Who Tofu's??

I came back to the blog this week with a vengeance. Tonight's recipe was all about something new. Uncharted territory in my kitchen. Tofu. Fresh Ginger Root. Really. While doing all the searching for new recipes and inspiration a couple weeks ago I came across this recipe- Ginger Noodles with Tofu. I found it in "Everyday with Rachael Ray" magazine, titled as Dinners for 10 Bucks(or less). The recipe calls for soy sauce but I didn't have any so I improvised, you'll see. Who has sesame oil hanging out in their cabinet but not soy sauce? Me, apparently.

Ingredients:
One 14 oz package, extra firm tofu, cut into 3/4in cubes and dried.(Tofu is packaged in water so be careful when you open the package)

1/4 cp soy sauce OR my way- 1/4 cp worcestershire sauce and 1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons finely grated ginger(real ginger root! Don't be intimidated)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

3/4 lb fettuccine pasta

1 1/2 tablespoon veggie oil

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1- 12oz pkg broccoli slaw(I bought an organic bag in the prepared salad area)

What to do now:

1. Season tofu with salt and pepper. In a small bowl combine the soy sauce(or my mixture), 1 tablespoon grated ginger and the sesame oil.

2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil with the remaining grated ginger. Add pasta and cook until al dente;drain, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water.

3.In a large skillet heat the veggie oil over medium high heat. Add the seasoned tofu in a single layer and cook, until browned on 1 side about 3 minutes.(It feels like forever...)Repeat until all sides are golden browned. Transfer to plate. Add mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occassionally, until browned.

4. Add broccoli slaw, mushrooms, ginger-soy mix(from step 1) and reserved pasta cooking water to the pasta and toss to coat. Divide pasta to bowls with broth and top with tofu.

Now, here's my honest take. It's not for me, I am not a fan of sesame oil so I pick up on that taste heavily in the recipe. However surprisingly my husband didn't find it so bad. You never know until you try it I guess.

Oh, Rach says this recipe costs a total of $9.82, I'd go less than that because the tofu I bought was 1.99, I had veggie oil, sesame oil and my mushrooms were 1.50.

One note: Ginger is GREAT for nausea.