On Oven-Baked Tofu and a Brief Summary of the Year

That's it, the year is over – who would have believed it.

Exactly one year ago, I was working at a media company and hating every minute, and very quickly found myself out the door (half on my initiative, half on the VP's).

But what is certain is that this past year was unlike any other year professionally.

This is the year I decided (with a little help from the aforementioned VP) to take the plunge and set out on an independent path.

The year I started working with major food companies as a recipe developer, the year I launched vegan cooking workshops, and the year I proved to everyone that you can build a beautiful physique on a vegan diet alone.

Though there were moments this year where I felt like I was drowning a little, I quickly caught the wave and sailed far with the blog, veganism, cooking, and of course, sports (the love of my life).

All that's left is to say thank you.

Thank you, 5778 (Tash'ach), you were hard, challenging, and wonderful.

And most importantly, thank you – all the followers of this blog, I couldn't have done anything without you.

Many thanks for the comments, questions, remarks, trolls, and thank you for following me.

Ahhh, I'm dying of curiosity to see what the new year will bring; one thing for sure, it's going to be very tasty.

Now, after my rambling, let's get to the food.

For this holiday dinner, which we are having at my parents' this year, I'm bringing oven-baked tofu with lots of herbs, flaxseeds, and roasted vegetables.

A festive dish, very easy to prepare, and just as importantly, low in calories, rich in protein, and low in fat. In case you haven't noticed, it's a beautiful and impressive dish that will garner compliments around the holiday table.

I added lemon thyme to the dish, which gives it a wonderful lemony flavor that blends perfectly with the garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes, giving it the feel of a dish straight from the Mediterranean coast.

Just a small glass of Ouzo on the side and we're in Greece.

If you can't find lemon thyme, you can use any other aromatic herb; it will still turn out delicious and surprising.

____________________________________________________

How do you eat it?

This oven-baked tofu dish can be a complete main course for a festive dinner that will satisfy you while still leaving room for a little dessert sin.

And still stay within our calorie budget.

__________________________________________________

Nutritional values by fitness coach and nutritionist Noam Bachar

One serving of oven-baked tofu with vegetables weighing 300g

Contains:

300 kcal

18g carbohydrates

12g protein

19g fat (of which 2.5g saturated fat)

5g dietary fiber

4 mg iron

Want another festive tofu dish? Try the patties in amazing green sauce.

Print

Oven-Baked Tofu

Prep time 5 minutes

Cook time 15 minutes

Total time 28 minutes

Servings 5 servings

Ingredients

• 600 g tofu
• 300 g potatoes small (like the variety intended for microwave)
• 200 g broccoli about 2 cups
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 30 g flaxseeds about 3 tbsp
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1/2 hot pepper
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch lemon thyme or any aromatic herb you love like tarragon or za'atar or thyme
• juice from a whole lemon

Instructions

1. The night before: cut the tofu into 5 equal units
2. In a small, deep bowl, pour 5 tbsp olive oil, the lemon juice, and crush 3 garlic cloves into it. Salt slightly and mix.
3. Marinate the tofu in the bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight, so all the flavors are absorbed into the tofu.
4. The next day
5. Cook the potatoes with their skins until they are almost ready. \r\nAl-dente style. Soft but still firm. \r\nI used microwave potatoes and cooked them for 6 minutes out of the 8 required. \r\n
6. Cut the potatoes into quarters and transfer to a bowl.
7. Rinse the broccoli well and transfer to the bowl with the potatoes.
8. Pour the tofu marinade into the bowl with the potatoes and broccoli and mix well.
9. Preheat oven to high (200 degrees) - top grill turbo mode. \r\n
10. Transfer the potatoes and broccoli to a flat and wide baking tray.
    
11. Place in the oven for 5 minutes until the broccoli is slightly browned at the edges.
    
12. Finely chop the parsley together with a bit of lemon thyme and transfer to a bowl.
13. Add the flaxseeds, juice from half a lemon, 2 crushed garlic cloves, a little chopped chili, a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, and one tablespoon of water, and mix well.
    
14. Place the tomatoes and 3-4 large stems of lemon thyme onto the potatoes and broccoli in the baking tray, arranging everything so it's more or less at the same height. \r\n
    
15. Coat each piece of tofu in the parsley and flaxseed mixture and place on top of the vegetable layers.
    
16. Bake at high heat (200 degrees) for 10 minutes until the vegetables brown slightly.

Notes

Can be upgraded with a few blanched almond slivers on top.