Caesar Salad with Tofu Croutons

I had some mushrooms that needed to be cooked and I felt like chicken, so last night I made chicken stroganoff.  I sautéed diced onions, a bit of garlic, sliced mushrooms and chicken cut into small pieces. I set these ingredients aside in a separate bowl. I made a roux, added chicken stock and stirred in 1 Tbsp. of tomato paste (from a handy tube), then added everything back into the pan and heated it up again. After turning down the heat and stirring about ½ cup of sour cream into the heated mixture, I also added some lemon zest and the juice from ½ of a lemon.  I even took the time to sprinkle the stroganoff with chopped parsley!  But it was the lemon that made all the difference.

Countless TV chefs and cookbook authors regularly recommend adding lemon to dishes, talking about lemon “livening up” a dish and I guess that’s what the acidity of the lemon did for the stroganoff. It contrasted with the richness of the sour cream and the mushrooms, giving the dish a more complex array of flavors.  Don didn’t recognize lemon juice as an ingredient, but he was pleased, as always, with the result.

I have added lemon zest to banana bread, to risottos, to sautéed broccoli and to Caesar salad, but I am going to try and remember to add it to other dishes as well. I think it would also brighten up chicken salad, salmonfish sandwiches, maybe even waffles and pancakes, and who knows what else. Besides that, I like having lemons around to look at—they’re so perky and fresh sitting in my fruit bowl.

Does anyone have other ideas for lemon zest and lemon juice?

Caesar Salad with Tofu Croutons

I’m not sure where I got the recipe for this, probably a magazine or cookbook, but after initial skepticism about the tofu croutons, Don agreed that they were quite tasty.

Romaine lettuce

¼ cup olive oil

 Minced or pressed garlic –2 cloves or so

A few shakes of Worchestershire sauce

Juice from ½ lemon

Grated Parmesan

½ block of firm tofu

Cornstarch

Anchovies—cut into small bits

Any left over salad additions—tomatoes if you have some, beets, cold broccoli, etc.

Let the garlic sit in the olive oil while you get the rest of the salad ready.  Press out liquid from the tofu by placing it in a dishtowel with something heavy on top -- I use a frying pan with a teapot set inside it. Let the tofu sit for at least 10 minutes. Cut the tofu into crouton-size cubes. Coat them with cornstarch, knocking off the excess as best as you can. Sauté the cubes, letting them get golden and crunchy.  Drain the cubes while you toss the salad, beginning by tossing the lettuce and any other ingredients with the olive oil.  Then add the Worchester, lemon juice and Parmesan and toss again. Top with the croutons.