Tofu With Tortillas

I found this recipe because it was the 4th down and we had to punt, or run with the ball. I, myself, had wanted Mexican night, but I did not call to see if we need anything. then my daughter said that her and her father would be out an about so if we needed anything they could pick it up. My husband then, politely told my daughter that I had just spent nearly $200 on groceries the last time I was at the grocery store, so he was not about to go and pick up miscellaneous items. And he was right.

She then pointed out that there was no cheese. But I told her, there was no rule book that said there 'had' to be cheese on Mexican night. What do vegans do? Oh yeah, do without. Then I realized I had no bulgur, which is what I use as my meat substitution since trying to get away from processed meat analogs. Then it hit me, I had a few scraps of different blocks of tofu and could use that instead. Time to break out the cookbooks....all 13 of them.

I struck gold when I got to number two. I found this gem of a recipe in my Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook. We had at least 95 % of thee ingredients and besides, we were all starving, so we made it work. Here is this simple recipe and is a great introduction for those who want to try tofu but have no clue how to use it. Well here is your chance to dive in.

1T virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
6 corn tortillas, torn or cut into 1-inch pieces (we left ours whole & made our own)
3 plum tomatoes, diced (we used on the vine tomatoes)
1 pound firm tofu (we used scraps of tofu from left over bits of tofu from other recipes I had made through the week)
1-14 ounce can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree (we used Ro-tel lime and cilantro flavor)
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 dried oregano
Salt to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese or soy cheese (we had mozzarella)(optional)
Prepared salsa (optional)(we had none)
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Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring until lightly golden. Add the remaining ingredients except the cheese and salsa, cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheese, cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes more. Serve as is or top with salsa.

I did not cover mine with a lid, for it was very liquidy and I wanted some of that liquid to cook off. It worked. I also did not put the cheese directly on the dish while it was cooking. Some folks like easy cheese and others like to pile it on, so we grate it into a serving bowl and everyone can do as they please. I would definitely make this one again. I like simple dishes that I can whip together in just minutes and use with few pre-packaged products, and this one fit the bill.