Grilled Tofu with vegetables: A Healthy Starter

Tofu is such a versatile food. It almost resembles our Indian version of 'Paneer' and can be called a vegan substitute for 'Paneer'. I love Tofu as much as i love Paneer; not just because of the wide uses that it has but also from the nutritional point of view. Since it does not have any taste of its own, it can be easily marinated or seasoned to suit the taste of the dish. Also, since it comes in different varieties such as silken, firm, or very firm it can be used to prepare wide varieties of dishes ranging from Veggies, curries, stir-fries to cakes, drinks and desserts.
Last week i experimented a Tofu with vegetables starter. This is totally my version of the recipe and discovered it by trial and error. Fortunately, it turned out to be so good that both me and my husband relished it till the last bite. Here is the recipe:

For Marination:
1 packet of High Protein Organic Firm Tofu
2 tsp of Sesame Oil
4-5 tbls of Soy Sauce
1-2 tsp of Chili-garlic sauce
1/4 tsp of salt

Canola Oil for cooking
Onions - diced
Bell Peppers -diced
Mushrooms - cut
Celery - cut
Baby Corn - cut into small pieces.
Salt as per taste
White sesame seeds

• Take a big, preferably flat bowl. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, chili-garlic sauce and salt and mix it thoroughly with a spoon.
• Cut tofu into small cubes and add it to the above prepared mixture. Mix it properly to ensure that all the pieces are covered with the paste. Cover the bowl with the a plastic wrapper and keep it aside in the fridge for 4-5 hours.

After 5 hours:

• Heat the pan, and add oil to it. Once the oil gets heated, add onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and 1/4 tsp salt. Let it cook for some time till onion and bell pepper become soft and transparent and mushrooms become dark in color and soft. Then add celery and baby corn and let it cook for another 2-3 mins. Do not over-cook it as we want the celery to be crunchy and not soft.
• In the meantime, heat up the griddle ( I used griddle since i did not have a grill and believe me, it tastes awesome:-)). Add a drop of oil onto it and wipe it with a paper towel just to make the griddle greasy. Add tofu pieces to it and cook it on all the sides, till it turn dark.
• Add around 1.5 teaspoon of sesame seeds on it and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Remove and add it to the cooked vegetables. Again start off with the second batch of tofu. You can add the remaining marinate mixture on the griddle or can add it to the vegetables. Proceed with the same steps of cooking tofu with sesame seeds.

Once the tofu has been added to the vegetables, add salt as per your taste ( you don't really need much as tofu as enough salt because of soy sauce). You can add chili-garlic sauce if you want to make it more spicy or else your dish is ready.

Both of us love making and eating healthy food. This is definitely a keeper in our lest of healthy and tasty recipes.

Teaching

I have recently started my voluntary service as a teacher in one of the elementary schools in Bellevue. I teach Math to a group of 4th grade students. Its been almost 3 weeks since i have started this and have been thoroughly enjoying spending time with my students.

Tomorrow I have to make them understand the the concept of Area and Perimeter and have to teach them how to calculate it. I have been looking on the internet for some creative and fun way of teaching them. Though i didn't find any interesting activity, i found a poem that could be taught to children to remember what to do if they have to calculate the area and the perimeter.
Here is the poem- (sing it to the tune of Jingle Bell)

Perimeter, perimeter
Goes around and round
Add up all the sides and then you write your answer down

Area, Area
Throughout the whole middle
For rectangle its base times height
And your answer will always be right

Let's see if it would be helpful to the chidlren. Also i got a few worksheets from one of the website which has a lot of exercises for children to solve.