Roasted Vegetable & Tofu Teriyaki

We ate at a local "Japanese" restaurant over the weekend. Living in a very rural area has its drawbacks... what can I say? It's not New York City and the choices are somewhat—who am I kidding—a lot limited! It's the price I pay for living in otherwise paradise. And thirty minutes to fine dining in Asheville; I'm not complaining. But whenever we eat out lately I am somehow inspired to create whatever dish I ordered. And make it better. Healthier. Less salt. Less oil. So I'm sitting there eating, making mental recipe notes. I know. I'm out of my mind. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, is it? Anyway, our jaunt to the local eatery is what inspired this recipe.

You can use whatever veggies you want for this dish. I used broccoli, onion, cabbage, carrots, whole garlic cloves and bok choy. The most important part of this recipe is the teriyaki sauce and it's a cinch to make. And the sauce will also serve as a marinade for the tofu.

Ingredients:

• Enough veggies to cover a large, sheet pan (a cookie sheet with a rim) in a single layer
• 1 TBS coconut oil, melted (warm)
• 1 package extra firm tofu

       for the teriyaki sauce ~

• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce (I use Coconut Aminos)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2" knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 TBS date or coconut sugar (or other minimally processed sweetener)
• 2 tsp tapioca flour (or whatever natural thickener you normally use) + 2 tsp water, mixed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Gently squeeze out as much water as possible from the tofu using paper towels.
3. Slice the tofu into 1-2" pieces.
4. Combine all of the teriyaki sauce ingredients except for the tapioca flour and the 2 tsp water.
5. Marinate the tofu slices in the sauce for about 30 minutes.
6. Remove tofu slices from the sauce and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping once after 15 minutes. It should become tan around the edges.
7. When done, set the tofu aside, cover to keep warm and raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
8. Pour the sauce the tofu was marinating in into a small sauce pan. 
9. Mix the tapioca with the water and add this to the teriyaki sauce. Whisk until thickened on medium high heat. Add a bit more water if it gets too thick. Then turn heat to low to keep warm.
10. Meanwhile, chop all your veggies into bite-sized pieces and place in the sheet pan. If you don't have a sheet pan, any large, shallow casserole dish will do as well.
11. Coat the veggies with the melted coconut oil, coating them all as evenly as possible.
12. Roast the veggies for 20-25 minutes, turning once for even cooking. They should be a little brown in some areas which means that they have caramelized and will be wonderfully sweet!
13. When the veggies are done, simply plate them with the tofu and top with the yummy teriyaki sauce!
14. Serve with rice if you like.

Serves 2-4, depending on if you're also serving rice. Enjoy!

Healthy trails,