Sublime Cooks: Brussel Sprouts with Tofu

Ok, so I know this is a hard sell, but trust me.

Brussel Sprouts and Tofu, slightly adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's wonderful book Plenty, was amazing. I have to say that I already love both the sprouts and tofu, but understand that both get a bit of a bad rep. However, I think recipe would be good enough to turn even the most ardent hater.

I mentioned this meal on my End of Phase 1, South Beach Diet round up yesterday and a few people on twitter asked me about it so I thought I would share the full recipe.

If you think of sprouts as over boiled and bland, please try this. Just think of them as little cabbages - and if you don't like cabbages, well, then there really is something wrong with you!

And if you have any interest in food and don't already have a copy of Plenty, go get it now, you won't regret it! I actually got engaged in Yotam Ottolenghi's fine dining restaurant Nopi, so he has a special place in my heart.

The recipe for Brussel Sprouts and Tofu was originally published in the Guardian and you can see it here.
I made a couple of changes to make it South Beach (Phase 1) friendly.

Brussel Sprouts with Tofu
Serves 2.

150g tofu, cut into large slices
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
250g Brussel sprouts
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
salt
4 spring onions
1 birdseye chili
120g shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
15g chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Whisk 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, with the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar and marinade the tofu in it for at least 10 minutes.

Chop the based off the sprouts and cut each one into three slices, lengthways. Put a bit of rapeseed oil into a pan and fry the sprouts on a high heat for a couple of minutes. They should start to caramelise and blacken on a couple of sides. Add in the mushrooms and chili and fry together until the mushrooms are cooked through.Then remove it all from the pan and set aside.

Using the same hot pan, fry the tofu on both sides, until it starts to turn golden and caramelised.

Remove the heat from the pan and add in the chopped spring onion, most of the coriander and the sprout and mushroom mixture. Then pour in the remaining marinade and give it a gentle stir to make sure it is all coated (be careful not to beak up the tofu).

Yotam Ottolenghi says to serve it with rice. I did wholewheat noodles for my boyfriend and some lightly stir fried beansprouts for me.

Garnish with any left over coriander leaves and the toasted sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Seriously - sprouts are ace. And this is the perfect recipe to show that they don't just have to be along side Christmas dinner (though I love them there too!).