Grilled Lemon-Ginger Tofu Steaks on the BBQ

A vibrant and healthy vegan meal featuring grilled tofu, colorful vegetables, and rice served on a white plate.

Written by

Outdoor Cooking King

in

This recipe is taken directly from Weber’s official recipe library: the Lemon-Ginger Tofu Steaks with Carrot and Cashew Salad recipe published on weber.com. Tofu can be awkward on a grill, so it helps to start from a tested method. We haven’t cooked it ourselves; this is a summary of Weber’s published method with some notes on how it compares to another Weber tofu recipe.

About the Diet Label

We aren’t labelling this recipe vegan or vegetarian. The ingredient list shows no meat, fish, dairy, egg or honey, but several items depend on the brand you buy, and we haven’t assessed them: the soy sauce, the chili-garlic sauce (Weber suggests Sriracha) and the light brown sugar, whose refining process can’t be judged from a recipe. Check those labels if you cook for someone who avoids animal products.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Marinade

  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons peeled, grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon hot chili-garlic sauce

Tofu

  • 2 packages (14 ounces each, about 400 g; our conversion) extra-firm tofu, not the silken style

Carrot and cashew salad

  • 2 cups coarsely grated carrots
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped cashews
  • 1/3 cup minced scallions, white and light green parts
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro or Italian parsley
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Method

  1. Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  2. Cut each tofu block lengthwise into four slices, each 1 inch (2.5 cm, our conversion) thick, and lay them in a single layer on a rimmed platter or baking dish.
  3. Pour the marinade over the slices and brush all sides. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, turning them now and then.
  4. Mix all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and leave it at room temperature.
  5. Set the grill up for direct high heat, 450-550°F (about 232-288°C, our conversion). Clean the grates, then lay a 12-by-16-inch sheet of aluminum foil directly on them.
  6. Put the tofu on the foil in one layer, keeping the leftover marinade back for glazing.
  7. Close the lid and grill 6 to 8 minutes, turning once and brushing now and then with the reserved marinade, until both sides are caramelized and the slices are warm.
  8. Serve on plates with the salad stacked on top, warm or at room temperature.

A Second Weber Method to Compare

Weber’s Asian Noodles with Grilled Tofu and Vegetables takes the same foil approach with a lighter touch. It uses a single 14-ounce block of extra-firm tofu, drained, cut lengthwise into five slices about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm, our conversion) thick, and patted dry. The slices are brushed with a peanut-butter dressing instead of soaked in a marinade, laid on foil, and grilled over direct medium heat, 350-450°F (about 177-232°C, our conversion), with the lid closed for about 8 minutes, turned once with a flexible spatula, until golden and warmed through.

That gives you two ways to plan a cookout: a long refrigerated marinade and a very hot fire, or a quick brush-on dressing and moderate heat. The second recipe includes honey in the dressing, so it isn’t vegan, and it shouldn’t be swapped in for the lemon-ginger version if you’re cooking for that reason.

Food Safety Notes

Tofu is a perishable food. USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says food left out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when temperatures are above 90°F (about 32°C, our conversion), should be discarded, and that leftovers should be refrigerated promptly in shallow containers.

The recipe glazes the tofu with marinade saved from the bowl. FSIS’s guidance on marinades is written about raw meat and poultry: if a marinade has touched them and you want to reuse it, let it come to a boil for a few minutes first. If you’re grilling meat alongside the tofu, keep the tofu marinade and its brush separate from anything that has touched raw meat, and don’t share platters or utensils between raw and cooked food.

Keep reading

Sources

More posts