Orange baked tofu

Summer holidays!  We've been busy.  Painting a mural on the back wall.  Swimming at the beach.  Sharks on the next beach.  Driving past a grass fire.  Sunburn.  Tidying up.  Sleepovers.  Playgrounds.  Cafes.  Just a bit of work.  Heatwaves.  Not much cooking.  Just the occasionally favourite like dal, bread and bliss balls.  Last night E and I went out so my niece came to babysit Sylvia.  I made orange baked tofu for dinner that we all really enjoyed.  Almost!

I confess to a lack of cooking mojo lately.  As I have mentioned once or twice, my bookmarking site delicious.com is down and I can't access my thousands of bookmarked recipes.  It is not the I can't find recipes online.  But these are the ones I really want to make and are tagged with ingredients and other keywords.  I have some other bookmarks in odd locations but nothing quite so organised and extensive as this collection.
 

The hot weather is also making me have less of an appetite for cooking and turning on the stove.  The recipe is one that I had bookmarked from Cindy and Michael.   I bought a bag of oranges, forgetting I had some at home already.  This seemed a good way to buy them, though I got caught out with the expense of limes.  (I am willing those baby limes on my tree in the back yard to grow.)

This is a recipe for those who love citrus.  I pretty much followed the recipe but swapped mustard and ginger for oregano and cumin.  I didn't season the marinade at all other than the soy sauce because I was unsure about how it was meant to taste.  Another time I would do a little seasoning but not too much.  This is a dish where the orange and lime shines!

We ate the baked tofu with bread, a beetroot and lentil salad, and a deconstructed garden salad.  I didn't mean to be trendy with serving the garden salad on a chopping board but it just never made it to the bowl!  I was very pleased when my niece Quin said how much she loves tofu.  Sylvia turned up her nose at the tofu but the rest of us kept going back for more.  It was a very pleasing meal.

Then E and I headed out to see Amanda Palmer at the Gasometer Hotel.  It is the first time I have seen a gig in a pub under the stars (or clouds as the case may be).  The arched roof was rolled back and I could look up and see bats swooping overhead.  A mischievous fly crawled over the keyboard and held up a song!  We had an interlude where everyone was given paper and pencils to write something from the heart to contribute to song lyrics.  It was all quite weird and wonderful.

I am sending this to Healthy Vegan Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays and Meat Free Mondays.

More tofu marinade recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Apricot and orange glazed tofu (gf, v)
Aussie bbq tofu
Cocoa jerk tofu (gf, v)
Cranberry and orange glazed tofu (gf, v) 
Honey and mustard marinated smoked tofu (gf)
Tofu bacon (gf, v)
Tofu in a tomato, lemongrass and ginger sauce (gf, v)

Orange baked tofu
Adapted from Viva Vegan via Where's the Beef
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tamari
500g firm tofu

marinade
juice of 2 oranges
zest of 1 orange
juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp finely grated ginger
1/2 tsp tamari
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200 C.

Mix oil and tamari and pour into the base of a baking dish (mine was slightly smaller that 9x13 inch and only just fitted 450g tofu so I didn't do the full 500g).  Slice tofu into about 1cm pieces and place in pan not overlapping but tucked close together is fine.  Turn each piece so it is covered in the oil and tamari.

Bake tofu for 20 minutes.  While the tofu is baking, prepare marinade by mixing everything together and seasoning.  I didn't add any seasoning and it was very citrussy but I don't think it needs a lot of seasoning.  Flip tofu over when 20 minutes is up.  Pour marinade over tofu.  Bake 30 minutes until most of marinade is absorbed and tofu is golden brown.

On the Stereo:
Begin to Hope: Regina Spector