Apricot Glaze or Barbecue Sauce for One

Do you ever have a hankering for barbecue sauce and you’re allergic to tomatoes (on which most sauces are based)? Slosh this sweet and tangy sauce on tofu, slabs of seitan, steamed veggies, or, as seen here, on cauliflower florets or tofu. Yum!

3 TBLSP apricot preserves

2 TBLSP miso (yellow or white)

2 TBLSP rice vinegar

2 TBLSP soy sauce or tamari

1 clove garlic, diced small

½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and diced small

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the ingredients (preserves, miso, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.
2. Heat the sauce until it boils, then turn down the temperature and, stirring often, reduce until it’s fairly thick. This might take 5 minutes, but probably not that long, and it’s sugar in there, so lurk and stir often.

 If you're putting this sauce over cauliflower or other roasted veggies:

1. Get the cauliflower or other veggie in the oven and roasting for 10-20 minutes, until they’re fork-tender, at a reasonable heat, such as 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I like to line the baking pan with aluminum foil to make clean-up easier.
2. When the veggies are fork-tender, turn the oven up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, slosh some sauce onto everything and then bake for 10-12 minutes.
3. Pull the baking sheet out again, flip everyone over, and bake for another 10-12 minutes. The sauce should be making sizzling noises and have turned a darker shade of brown.

Serve with a refreshing salad. Seen here is a purple rice and zucchini salad, recipe coming soon!

I also like this over fried tofu , and in this case (see photo), I combined the cauliflower with fried tofu, some green beans, and some cut fresh apricots. Yummy!

Fried Tofu

1 package firm tofu, about 14 ounces

2 teaspoons flax seed meal

2 teaspoons water

3 TBLSP cornstarch

Pinch of baking powder

Pinch of salt

More water

Oil for frying

1. Cut the slab of firm tofu in half length-wise and press it between two plates for 15 minutes or so, while the waffle iron is heating up. My iron has plates that can be turned over for smooth sided tofu (which is easier to clean up) or for the traditional waffle pattern (which is fun and holds more sauce).
2. Meanwhile, mix the flax seed meal with 2 teaspoons of water in a small bowl.
3. In a larger bowl, one big enough to put the tofu into, combine the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and heave in the flax seed meal, which should now be a viscous glop. If the mixture is fairly thick, add water until it’s more like pancake batter. You’ll probably need 3 or 4 TBLSP of water.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan—about ¾ of an inch will do it. It doesn’t need to deep fry.
5. Cut the ironed tofu into nice cubes and place them gently into your batter, sloshing them around a bit to coat all the sides.
6. Fry the tofu in the oil in a loose layer—if they touch, they will stick to each other, which makes them easier to turn over, but not as much fun to serve. You might need several batches. Fry them until they’re golden brown on all sides.
7. Put the fried tofu cubes on some paper towels to absorb some of the oil.

If you’re saucing these, don’t chuck ‘em into the oven with the veggies or they’ll get soggy. Save some of the sauce and pour it over the tofu when you’ve balanced it artfully on top of your glazed veggies.