Jerk Tofu with Coconut Rice and Sautéed Veggies

Dinner on Friday took a tropical twist with this dish. I used recipes from Vegetarian Times, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and my own kitchen know-how to make this meal. Though the dish is somewhat complex, using the right method will enable you to cook this all in about an hour.

The foundation of this meal is the Jerk Seasoning. It is used on the Tofu and the veggies, and you’ll greatly benefit both in flavor and in cost savings by making your own. Blending spices takes all of five minutes and it’s likely you have all these spices on hand. If not, pick a place that will sell spices in bulk so you can buy just as much as you want without having to fork over 1/3 of your grocery budget on bottled spices. The recipe for this blend comes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Also, buy a spice grinder, because spending $30 to get better flavors from your spices since you’ll be starting from whole spices is worth every penny.

Jerk Seasoning

• 1 tbsp. allspice berries
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg pieces
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. cayenne, or to taste
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 tsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger or 2 tsp. ground

1. Put the allspice, nutmeg, peppercorns, and thyme in a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
2. Mix in the remaining ingredients and use immediately or store in a tightly covered container for up to several weeks and add the garlic and ginger as you use the seasoning.

Now that you have the Jerk Seasoning, you can move on to the rest of the dish. First, prepare your tofu for baking, because you’ll make the other two components (the coconut rice and sautéed veggies) while the tofu bakes.

Jerk-Rubbed Baked Tofu

• 1 pkg. Firm Tofu, well drained
• Peanut Oil
• Jerk Seasoning

1. Line a baking dish with aluminum foil and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the tofu into 4 even cutlets.
3. Place tofu in baking dish
4. Liberally coat tofu with Peanut oil
5. Place about 1tsp. Jerk Seasoning on each tofu cutlet and rub spice mix on surface. Flip tofu and repeat until all sides are evenly coated with peanut oil and spice blend.
6. Bake at 350F for one hour.

With the tofu in the oven, it’s time to prep the veggies and coconut rice ingredients. I used Zucchini, Red Peppers, Red Onion, and Garlic for my vegetable mix but feel free to use whichever veggie mix suits your taste. Because the rice takes a little longer than the veggies (about 30 minutes total) you’ll want to get that started before the vegetables.

Coconut Rice (from Vegetarian Times)

• 1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1, 3-inch stick cinnamon
• 1 c. jasmine rice (or plain white rice), rinsed and drained
• 3/4 c. light coconut milk
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. grated lime zest
• 1/8 tsp. white pepper
• 1/4 c. shredded coconut, toasted (optional)

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add ginger, garlic, and cinnamon stick, and sauté 1 minute, or until fragrant
3. Stir in rice, and sauté 2 minutes, or until grains are opaque.
4. Add coconut milk, sugar, salt, lime zest, white pepper, and 3/4 c. water.
5. Bring contents to a simmer. Stir well, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes or until most liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked.
6. Fluff rice with a fork, cover, and let rest 5 minutes.
7. Garnish with toasted coconut, if using.

Jerk-Seasoned Sautéed Vegetables

• 1 medium red onion, cut in half then thinly sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into “half-moons”
• 2 medium red peppers, thinly sliced
• Jerk seasoning (to taste)
• 2 tbsp. Peanut Oil

1. Prep vegetables
2. Heat Peanut oil in large skillet
3. Sauté vegetables, adding Jerk Seasoning after the onions begin to turn translucent, until all are crisp-tender.

Now all that’s left is to pull the tofu out of the oven, plate your dinner, and garnish it with chopped cilantro if you like. Hopefully I’ve shown a good method to preparing this dish and, as I said before, this meal should take about an hour from start to finish. If you make this meal and come up with any other shortcuts, or just want to comment about what you thought of the dish, please let me know in the comments. Bon appétit.