Peanut Butter Tofu

One of the most irresistible addictions know to womankind.

Let's pretend that this warm October day isn't named after an evil murderous villain who terrorized and wiped out a nation of indigenous people which then in turn upstarted roots of problems still existing now. No. Let's not go there at all.
Instead, I'll embrace the glory of peanut butter:

• Peanuts are actually not nuts but legumes grown underground.

• The U.S. is the third largest producer of peanuts (Georgia and Texas are the two major peanut-producing states). China and India are the first and second largest producers, respectively.

• More than half of the American peanut crop goes into making peanut butter. 

• U.S. president Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer.

• It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.

• Americans eat around 700 million pounds of peanut butter per year (about 3 pounds per person).

• An average American child eats 1,500 PB&J sandwiches before graduating from high school.

Also, peanut butter wasn't invented by George Washington Carver. However, he did discover 300 other uses for peanuts. I'd like to imagine that he made some tantalizing nutty variation that history won't allow us to know about. 300 is a lot of inventions-- for peanuts alone.

George Washington Carver, born into slavery without an accurate known birthdate, was a celebrated botanist and inventor. He had been kidnapped as a baby, raised by his slave owners after slavery was "abolished," witnessed whites killing a black man, and rejected from various schools due to his race. Yet he excelled on. He attended Simpson College in Iowa, studying piano and art, having a prime interest in painting plants and flowers. His art teacher persuaded him to pursue botany at Iowa State Agricultural College. While there, he was the first black student, writing a thesis called Plants As Modified by Man. Booker T. Washington then invited Carver to head the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute. Carver taught at Tuskegee for 47 years. He was well known all over the world. From being respected by presidents Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt to being honored by Time Magazine to becoming member of the Royal Society of the Arts in England to being a consultant for peanut farmers across the nation, Carver earned much fame and fortune. Yet he was humble and frugal. In fact, he donated $60,000 (equivalent to over a million dollars now) to his George Washington Carver Foundation, an exhibited legacy of his work. He is buried next to Booker T. Washington.

Now nothing makes us aware if George consumed a lot of peanuts during his earthly time.
I would hope that this celebratory peanut butter dish brought joyous light to his table and belly-- as it did mine. Peanut butter tofu is an incredible meeting of sweet and sticky with salty and savory under currents. Chewy interior has a tender meaty texture while the star powered exterior has a delectable crunch holding all flavor components together.

Peanut Butter Tofu Ingredients and Preparation

olive oil
1/2 tofu block, drained and diced
1 cup creamy peanut butter (used Whole Foods one ingredient peanut butter)
2 tablespoon Bee Free Honee
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
pinch of ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Pour olive oil onto a skillet set to medium high temperature.
Mix peanut butter, honee, garlic, cumin, turmeric, ginger, salt, and pepper.
Add tofu, evenly coating as much as possible.
Drop into hot skillet.

Stir constantly and cover in between. Takes 10-15 minutes for peanut butter tofu to be fully cooked.

Paired with broccoli and black rice, flavorful peanut butter tofu made an amazing contribution to dinner.

These leftovers were still impressive.

Definitely adding crushed peanuts at next attempt.