Grilling in the Great Indoors

For the first time in a long time (OK, maybe four years), I had a holiday weekend where I could come back to work and say, ZOMG, I had an awesome holiday weekend! if anyone cared to ask.  Usually when you say you had a better-than-average one, people don’t want to listen (or they don't have time).

On Monday, I went to whole foods and treated myself to garnet yams and firm tofu.  I returned home, made a pineapple-upside down cake (recipe available on request), cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, worked on correspondence, and then grilled tofu and yams.

My brother’s nickname is “Jamz,” but around the same time I invented Ownie, I called him “Yams.”  In plush cat language (da cat family tongue), Js are pronounced like Ys, as seems to be the case in a bunch of other non-English languages.  Yes, I sound particularly academic today.  Sue me.

The marinade I modified from a Moosewood recipe.

Here goes.


Sesame Tamari Marinade

Ingredients:

1 pound firm or extra-firm tofu, drained, sliced into about six slabs, and pressed for ½ hour or more

1 garnet yam, washed and pricked all over with a fork (or however many you need for the people for whom you’re cooking; figure on 1 yam per person)

Marinade:

1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce, if you’re not concerned about the glutens)

2 tablespoons catsup

Mix all the ingredients together in a shallow glass dish.  Place the tofu in the marinade, coat it entirely, and set it aside for half an hour or so.  Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge if you’re not going to get back to it in a half an hour.

Once you’ve washed and pricked the yam, place it on a microwave-safe plate, cover it with waxed paper, and microwave for 5 minutes.  Set aside.

Oil the grill grids.  Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (I was using an indoor grill ’cause that’s what’s available to me).  When it’s hot, arrange the coated tofu on top of the grill.  There will be sputtering and flaring as the sesame oil from the marinade hits the flame (woo, fire!).  Grill the tofu for about seven to ten minutes per side or until there’s char on both sides.  As you free up space on the grill, cut the microwaved yam in half, roll it in the marinade, and place it orange-side-down on the grill.  Grill for about seven minutes per side or until the yam halves char.   Serve with wilted kale and hot mustard.

We marinate tofu and bake sweet potatoes a lot in my family. This picture is from sometime at home with my parents.