Crusted Tofu with Lemon Caper Sauce on a Bed of Orach Risotto

I've been dying to try my hand at cooking orach ever since we got in our CSA box this last week. Its beautiful purple and green tones and spinach-like taste seemed like it would lend itself well to a risotto. I wanted something protein-y to pair it with, and settled on a panko-crusted tofu with a lemon caper sauce, adapted from eat me, delicious's recipe, which had in turn adapted a recipe from Quick Fix Vegetarian, by Robin Robertson.

The tofu was pressed and put in its marinade first thing. I started the risotto off in my pressure cooker (best time-saving kitchen gadget ever!). I sauteed a chopped onion in butter, added a couple cloves garlic, and then the arborio rice. After sauteeing the rice until it was a warm brown, I added my vegetable broth and white wine (two buck chuck!). I got the cooker up to pressure then promptly ignored it for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, I got my orach and mushrooms ready to add in. I'm not sure if it's necessary, but I removed most of the stems from the orach leaves and then sliced the leaves into 1/4" slices. The mushrooms also got the slicing treatment. When the risotto was almost done, I dumped the orach and mushrooms in and stirred stirred stirred until the orach went down in size. Mix in the parmesan and it was done!

The tofu meanwhile was doused in panko breadcrumbs and pan-fried on both sides. I had problems getting the breadcrumbs to stick too - maybe next time I'll try coating them in egg first. The same pan got recycled for use in making the lemon caper sauce. At first I thought the sauce might be too tangy, but when eaten with the risotto I thought the flavors actually worked quite well together. The tofu wound up being a bit generic, but served its role as a protein source for the meal, and also added some nice crunch.

Orach and Mushroom Risotto

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 bag orach (12 oz?), washed and sliced into strips
5 cremini mushrooms, sliced

1.  In a pressure cooker, saute the onion and garlic in the butter until translucent.  

2.  Add rice and saute until light brown.

3.  Add vegetable broth and white wine, cover, and get the pressure cooker up to pressure.  Cook for 12 minutes.

4.  Add the orach and mushrooms, stirring until the orach is cooked down (about five minutes).

Crusted Tofu

12 oz. firm tofu
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup white wine
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
thyme
salt
pepper

1.  Slice tofu into triangles.

2.  Press tofu to remove water for 15 minutes.

3.  Mix soy sauce and white wine together and pour over tofu in a bowl.  Marinate for 30 minutes.

4.  Mix panko crumbs, thyme, salt and pepper together.  Dredge tofu through the breadcrumb mix and fry both sides in a couple of tablespoons of oil until brown.  Set aside.

Lemon caper sauce

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup minced onion
2 tablespoons capers, drained, rinsed and chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced parsley.
salt
pepper

1.  Saute onion in butter.  Add capers, white wine and vegetable broth.  Simmer and reduce by a quarter. 

2.  Add lemon juice and parsley.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.  Mix flour with a couple tablespoons of water,  add to sauce and stir until thickened.