Vegan with a Vengeance

red wine vinegar if you don’t have rice)
    Juice of 2 limes
    1 cup orange juice
    Â¼ teaspoon ground allspice
    Fresh black pepper to taste
    Dash of salt
    FOR THE TOFU:
    2 pounds extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed cut into isosceles shapes (page 144)
    1 mango, sliced into long, thin slices
    1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut in long, thin slices
    Make the marinade:
    Preheat a medium-size saucepan over moderate heat; combine the oil, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño, and sauté for 7 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the chopped mango and sauté for 5 more minutes.
    Add the maple syrup and wine, cover and simmer for 35 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 5 more minutes.

    Add the vinegar, lime juice, orange juice, allspice, black pepper, and salt; let cool, then transfer the mixture to blender and puree until smooth.
    Place the prepared tofu in the marinade in a sealable plastic bag or a tightly lidded plastic container. Marinate in the fridge for at least an hour and up to overnight.
    Bake the tofu:
    Preheat oven to 375°F.
    Reserve about half of the marinade. Lay the marinated tofu in a single layer in a large rimmed baking sheet or baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip over the tofu and add more marinade. Coat the peppers and remaining mango in the reserved marinade and add them to the pan. Bake another 15 minutes.
    Heat the remaining marinade in a saucepan and put in a bowl on the table (or floor, whereever you’re eating) so guests can pour it over the tofu. Serve over jasmine rice with a steamed vegetable, such as asparagus or broccoli.
    PUNK POINTS
    There are several fancy ways to chop a mango but the way I usually do it is the most reliable (and of course the messiest). First, I peel it with a serrated peeler to prevent slipping. Then I place it on a cutting board, slice against the flat part of the pit, and then repeat on the other sides. Then simply chop the fruit slices as needed.

Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Tofu with Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Relish
    SERVES 3-4
    Â 
    Every year we buy a couple of pumpkins to cook with the best of intentions but they end up as decoration until they meet their demise. Well, not this year! This recipe utilizes the whole pumpkin—the pulp and the seeds. It’s fun to pull together and it’s got that homespun feel since you toast the seeds yourself. It’s also really crunchy and flavorful, especially topped off with the cranberry relish. I hope this becomes an autumn tradition for you as it has for me.
    3 to 3½ pound sugar pumpkin
    8 teaspoons canola oil plus extra for deep-frying
    Â½ cup cornstarch
    Â¼ cup fresh oregano, chopped
    Â¼ teaspoon salt
    1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed, sliced lengthwise into eighths
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1 cup water
    Preheat oven to 300°F.
    Carve out the top of the pumpkin with a paring knife and slice the pumpkin in half with a chef’s knife. Remove the seeds and clean them in a strainer under running water (the holes should be big enough for the stringy bits to escape). Set the pumpkin aside to prepare as described below. Dry the seeds thoroughly by laying on a paper towel or kitchen towel; pat the tops with another towel to remove any moisture. Measure ¾ cup of seeds and transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of oil, toss to coat. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping occasionally. They should be toasted a golden brown to a deep golden brown. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin.
    Adjust the oven temperature to 350°F. Cut the pumpkin into slices that are about 2 inches wide at the widest point. Lightly oil the slices with canola oil. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, until tender and lightly browned.
    When the seeds have cooled, transfer them to a food processor and pulse until crumbly; the texture should range from ground to coarse and chunky. In a shallow bowl mix the seeds with the cornstarch, oregano, and salt. Place the flour in another bowl, the water in another, and line up your three bowls: flour, water, and the seed mixture.

    Heat ¼ inch of oil over moderate heat in a heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast iron. The heat should be between 320 and 350°F; if you don’t have a thermometer test the oil by dropping a pinch of the seed mixture in; if bubbles form rapidly around the seeds, the oil is ready.
    Dip the tofu on both sides into the flour, then into the water, then into the