Iamsofrigginreadyforspring.
I’m ready for the one pathetic spot my daffodils came back up this year to bloom (seriously, do they not realize how hard it was to plant their bulbous asses? They couldn’t even give me 2 years in a row?)
I’m ready to stop having to look at sad puppy dog eyes every afternoon because someone is stir crazy from not getting enough exercise over the past 5 months.
I’m ready for some color on my pasty white body that I’m pretty sure blinded people on the bike trail yesterday as I ran in shorts and a tank top.
I’m not ready for the insane allergies that are going to plague me in about 6 weeks though. Be thankful our relationship is behind the computer screen because otherwise you’d be staring at one snotty, watery eyed, throat scratching mess with a tissue shoved up my nose at all times. #hotness
And, I’m ready for fresh herbs from my own pots outside so I can stop paying an arm and a leg for 3 sprigs of basil.
In fact, I deemed this basil purchase the last one. It was a pretty good way to go out though.
Laura posted a recipe for vegan goat cheese stuffed tomatoes last week that caught my eye. I don’t usually make stuff vegan on purpose having no reason to, but I’ll gladly eat that way if it tastes good. We ate these along side a skirt steak though so I’m thinking the vegan-ness got cancelled out. Oops.
In typical fashion, there was a container of tofu about to expire in my fridge so I figured I’d give this whole “cheese” thing a try.
Here’s the deal…
If you had fed this to me blindfolded, I would’ve never known it was tofu. My guess would’ve been some sort of ricotta mixture. Tofu is like a magical blank slate. Load it up with enough flavor and process the heck out of it and somehow weird white coagulated soy milk becomes whatever you want it to be.
In this case, a delicious protein rich filling with all the flavors of spring.
Too bad they do nothing for my pasty legs.
Lightly adapated from Sprint2thetable
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- juice of ½ a lemon
- zest of full lemon
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- salt & pepper
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 6 medium tomatoes, tops sliced off and insides scooped out
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- Slice tofu in half and press for at least 30 minutes to drain excess water.
- Combine pressed tofu, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, lemon zest, red pepper and salt & pepper in a food processor. Set aside.
- In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, saute the shallots and garlic with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil until softened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add sauteed mixture to the food processor.
- Process ingredients until smooth.
- Add in basil and pulse a few times until incorporated but visible pieces still remain.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Stuff gutted tomatoes with tofu mixture, place sliced tops back on and arrange in a sprayed baking dish. It might be necessary to slice a small part of the bottom of the tomato off to get it to stand upright.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.
- Roast for 25 minutes.
- While tomatoes are roasting, toast pine nuts on the stove top and reduce balsamic vinegar by cooking it on med-high heat until it becomes thickened and syrupy.
- Garnish tomatoes with pine nuts, balsamic reduction and extra basil.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I have to try your recipe! I am unsure how I feel about tofu, so I may break down and get mozzarella cheese. Now I want some roasted tomatoes!! There is nothing like the flavor of roasted tomatoes, it’s amazing how the flavors come out! Have a great day!!
I’m so glad you liked it! And they are gorgeous! I really love that you couldn’t tell it was tofu – that what my guinea pigs said too.
This is definitely Spring in my mouth.
I’m kinda tofu unlucky – meaning that I can never get tofu to turn into something crispy and delicious like the rest of the world does. But, I think I can make tofu cheese work. Fingers crossed
I have never even thought of stuffing a pepper! How clever… And tasty:)
I’ve always been wary of tofu “cheese”. Not sure I could stomach it, but if you say you couldn’t tell in a blind taste test I believe that it was tasty! I sort of love that you had it with a steak though hahah!
Looks phenomenal! Don’t fear, my body is ghostly pale too!
This has me completely intrigued! Of course I had to read it twice because I was laughing so hard at “bulbous asses.”
Tofu really is extremely versatile. I’m SO ready for spring too…and summer, for that matter
YOUR PASTY LEGS?!?! I am one shade away from sparkling and drinking blood!
I have these bookmarked from Laura’s site too. I really want to try them.
That cheeze sounds so good !
As a kid, when my dad’s garden would overflow with tomatoes, my mom used to roast them like this and stuff them with cheese. Not cheeze
Love this idea!
Now that sounds deceptively delicious. I’m not a tofu lover but the more recipes I see that use it, the more willing I am to reconsider!!
Hey, if you’re running in a tank top, Ginger can come
I hear you on the allergies!! And I need to get some nutritional yeast….
Oh my god ME TOO!! This winter has gone on for far too long already!! :/ I tried on a skirt today and honestly my legs are so white they’re transparent!
Also we have the same problem with our dogs. When it’s freezing Betty gets as far as the door, puts her nose out and then runs straight back to her bed, like ‘NO FRIKKIN WAY!!’ Haha
Oh Gina, these look exactly like what my brain is craving today!!
It’s finally a tad sunny and warm here, and I can’t help but crave fresh healthy fare, and this looks totally bomb in the flavor department.
Those look great! I love stuffed tomatoes… or anything stuffed for that matter!
I paid 3 bucks for some basil the other day… The ones with the roots in the water… It looked so pretty at the store and when I moved it to a different container it wilted in minutes! So sad. Your stuffed tomatoes look so delicious… I will have to wait until we get better ones, the ones at the store are pretty bland right now. I have to salt it thoroughly to make it work. P.S. I ran in shorts yesterday, but couldn’t pull off the tank top. Hypothermia would’ve happened!
Okay, that is definitely the BEST picture of a tomato I’ve ever seen. Plus it’s vegan and packed with protein? Done and done!!
I can see how satisfying these stuffed tomatoes would be alongside a steak. Like you, I don’t typically make recipes vegan on purpose, but I do like to cut cheese out every once in a while. I’m definitely willing to try tofu as a tomato stuffer when I’m “off cheese”
I see what you did thereee
so creative! I LOVE that you used tofu. I feel that tofu is the most underused ingredient. I hate that some people think it’s gross and weird. These look awesome and I love the last picture you have of the tomato completely cut open with the “cheese”..amazing!
I’m absolutely with you on the pasty white legs! I am so ready for spring…and time to relax in the sun
I’ve not done much with tofu before, but this is inspirational!
I make stuffed peppers all of the time and have been wanting to make stuffed tomatoes. This is definitely the recipe that I am going to try!! They look amazing!
Gina, these do sound incredible! I’m a fan of stuffed peppers but I’ve never had stuffed tomatoes. And vegan is even better, I love all of unique vegan recipes floating around!
I never purposely make vegan food, and there are some recipes that start as vegan that I switch to vegetarian because I refuse to use “butter flavored spread” or a vegan egg. These sound delicious and I have everything but the tofu so I suppose I could make them as is for once…then serve them with steak.
I’m the exact same way. I de-veganize recipes all the time b/c I don’t keep “butter flavored spread” on hand nor see the purpose of flax and chia eggs when cracking a real one is much quicker!
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