Mmmm TOFU

Have I ever mentioned that I was a fish eating vegetarian for a good 8 years or more? I am allergic to pork so I have to avoid all kinds of foods that may come in contact with pork. I ate chicken for a long while before I grew soooo tired of it I gave up eating meat all together. It's only been in the last three years that I have been "trying" meat. It started with a few select cuts of beef from Whole Foods where I could get grass fed free range beef. It was good. My body was craving red meat and so I happily ate it for a while. When I was pregnant I didn't meet a steak I didn't like!

Then we moved to the middle of no where south where pork is the state food and laws governing the processing, antibiotic and steroid use in the production of meat are to say the least, lax. Finding free range non medicated meats are like trying to find a synagogue in NC. There has to be some somewhere....but where? The shift away from meat and all the highly processed foods found in the grocery stores was an easy one.

For the most part I find meat gross and after seeing too many documentaries on how cruel the meat packing industry treats their animals and birds I now have an ethical reason to say no to meat again. I've been cooking a lot of vegetarian dishes again and am feeling a whole lot better about my diet and my body feels better too. Whenever I have a few ingredients in the fridge I think will work together I throw them in the Google bar and see what recipes come up. This one was awesome!

Baked Tofu with a Tahini Crust

I served it up with quinoa and red beans and a mixed baby greens salad with apple, cranberry, red onion and sunflower seeds. I topped that sucker with a drizzle of blue cheese dressing.

The meal was simple to make and all came together in about 35 minutes. Finley and i devoured it. My kids hasn't met a tofu product she doesn't like!

Alicia Silverstone has a really great web site called The Kind Life about all things sustainable, earth friendly and veggie. My friend Sharon turned me onto this site and I love it so I thought I would share it with y'all.