tofu nuggets & oven fries

[contessapiranha]

tonight mr p is working late late late & so I made what has become what I think of as my "babysitter" meal -- you know, the kind of thing I'd make if there was a babysitter & I needed to guarantee the kids would eat. did your parents do this? anyway, since I have yet to find an actual babysitter, I make it on nights when I feel guilty for leaving

Comments

[tender_inside]

saved.

I have a block of frozen tofu begging for a tasty presentation...

I was just making M's lunch and thinking I wonder what Contessa would make for a second grade lunch?
I really was thinking that...

[contessapiranha]

hah, it depends if my kid has completely rejected our way of eating by the time he's, what, 8?

I shudder to think.

[elphaba13]

my tofu has been awaiting your instruction.

well, not literally, but you know.
yay!

[contessapiranha]

also, that's my tried & true oven fry method! lmk if they work out for you!

[veggiemama]

When I can cook again I am totally going to make this! One question--you said I turn my oven on, then cut/soak the potatoes, take them out when the preheat beep goes off--does that mean you let them soak in the oven while it's preheating? Or do you just let them soak in warm water and then when the oven beeps you take them out of the water?

[contessapiranha]

I put them to soak in a bowl of almost-hot tap water on the counter while the oven is preheating. the only reason I mentioned it (unclearly!) in the same breath as the preheating is that I use the oven preheat as kind of a timer -- mine takes about 15-20 mins to get to 450F from cold, which gives me time for prepping the potatoes + making sure that they've soaked long enough.

[veggiemama]

thanks for clarifying!

[scoutj]

Do you cook like this every night?!?! I'm tired just reading this and I even like cooking!!

[contessapiranha]

lol, I think of this as so quick to put together! it's way more complicated to read than it is to do, because I wrote down all about how I time everything so it's all done at the same time. if you take out the marinating/soaking time + the time you're just standing around waiting to flip things over, it's only about 10 minutes worth of actual work.

(I do not do this every night, though, no. tonight, gardenburgers! fresh from the freezer!)

[scoutj]

Don't be offended by this comment of mine. But...I think that is what would be the hardest thing for me about being a vegetarian or vegan! It seems like so much work to make really yummy things. Am I wrong about that?

[contessapiranha]

oh, I'm not offended at all -- I almost said pretty much the same thing in my last comment!

I think that it depends, timewise. there are of course really elaborate recipes, & if you're chopping a ton of vegetables the that of course takes time, but then there's also a whole lot you can do with a can of beans + 30 mins cooking time. & there's also all of the meat substitute stuff -- frozen "chicken" nuggets don't take any longer than regular chicken ones to cook.

but I've never actually cooked a meat meal, so I don't know how the clock compares. most nights I try to pull something simple together in about 30 mins -- is that a lot of time?

worried!

[misseula]

You haven't posted in so long! Everything OK?

Re: worried!

[contessapiranha]

?? I'm inconsistent & boring about it these days, but I've been posting!

Re: worried!

[misseula]

I have AUgust 4th as being your last post!

Re: worried!

[misseula]

I have AUgust 4th as being your last post!
[actually August 5th. This post!]