This lunch menu is an ode to well-made sourdough toast and truly tasty tofu. The duo makes for a truly satisfying lunch.
My Tofu on Sourdough Lunch Menu is completed with a zippy mayonnaise, and a seared trio of root vegetables and greens. This balanced bite is high in protein, and a perfect textural mix.
Keep reading for an analysis of this meal from the perspective of balance, advice on sourcing, and links to the recipes for Savory Tofu, and a Trio of Seared Vegetables for this Tofu on Sourdough lunch menu.
A Balanced Tofu On Sourdough Lunch Menu
Desert Colors
Tofu on Sourdough Lunch presents itself as a desert mirage. Its striations of browns come from the blackened tofu “steaks” and the golden color of the toast. Roots of muted yellow, orange, and white show further caramelization stripes. Winter greens ruffled by char dot the landscape. The sauce color is a bit of a wildcard. I used a chipotle Fabanaise (mayonnaise made with chickpea water instead of egg), which has a bit of a neon orange hue. Any type of mayonnaise would do though.
Balance of Textures
The advantage of toast is its crunchy texture. Where else can you get crunch in the absence of fat? Sourdough in particular, especially if its crusty, or made with a natural leaven (as it should be), will get nice and crunchy.
My savory tofu, cooked according to my recipe, will have a very thin crunchy exterior made up of caramelized soy sauce and balsamic. A soft, mild-tasting interior creates balance within the tofu steak itself. When eaten on toast, the tofu adds moisture and balances the crunch nicely.
Finally, the Seared Trio of Vegetables comes right into the textural middle, between crunchy and soft. The vegetables are just cooked through, and retain their bite, to top off the package perfectly.
Balance of Tastes
The overall taste of this lunch is sweet, salty, and sour, with pungency, astringency, and bitterness in the background. These are the six tastes of Ayurveda. When you get a balance of all these flavors in your meal you should experience it as very satisfying.
The sweet comes from the toast and the root vegetables. The salty and sour from the savory tofu, and the mayonnaise. The background flavors come from the caramelization and searing cooking methods, as well as complex underlying flavor from the sourdough.
Sourcing Artisanal Sourdough
Everything starts with the base of sourdough toast. Because I want you to experience this meal fully, it is important to distinguish between sourdough bread from a commercial bakery, and sourdough from an artisanal bakery.
Artisanal cannot be compared in the same sentence with commercial breads. You want the artisanal type. Here is why:
Artisanal sourdough will be free of commercial yeast. This is part of the problem with sourdough from a commercial bakery.
Even if they allow the sourdough culture to develop “naturally,” the abundance of commercial yeast in the air will feed the culture.
The culture ends up being a hybrid sourdough-yeasted bread. Its taste tends to be sharp-sour, and you may find its taste unpleasant.
Sourdough that is cultured in an environment where commercial yeast is not used will be a true sourdough. The wild airborne yeast takes more time to culture.
The result is a complexity of flavors that can even reveal the region’s terroir.
Yes, flavor experts do talk in these terms about bread. So it’s a different kind of bread indeed.
This type of sourdough is much easier to digest, and it promotes health. It’s closer to the pre-commercial method of bread-making that was followed for centuries prior to the advent of commercial yeast. This is patience in bread-making. This is homemade.
If you can’t source artisanal sourdough, please don’t fret. Keep looking. In the meantime, find the best bread you can, or the bread you love.
Organic Tofu!
For the tofu part of the tofu on sourdough lunch, it is crucial to source organic. The reason is that 93 percent of soy beans grown in the United States are genetically modified.
While the jury is still out on the harmfulness of GMOs to human health, I always encourage readers to avoid them if possible. I have never found it difficult to source organic tofu, and it is not expensive.
For the vegetables, find the best quality vegetables you can, and source locally if possible. This is a basic rule of thumb.
At my home, I shop regularly at three different grocery stores, and visit the farmers market every two weeks or so. With all this variety, I have a good opportunity to pick and choose the best quality produce at the most reasonable price.
If you are used to only going to one store, see if you can find at least one other. Grocery shopping should be enjoyable. You can explore food in new ways.
Think about what vegetables you would like the most on your toast, and try them. If you haven't tried vegetables on toast, this is your opportunity. If you prefer to substitute the tofu for eggs, this same combination would go well with eggs also.
I hope you enjoy this Tofu on Sourdough Lunch Menu. Recipes to make this meal are linked below.
5-Minute Savory Tofu (You'll Thank Me For This) Recipe
Seared Vegetable Trio Of Carrots, Daikon, And Collards Recipe
5-Minute Savory Tofu (You'll Thank Me for This) Recipe
Seared Vegetable Trio of Carrots, Daikon, and Collards Recipe
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