Dijon Pecan Tofu

Food tastes better when it rhymes. That's what inspired my latest cookbook creation. But really, it just so happens that pecans and dijon mustard taste great together. I found that out tonight when I ate my first batch of Dijon Pecan-Encrusted Tofu:

Now, the picture doesn't really do this dish justice. My borrowed camera doesn't do well in low lighting, so I had to use a flash and it's out of focus in the foreground (which bugs the crap out of me). But the tofu was marinated in a "chicken" marinade, dipped in a dijon sauce, and breaded with pecans, flour, and thyme. Then I fried it up. Though the coating was very tasty, I think texture-wise, this breading would better suit a batch of seitan. So I'll try it again soon with seitan before adding the recipe to my cookbook files.

Speaking of my cookbook, I'm setting a New Year's resolution to finally set up a tester site. I've been creating and filing away recipes for almost a year, and it's time to set some testers loose on this stuff to make sure I don't have some crazy palatte or something. I'll keep ya'll posted.

I served the tofu with some Road's End Organics vegan mac and cheese, courtesy of Lindsay's awesome care package.

Sorry for the god-awful picture...

I love this stuff, but don't buy it often enough! Tastes like creamy, noochy mac without all the time spent making a nooch sauce.

And I also roasted some Brussel Sprouts:

Honestly, these could have cooked a little longer. I was in a huge hurry to go Christmas shopping before the mall closed (it's a 20-minute drive out to the suburbs), so I rushed the sprouts. But I left the rest in the oven while I ate, so my leftovers will be much better tomorrow.

DOGGIE UPDATE: As most of you know, my doggie Datsun had a tumor removed last week. His doctor called me on Monday to let me know that his biospy came back and, in the great words of Arnold Swarzenegger, "It's not a tuma." It's some kind of benign lump thing with a long medical name. So yea!!! Thanks for all your positive words and thoughts!