Cooking with Azi: Spicy Tofu Lettuce Wraps

 I joined the Big Brother Big Sister Program in October last year and it has been a pleasure meeting with my Little. Tonight hits my three month mark with Aziona.  She is 12 years old and has been such a sweet and appreciative person.  We have done so many fun outings; we meet once a week for about an hour or so.  Her favorite activity is going to the library and scrap booking. But we have also gone to the movies, out to eat, and to play Laser Tag.   We take pictures each week and then make a page to describe our activity.  At the three month mark, I can bring my Little to my place of residence and she's been asking to see my apartment since the second month.  She loves to cook and wants to be a chef one day, so I decided to have her help me prepare my dish for the Super Bowl party at work.  When she walked into my apartment she said it was her "dream home".

Spicy Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

• 12 ounces extra-firm tofu
• 1 package coleslaw mix
• 8 ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 TB cilantro
• 1/3 cup Asian sweet chili sauce
• 1 TB lime juice
• 8 large leaves green leaf lettuce

Directions

Drain tofu; press out excess liquid with paper towels. 

I place the tofu between towels and then place something heavy on top

In a food processor, combine about half of each of the following ingredients: tofu, coleslaw mix, water chestnuts, green onions, and cilantro.  Cover and process with several on/off pulses until finely chopped. 

Transfer to a large skillet. Repeat with the remaining tofu, coleslaw mix, water chestnuts, green onions, and cilantro. Stir chili sauce and lime juice into mixture in skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through.

If present, cut the center veins from lettuce leaves. Divide tofu mixture among lettuce leaves; fold or roll up. Secure with picks. 

Makes 8 servings.

In the end, the lettuce was not holding up well when I tried to put the tofu in and roll it up.  It was disappointing.  I decided to just spread the tofu mixture on whole wheat tortillas with lettuce and then cut them into individual pieces for the party.  If I ever make this recipe again, I would either saute or bake the tofu in cubes and then toss that with the other ingredients.  I wasn't too happy with the texture of the tofu and cabbage, it was not what I was expecting.