Tofu Molé

Since adopting a semi-nomadic lifestyle, I've been falling into the trap of not properly planning meals in advance, and just buying ingredients at the store that look like they'll be useful at some point. This happens mostly at my parents' house, since we go shopping as a family, and I am not one to turn down free food. *grin*

On a previous trip to one of the two health food stores in New Braunfels, I picked up a block of firm tofu (not silken). I decided that today would be the day that I turned that simple block of tofu into a delicious meal (or two or three), so all that remained was to try to decide what to make. I pulled up all of the recipes on my hard drive that use tofu as a main dish, and finally got it narrowed down to Tofu Scramble and Tofu Molé. The scramble was a much easier recipe, but the molé was calling to me.

The recipe comes from Diet, Dessert and Dogs.

Since I didn't have either a bell pepper or a jalapeño pepper, I substituted a small can of chopped green chilies. I also decided to indulge my inner chocoholic and use Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter instead of the almond butter. Instead of using pre-made veggie broth (since I didn't have any of that, either), I made my own, using one stalk of celery, two small broccoli florets, a bit of chopped onion, and some spices. Finally, since I didn't have 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate, I substituted 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.


Homemade veggie broth


Fried tofu


Molé, pre-blending

After blending the mole mixture (yay, Blendtec blender!), I transferred it into the pot I'd used to make the veggie broth. In the short time it took to look at the recipe and determine that yes, the tofu *did* need to go in with the blended sauce, I discovered that the "cover the pot" step was *very* important! The sauce had started to bubble up and spew here and there, creating my very own Bog Of Eternal Stench (without the bad smell, of course). I'll spare you the sight of mole splotches all over the stovetop (and the sound of my mother wailing that I was ruining her kitchen), and we'll just jump to the finished result.



For my final substitution, I served it with corn tortillas instead of rice (guess why.)



The sauce was thick, rich, and subtly nuanced. I think it definitely could have had more spice, so next time I make it, I'll add a couple of serranos.

Overall, I think that the dish was yummy and flavorful, and I look forward to making it again.