Anatomy of a Sandwich: TLT

The majority of the restaurant reviews you read on this site come from dining out mid-week, and there’s a good reason for that. I’m often not very energetic when it comes to my weeknight cooking. With most people, the inverse is true: the bulk of their kitchen time is during the week and they use their weekends to go out and have fun and dine around town. Not me. I like to have good quality weekend time with my kitchen.

But not on weeknights. On weeknights, I want to be either 1) napping, 2) getting up from a nap, 3) writing, 4) accomplishing the various post-work tasks I normally have to see to, 5) going to the gym (that’s right, pumping iron, alright!), 6)….. you get the picture. I don’t really want to cook. I eat leftovers. I eat cereal. Sometimes I eat peanut butter and honey on toast and call it a meal. Sad, but true.

My laziness gives way to a decent recipe about every six months. Tuesday was one such night, when, needing to use up the leftover tofu from the weekend’s Southern feast, I decided to make a sandwich.

If you’re not a huge fan of tofu, let me advise two strategies to help you get over your concerns:
1) Extra Firm, Extra Pressed: Buy extra firm tofu, drain it, then press it until most of the excess moisture is out. You can gently press on it with your hands (like a sponge), or you can set up some kind of contraption to do the work for you. I balance a cutting board so that a side drains into the sink, then put the tofu on there. I cover it in paper towels, put a plate on top, and then add a few cans or bags of beans. Thirty minutes and the tofu has gone from wet and crumbly to… well, drier and crumbly. But the results really show in the cooking.

2) Don’t just fry it, coat it and fry it: Frying tofu can be awesome without any extra ingredients aside from oil and a few seasonings. But if you’re squeamish about the possible squish, coat tofu slices like you would chicken fillets. It takes to a breading really, really well, and it can often times smooth the transition into eating it.

Lazy Loafing, Ever Loving TomatoLettuceTofu Sandwich

Ingredients
– Three slices of extra firm tofu, about 1/3 inch thick. (Can vary depending on taste.)
– 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp of baking powder
– 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
– 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
– 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
– Salt and pepper (to taste)
– Oil
– Two slices of tomato
– A couple of lettuce slices
– Vegan mayo (c’mon, you gotta have mayo or a mayo-like substance on a sandwich like this)
– Two pieces of bread, toasted
– Oil to fry tofu

– Mix the flour, baking powder, and seasonings in a large shallow bowl. Coat each piece of tofu in the mixture. Fry the slices until golden on both sides.

– Assemble your sandwich. Apply vegan mayo to one or both sides of toast, layer with tofu, lettuce, and tomato.