Tofu Crisps

Photo: flickr user avlxyz

Ingredients

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

16 ounces firm tofu rinsed and drained cut into bite sized cubes

cup nutritional yeast

cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

teaspoon cracked black pepper

Preparation

In a bowl combine vinegar and soy sauce. Add tofu cubes and stir to coat. Marinate for at least 10 min. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place remaining dry ingredients in a one gallon ziplock. Seal and shake. Drain tofu and put cubes, in two batches, into ziplock. Seal and shake to coat. Place coated cubes on a cookie sheet and bake 20 min or til browned.

Makes one pound crisps.

BTW, if you don't have, nor like nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs would be a good substitute. Or you could use breadcrumbs in lieu of the flour. And, of course, any seasoning of your choice would work. I do think the marinade imparted a lot of flavor.

DH received an emergency work call, so I had to put dinner on hold. By the time we ate, the tofu "crisps" were no longer crisp. They still tasted great and were somewhat chewy (akin to baked tofu), but they definitely lost their crispness.

So, serve them immediately if you want the crisp exterior and silky interior. Now that I think about it, fresh out of the oven, these had the texture of deep fried breaded tofu.

I think these would make great hot d'oeuvres. Serve with toothpicks, hot from the oven, with an optional dipping sauce. I enjoyed them plain, but I think any Oriental dipping sauce, or a barbecue sauce, or a mustard based sauce would be a nice addition.

Just wanted to let you know, as the Tofu Crisps cooled, they became "tofu chewy bites" (but not too chewy). The coating was no longer crunchy, and the interior was no longer soft and silky. Not unpleasant, just a change of character.

NOTES : These seasoned tofu cubes are baked at a high temp. so they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They're great as croutons on salads, or in pastas, stews and soups.

These were great! To get both sides very crisp, I recommend turning them around 15 minutes, and then cooking for another 10 minutes.

These little crisps were great - crispy on the outside and a soft little "pillow" on the inside. The flavor is really good, too. I don't think I'd use them as croutons in soup, as suggested in the recipe, because I think they'd get soggy very quickly. I made them to be the "tuna" in a Salade Nicoise I'm serving tonight. But I will keep them out of the dressing.

Frankly, I devoured half of them while I was preparing the rest of the meal. They are great protein packed little snacks. [ecr]