Pan Fried Tofu with Spinach and Noodles

So, a few weeks ago my good friend/roommate Sammi introduced me to VeganYumYum. That website is some serious food porn. Any way, I was hungry and needed to go to the grocery store when I saw a recipe for pan fried tofu with kale and stir-fried noodles. The pictures looked amazing and I was really hungry so I headed out to Publix to pick up a few things I needed. Now, I couldn't find kale or the wide rice noodles that the original recipe called for, so I improvised. Here is my slightly different version. And yes, it's vegan!

Pan Fried Tofu with Spinach and Noodles

• 1 package extra/super firm tofu
• 1 bag of spinach
• 1/2 box of whole wheat spaghetti (or whatever kind of noodle you have on hand)
• Sugar
  
• Soy Sauce

Tofu Marinade

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger (I used ground, because that's what I had)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon of mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
  
• Black pepper, to taste

Begin by pressing the tofu. I wrapped mine in a paper towel and then in a bar towel and weighted it down. The original recipe says to weight it down with a cast iron pan, but a pan with a big can of soup or tomatoes works fine too. Do this for about 15 minutes to drain the water. While the tofu is pressing whisk together the marinade. Cut the tofu into 8 equal sized rectangles and let it sit in the marinade for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly oil the pan. Add the tofu once the pan is really hot. Brown the tofu on side, then flip and brown on the other side. Spoon extra marinade over the tofu and flip every few minutes. In total, the tofu should cook for about ten minutes until it looks like it'll be burnt if it cooks for any longer. Remove the tofu and let it rest. Heat a little more oil in the pan and add the spinach. Once softened add the noodles and toss. Flavor the noodles with a touch of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. Plate the noodles and spinach and place the tofu on top.

A few tips about this recipe:

• The pan will spit oil at you when you add the tofu, so just be careful. I'm a really big baby when it comes to hot things, so I wore an oven mitt. But trust me, if I survived it, you most certainly will.
• Soy sauce is like using salt. When you put soy sauce on the noodles at the end, a little goes along way, especially since the tofu was already marinaded in it.
• It's ok to use the leftover marinade. The reason you were always told to toss extra marinade is because of cross contamination with raw meat. You won't get e coli or salmonella from tofu, so don't let that tasty marinade go to waste.