What Goes With Tofu?

Red wine, or white?

I went with white.

But before that…

This afternoon was pretty uneventful. I got my massage, which unfortunately wasn’t very good.  It wasn’t bad, necessarily, it was just kind of…meh. I told the masseuse that I ran in a half-marathon a few days ago, and that my legs might be tight. I had hoped that she would take that as, “PLEASE work on my LEGS!!! They’re tired and tight and they need kneading!” Instead, I think she thought I was trying to tell her that they were too sore to be touched, because she barely laid a hand on them! Oh well. I guess I just have bad luck with massages. Maybe I need to hire my own personal masseuse.  That would certainly solve the problem!

When I got home from the massage, we headed to the grocery store to pick out some items for dinner. We decided to take advantage of the somewhat warm weather, and grill some chicken and tofu. For sides, we bought brussel sprouts and butternut squash.

Once home, I got to work prepping the butternut squash. They’re a lot of trouble, but so worth it!

First, I peeled the squash. Once he was naked, I cut him in half, and then scooped out his seeds and guts, until he finally looked like this:

 Then, I chopped each piece into two pieces, and chopped those pieces into planks.  Finally, I chopped the planks into small pieces (about 1 inch thick and 1 inch tall), like this little guy:

I think, sadly, one of the things I like most about butternut squash is how much it looks like CHEESE!!!

And speaking of cheese…

As we cooked dinner, we snacked on this fresh mozzarella that my dad picked up at the farmers’ market on Saturday.  OH MY.  This was GOOD cheese:

I snapped a pic of the wrapper so that I’d have the information on it:

As I ate my weight in cheese, I also prepared the brussel sprouts.  I trimmed and halved them:

Then I tossed them with: 2 tbsp. olive oil, 2 tbsp. maple syrup, 1/4 cup golden raisins, and salt and pepper.  Baked at 400 degrees until they looked like this (about 30 minutes), and put them in a pretty bowl:

I topped the finished brussel sprouts with chopped pistachios.  Delicious!

As for the butternut squash, I tossed it with: 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, salt, and pepper.  They baked in the oven, right alongside the brussel sprouts:

As for the tofu, I just rubbed it with a little olive oil, sprinkled with some Zatarain’s cajun seasoning, and sent it out to the grill. 

All together:

Mmmm…check out that caramelization on the butternut squash!

This meal was followed with a fewwww bites of cookie

I think we’re going to play some cards…wish me luck!  My dad is always out to get me when we play hearts!