Betcha can't tell this tofu isn't fried!

I'm feeling especially pleased with myself this evening. No, I didn't invent another recipe (though I have one in mind for later in the week!). Instead, I came up with a new cooking technique. Ever since I decided to stop preparing meat, I've become a huge fan of tofu. Yes, you probably think tofu is disgusting, and I can even visualize the shudder - complete with a gag reflex - that inevitably results whenever you hear someone utter the T-word. In fact, when I first told my mom about my regular tofu consumption, she said something along the lines of "Ewww! Isn't it made of mold?" (Nope, that's tempeh. And believe it or not I like that too.) But over time I've managed to half-convert BFFT, meaning that as long as it's cooked properly he eats it without complaining. So now it makes an appearance on our dinner table once every week or two.

Unfortunately, when it comes to tofu, "cooked properly" in our household means fried. For the past several months I've experimented with reducing the amount of oil in the pan, reducing the heat and increasing the cooking time, increasing the heat and reducing the cooking time... you name it. All to no avail. I'd still end up with a skillet that was impossible to clean without soaking it in water for at least a day. Plus, there was always the chance that Stella or Claude would jump onto the counter and start drinking up. (They actually did that with the water from the skillet in which I cooked last week's scallops recipe. Talk about disgusting.) As a result, I had resigned myself to cooking tofu in an embarrassing amount of oil and blotting out as much as I could with paper towels, meanwhile attempting to convince myself that tofu - never mind how it's prepared - is always healthy. But tonight I tried something different. I initially thought I'd just bake 1" cubes of tofu in a 350-degree oven on a cooking sheet coated with nonstick spray. I did this for about 15 minutes, noticed that the cubes were nowhere close to being done, and got impatient. So then I heated a nonstick skillet on the stovetop over medium-high (no need to put in any oil or spray beforehand) and cooked the cubes for approximately 2 minutes per side. Here's the result:

Not bad, huh? BFFT couldn't tell the difference between this and the tofu I usually make. Indeed, it was exactly what I had hoped for: a crispy exterior without all the grease (and accompanying guilt).