Old-Fashioned "Fish" Fry

... I mean, "fish" bake. In the South, folks love to fry catfish. People gather in backyards during the summer to stand around, drink cheap beer, and deep-fry cornmeal-battered catfish in a Fry Daddy. I'm guessing these sorts of parties might happen in other parts of the country too, but they were certainly a fixture in my Arkansas hometown when I was growing up.

My parents never ate seafood, and so I grew up without ever having tasted shrimp, crab, lobster, or any of that nastiness. But they do love catfish, and as a kid, I remember liking it too. But one bad experience with a rotten fish (seriously, this thing was disgusting) turned me off of all fish forever. Of course, it wasn't long after that bad fish experience that I went veg at age 14. Needless to say, I do not miss fish or seafood.

But I had to include a fish fry-style recipe in my cookbook. The book is meant to be an homage to veganized Southern cuisine, and fish fries are a big part of Southern culture. Thankfully, my Baked Tofu Fish doesn't taste too terribly fishy. And it's not fried (gasp!) so it's even healthy! I use dulse flakes for that fishy taste, but dulse is pretty mild compared with, say, nori.

Here's my Baked Tofu Fish with a Hush Puppy Corn Muffin and some Spicy Fried Hominy (the homemade tartar sauce isn't pictured):

The corn muffin and hominy recipes are also going in my cookbook. I figured that baking the fish meant that I should also bake the hush puppies. See, even a Southern girl can cook healthily every now and then!

And the hominy ... well, it's sauteed. But it's still fairly low in calories. I love me some hominy, especially doused with a good bit of black pepper.