Welcome to kidscookdinner.com (you can read more about the site and how it started below, but this post is about today’s meal!) I was really in the mood for a salmon-based poke bowl today but I couldn’t find sushi-grade salmon so I decided to use tofu instead.

There’s no actual recipe because I made this one up as I went along, using many items we had in the pantry, but you can see the full list of ingredients and approximate amounts below.

An essential step in cooking tofu is to try to remove some of its excess moisture so the first thing I did was to cut the block of tofu into cubes, cover it with paper towels and put two heavy saucepans on it to sit for approximately half an hour. Meanwhile, I started cooking the rice in our rice cooker and sliced the vegetables I was using (mushrooms, red onion, and carrots).

After 30 minutes, the paper towels were very damp and the tofu was ready to sautee. I wanted it to be crispy so I coated the cubes of tofu in a mix of cornstarch, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Then I fried the cubes in a little olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side until they were browned and crispy. I removed them and placed them on a plate lined with paper towels.

The next step was to quickly sautee the sliced mushrooms (using the same pan) and slice an avocado (Cook’s tip: wait to the last minute to slice the avocado so it doesn’t turn brown.) Then it was time to put everything together.

I gathered all of my ingredients, including the tofu, cooked rice, sautéed mushrooms, sliced carrots, sliced avocado, and sliced red onion, and assembled them in a bowl. Then I topped it with strips of dried seaweed, sliced scallions, and sesame seeds. It is probably the most colorful and aesthetic dinner I’ve ever had and is easily customizable to anyone’s preferences.

Ingredients:

For the tofu:

• 5 oz block of tofu, cubed
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Bowl

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 carrot, sliced thin or curly peels
• 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, sauteed
• 1 avocado
• 2-3 scallions, sliced thin
• Sesame seeds to garnish
• Dried seaweed to garnish

I’ve always wanted to try making lemon loaf (mainly because I love the one at Starbucks) and the addition of poppy seeds makes the loaf look much prettier and adds a gentle crunch. I found a recipe from delscookingtwist and it turned out great. The loaf was the perfect snack on our road trip to Lake George for a family vacation.

The recipe is pretty simple but has a fair number of steps starting with sifting the flour into a bowl and adding the baking powder and salt. Then in a different bowl use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar until smooth then add the eggs one by one along with the lemon juice, zest, and poppy seeds. Finally, mix in the milk and the flour mixture and pour the batter into a butter loaf pan to bake! Your oven should be preheated to 350 degrees and the cooking time is 50-60 minutes. (Toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean.) Once cooled you can add a glaze which is incredibly easy to make (just combine lemon juice, powdered sugar, and milk). Ingredients listed below:

For the loaf:

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups unsalted, soft butter (but not melted)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 3/4 cup milk

For the glaze:

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 teaspoons milk