tofu tostada

tofu tostada, originally uploaded by organic baker.

(Note: The computer gods stopped smiling at me last month and took away the second laptop for the year. Thanks to the persevering deal and coupon fishing by Dan, we got what we needed - a system that hopefully will work and stay for less that 300 bucks! Now on with the cooking.)

One of the things i truly look forward to during summer is the LA Tofu Festival. It was my mom who originally discovered it from an asian channel commercial and told me that we SHOULD go there. I remember meeting iron chef Morimoto (picture taking, autograph on a spicy mabo tofu box - the works!) the first time we went there i was totally hooked.

Tofu tostada is a meal so simple it's flavors rely only on the freshness of your produce. I used an organic firm tofu for this dish and it made a big impact. The flavors are clean and very fresh. One must remember that tofu is but a blank canvass for flavor - an artist's/chef's dream. While preparing the veggies, i wrapped the block of firm tofu with a kitchen towel and weighed it down by a container of brown rice to expel most of the moisture. In a big bowl, i dumped in chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumbers (inspired by Ralphie's ceviche), about 3 cloves of freshly minced garlic (prepackaged/bottled garlic won't work), juice of 2 limes, a handful of chopped cilantro, seeded and finely chopped jalapeno, salt, pepper and cumin to taste. Cube the tofu and add to the veggies and fold to combine. I'd say leave it alone for about 15 minutes to let the flavors develop.

Serve on top of a tostada shell. Great with tapatio!

Summer happiness on a plate anytime of the year!