Tomato Marinade for Tofu

I created this delicious marinade today and used it to bake and fry tofu.  Even non-vegetarians enjoyed it a lot, but it would likely work well with other foods as well.  Start by putting the following ingredients into a blender and blending until smooth:

3 cups loose fresh tomatoes cut in half  (will puree into 2 cups)

1 teaspoon Penzey’s Salad Elegant

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon Penzey’s Cajun seasoning

1 ½ teaspoon Penzey’s 4/5 seasoned salt

3 large pealed cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon soy sauce (may need a dash later)

2 Tablespoons olive oil (will need 1 tablespoon later)

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2.      Preheat oven to 425 degrees

3.      Cut 2 pounds of tofu into approximately ½” slabs and lay into a large Pyrex or ceramic baking dish.  We have some great lasagne pans for sale in our General Store under baking.  A basic Pyrex one and Bodum's which comes with a silicone lid that can also be used as a trivet!

4.      Spread marinade over the top of the tofu and bake for 60 minutes

5.      Remove from oven and spread 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top of the tofu, and then turn each piece over in the pan

6.      Continue to bake 20-25 more minutes until browned

7.      The dish may be served as is or fried in additional olive oil and a bit more soy sauce for about 3 minutes on a high heat; be careful not to burn the tomato paste that covers the tofu

8.      This made a wonderful compliment to fried potatoes with onions, scallions and sweet bell peppers  at breakfast.  It would also go quite well with sautéed asparagus.