No-Salt Crunchy Tofu Sticks with Chimichurri

Name: No-Salt Crunchy Tofu Sticks with Chimichurri
Total time: PT-496083H17M17S
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh parsley; 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro; 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed with a knife; 1 shallot, minced; 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar; Zest and juice of 1 lemon (harvest the zest first, before you cut into the fruit); 1/2 cup olive oil, or more if needed for consistency; 2 blocks extra-firm tofu, pressed, sliced into stubby 1-inch-wide sticks, and drained; 1 cup corn meal; 1/2 cup cornstarch; 1 teaspoon cayenne; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 1 tablespoon ground coriander seed; 1/4 cup water; 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Photo: Tucker Shaw

BY Tucker Shaw

PUBLISHED April 11, 2024

Experiment with different ratios of ingredients in the chimichurri. I love parsley, so I lean heavily on it here, but if you’re a big fan of cilantro, adjust accordingly. Although I am generally suspicious of dried herbs, the dried oregano here adds a much more intense flavor than fresh. If tofu is not your thing, use this chimichurri on anything from steak to scrambled eggs.

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Chimichurri is also delicious dolloped into a bowl of soup, drizzled over roasted vegetables, or spread into a sandwich. To amp up the tofu, I first dip it in a slurry of cornstarch bolstered with ground spices (you could streamline here by using a salt-free sazon seasoning mix), then dredge the slurried sticks in corn meal for a crunchy exterior and a quiet-but-present background of roasty corn flavor.

This recipe is from Tucker Shaw’s piece, “Turns Out Not Eating Salt Is Not the End of the World.”

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