April 4th. Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Eggplant and Zucchini Stew, Tofu and mango with pomegranate molasses, roasted peppers

Dinner for Sam, Drea and Tommy.  Decided to go all vegetarian without too many repeats of past meals.

I'd made  a variation of my eggplant and zucchini dish, not exactly a ratatouille or a caponata--but could be confused for either.  It rested in the refrigerator while I prepared the rest of the meal.

Also--pasta with roasted cauliflower--inspired by a a Deborah Madison recipe that used  boiled cauliflower.

FARFALLE  WITh ROASTED CAULIFLOWER

Two Heads of Cauliflower cut into small florets, stems in small pieces

1 pound Farfalle

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup well toasted fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

red pepper flakes

capers

salt and pepper

I began by roasting the cauliflower .  I used three  jelly roll pans full.  Well, actually , I used one pan three times.   I can never have enough roasted cauliflower and wanted to make sure there'd be plenty.   Set the cauliflower aside.

While the pasta is cooking,  heat the butter along with the olive oil in a large pan.   Just before the pasta is done,  add the  cauliflower  along with the pepper flakes, capers and salt and pepper , to the  oil and butter.  Drain the pasta.  Add it to the pan, along  with the grated cheese and bread crumbs.  Mix well.  Add parsley and serve.

Farfalle with cauliflower gussied up with roasted slivers of pepper

Yes indeed,  I also roasted red and golden peppers, making efficient use of the broiler while the oven was busy with all those trays of florets.

Weeks ago, in a fit of righteousness, I'd bought two packages of tofu--a perfect source for protein for this all-veggie meal.  In recent years, my tofu recipe of choice has been caramelized tofu, but instead chose to have another whirl with  pomegranate molasses 

After much poking about,  with some inspiration from a Paula Wolfert eggplant recipe, and a recipe for tofu salad from Nature Path's Organic food (we are, after all, talking tofu), I came up with the following:

SAUTEED TOFU WITH MANGO AND POMEGRANATE MOLASSES

One package extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into neat pieces

One Mango, cut into relatively neat pieces

Lemon and/or lime juice--several tablespoons

Garlic-a few cloves, crushed 

Ginger-(optional and variable)

Soy Sauce-few tablespoons

Rice vinegar--a few tablespoons

Pomegranate Molasses-several tablespoons

Sugar-a dash

Mint leaves-1/2 cup shredded or chopped

Parsley--two tablespoons

silver plated coffee beans?

The first  task is to press the tofu, i.e. get rid of some of the moisture.  Many possibilities with varying outcomes.  My favorite at the moment is to wrap  the whole block of tofu in paper towels, place it between two flat cutting boards and  place my  jar of mysterious silver weights,  purchased at a garage sale years ago, on top.  Their   proper use, I think, is  to weigh down pie crusts--but they  are surely available  for other duties.  An hour or so should be plenty of time--but if you forget about it for a while, no harm done.
Then, crush a few cloves of garlic and a bit of ginger and stir into the  juice of one lemon or lime , soy sauce and rice vinegar.
Slice   the tofu into relatively neat rectangles--or squares and cover with the marinade.

The few pieces of mango and tofu that survived long enough to be photographed

Drain the marinade, reserving it for the sauce.  Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy pan and brown the tofu.   You want it nicely browned and a bit crispy on the outside, but soft inside.  Shouldn't be longer than a few minutes on each side.  Remove to a serving platter.   Mix the tofu with the cut-up mango.  Add the pomegranate molasses, mint, parsley and a dash of sugar  (not sure of this is necessary--but  it tasted a bit tart).  Turns out one package of tofu was scarcely enough for the four of us.  It disappeared almost immediately.  No left-overs at all.

Drea had brought a dark bread which was perfect with all those veggies, and for dessert, she'd brought a gigantic chocolate chip cookie.  We divided the cookie into four  large quarters and  with  the last sliver of key lime pie  cut into four tiny pieces, we had a fine finish to a very jolly meal.