Properly cooked crispy tofu is a far cry from the tasteless, gelatinous cubes that most Americans are familiar with. If you think tofu isn’t for you – think again.

Ingredients

• One block of extra firm tofu, pressed and dried
• Chimichurri sauce
• 1/2 bag of dried lentils (brown, red, green – doesn’t matter)
• Carrots
• Onion
• Garlic
• Salt and Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Cumin

Method

Lentils will take a while to cook, and will require a lot of water, so be prepared, and start cooking at least an hour before you’ll want to eat. I would also recommend using a more constant heat source than a simple open fire, such as the side burner on a propane barbecue. The bonus here is that the tofu can be baked in the barbecue itself.

Slice the carrots, dice the onion, and add to a preheated cast iron skillet with a little oil. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the carrot shave softened slightly and the onions have turned translucent. Add as much chopped garlic as you like, stir it around for a minute, then add at least 2 cups of water and half a bag of rinsed lentils.

Stir everything together, turn down the heat and let it simmer until the lentils have softened and cooked through – which could be an hour or more. Be sure to add more water as necessary and whatever you do – do not let it dry out or else it will stick to the pan and burn. The lentils should be constantly simmering in a broth.

Add cumin and red pepper flakes to taste, and just let it simmer.

Meanwhile…. take your block of pressed tofu, pat it dry and rip it into bit-sized chunks. As tempting as it is, don’t cut it into perfect cubes. You want ragged edges, which will crisp beautifully when baked.

Toss the tofu chunks in enough chimichurri sauce to properly coat them, add the mixture to a baking pan and place in the barbecue, on an upper shelf away from direct heat if possible. The tofu will take about 20 minutes to bake at 400F, so try to guess when the lentils will be ready and time everything accordingly…

Once the tofu is crispy and the lentils are tender, simply spoon the lentils into a bowl, and top with the crispy tofu.

And then go tell all your friends that tofu is actually pretty damn good when it’s done right.