Cornflakes for Dinner

Every so often I throw in a vegetarian recipe just to mix up the menu at our house. I'm not a vegetarian, but a friend of mine and my cousin are, so I like to have a few good veggie recipes on hand in case they come to visit. Besides, I think it's more healthful not to eat meat all the time.

In Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home there was a recipe for Broiled Tofu that sounded innocuous enough. All I had to do was to press the extra water out of a block of firm tofu, brush it with a marinade of soy sauce, canola oil, sesame oil, and a dash of Tabasco, then broil it until done. The recipe stated that these are "delicious and satisfying, and might instantly become a family favorite." Since the boys both like tofu, I figured it would be OK. I served it with Asian Cabbage Slaw, which used a vinaigrette of oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce rather than the traditional mayonnaise-based dressing.

But I did have my doubts about the meal, so I made sure to prepare it on a night when my husband was going out after work with some friends.

As meal flops go in the Foley house, this was classic. Both boys literally shoved their plates across the table, Jack bellowing "NO!" and Henry starting to tear up. Usually at this point I would stick to my guns and tell them both that this was supper, I'm not a short-order cook, blah, blah, blah. That night, however, I just told them they could have corn flakes instead, which they did.

I, on the other hand, thought it was great!

From now on I'm going to stick with the more traditional definition of "burger" when I'm serving something in a bun. At least for a while, anyway...