This recipe is adapted from Mollie Katzen, author of the Moosewood cookbook. Ms. Katzen likes to cook her tofu in the sweet and sour sauce, but I prefer mine to be panfried.

1 can of chunk pineapple in juice
1.5cup OJ
2T tamari
1T honey, or to taste
2T cider vinegar
2T sesame oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2T grated fresh ginger
1 bell pepper
1 small carrot chopped in thin slices
1 medium size tomato
3T cornstarch

Cook the tofu first and set aside in a bowl.

Empty pineapple juice into a 2c. measuring bowl and add enough OJ to reach two cups of liquid. Set aside pineapples. Add tamari, honey, vinegar. Whisk and set aside.

In a wok or fry pan, add some EVOO ad sautee the onions, garlic and ginger about 5 minutes. Add in the bell pepper, carrots, pineapple chunks and tomato and continue to simmer on medium high heat until the tomatoes cook down.

In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with a little of the juice mixture; when thoroughly mixed add this back into the juice mixture.
Over high heat, pour this over the stirfry once it has cooked down and stir constantly until the liquid begins to boil and the sauce thickens to the desired consistency.

Serve with rice; top the rice and tofu with the sweet and sour sauce. It’s delicious!

Sort of like a sweet and sour, somewhat like a take off of Pad Thai, it’s Thai something or other…. Very pungent, very delicious, not very authentic.

Udon noodles (2 sachets)
1 block extra firm tofu
1/4cup tamari
1/8cup maple syrup
1/4 cup white vinegar
1Tbs toasted sesame oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/4in. finely chopped ginger
3/4cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

First: cover noodles with warm water and allow them to soak up to 30 minutes – until they are soft and flexible but not soft enough to be mashed with your fingers. Drain them and put them aside.

Next, press tofu to remove as much water as possible – wrap the block up in several pieces of paper towel and press firmly for several minutes until the paper towel is thoroughly saturated. Cut tofu into bite size pieces and bake on a lightly oiled pan at 375F for 15 minutes, flip tofu on pan and bake 15 more minutes. Set aside.

Mix the tamari, vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil and lemon juice in a bowl and stir until well blended and set aside.

Next, stir fry or saute any vegetables desired for the dish (I like to do a mixture of onions, celery, carrots and broccoli – if using broccoli, keep this out until the very end) with garlic and ginger in a wok or cast iron skillet. Add in noodles and sauce, and let cook down until all liquid is absorbed. Be sure to keep turning it over in the pan, especially as the liquid is absorbed to ensure the noodles do not stick. When the sauce is almost all absorbed, add in broccoli and peanuts. Toss until broccoli is steamed to perfection.

Top with mung bean sprouts and serve!

1/2cup softened butter
1/2cup maple syrup
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1.5cup flour (this can be entirely all-purpose, or 3/4cup all-purpose and 3/4cup whole wheat)
1/4tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cream butter, maple syrup, vanilla and egg. Mix flour and salt and combine with creamed mixture.
Bake 10-15 minutes on a greased cookie sheet