Brand New Platform, Same Old Blog

Wow. 
So it's been a while since I've posted, and I am SO sorry - I'm staying with my partner in Brighton and I've had coursework, revision, reading for my next year at Uni, and job hunting/interviews (I'm still waiting to hear from Boots, fingers crossed!) so it's been busybusybusy!
I've also spent a little time redesigning my blog, and ta-dah! Don't get me wrong, I love Tumblr, but it means I can use my Tumblr to both share these posts and reblog things like this:

(from fashioninfographics)

I also have more control over the layout of posts and all these other blog-related things that I shan't bore you with. Basically exciting things!

So with this post I'm following on from the theme of new beginnings and new ways of thinking - one of my last posts was on tofu and its versatility, so I'm doing a Recipe of the Week and doing a tofu twist on a Chinese takeaway favourite.

Tangerine Tofu

Time to make: 25 minutes
Calories per portion: 302kcal
Portions of your 5 a day: 2
Cost per portion: £1.57

You will need:

• 100g pressed firm tofu, diced
• 60g uncooked brown rice (a lot healthier than white rice)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• Juice and zest of 1 small orange
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 green bell pepper chunks
• Olive oil, for frying
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Place the tofu cubes into a frying pan with some oil on a medium heat. Press them down with a spatula and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side - this can take about 20 minutes if you're not fussed with having a crispy coating all round you can just do two or three sides.

Once your tofu is golden add in your bell pepper chunks to fry. This should take about 5 minutes so while they're frying combine the soy sauce, orange juice, maple syrup and orange zest in a bowl. If you don't like your sauce runny add 2 tsp of cornstarch just to thicken it up.

Coat your tofu and peppers in the sauce and let them fry - tofu absorbs whatever flavour it's cooked in so it's really important you let it fry in the orange sauce. After a couple of minutes it should be ready to serve. Dish up the rice (which definitely should be done by this time, although brown rice does take longer than white rice so if you're cooking with white rice you will have to keep an eye on it) and place the tofu and peppers on top.

I was out of sesame seeds but if I'd had some I would've put them on top. I can't even describe how good this was, especially as it was my first time cooking this - bbq tofu I've cooked many times before but I wanted to try something new. Voilà!