3 t Chinese chili paste

For the "Chicken" salad:
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
zest (finely grated) and juice from 1 large lime
3 T chopped cilantro
1/4 c finely chopped parsley
1 t curry powder
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 celery rib, finely diced
1 T mango chutney

Preheat oven to 400 F

1. Cut the tofu into cubes. Lightly oil a baking dish large enough to hold the tofu in a single layer. Whisk together the marinade ingredients and drizzle over tofu. Gently toss. Bake uncovered, stirring once or twice, for 30-40 minutes until chewy. This can be done ahead.


2. Combine the remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings adding more curry powder or lime as desired.


3. Add tofu and gently toss with a rubber spatula. If possible chill for 20 min or more.

Enjoy!