Sofritas!

As frequently happens when I make a recipe (since I do most things by taste and sight), I made waaay too much of this. I'm not entirely sure that 2 adults need 6-8 servings of anything, not matter how delicious. So what do you do when you're bored and made too much food. You invite your friends over and ask them if they want some. Well, what do you think my friends said?

Friend One: "What the hell are sofritas?"

Friend Two: "My thoughts exactly."

Me: "It's like a tofu and pinto bean Mexican dish, it is spicy and you serve it over rice."

Me Again (attempting to sell it as legit): "Chipotle sells it. It is one of their vegetarian options."

Friends One and Two: "Well, oooh, if Chipotle has it, then it has to be worth eating."

Well, neither of my friends came over, despite my delicious food and half ass attempt to persuade them. Apparently when your husband works as much as ours do, spending quality time with them is important. So they stayed home... and my husband got home from work at 2 am with a very cold plate of sofritas waiting for him. But luckily for him, and for me, it reheats quite well. And the two of us tackled like 6-8 servings of food over the following 3 days.

It is a delicious and spicy dish, if you're looking to try something new. And if you have a tofu weary eater, he thought it was chicken. Haha. You can also serve it piping hot over mixed greens like baby kale, spinach or arugula (if you're looking to save some calories/carbs) and it will wilt them a little giving it a slightly crispier, sautéed greens feel.

Serves 6-8 (feel free to halve this mammoth recipe)

Ingredients/Instructions:

For the Sofritas: 22 oz firm tofu, brick or cubed 2 poblano peppers, roasted 6 cloves of garlic

2 oranges, juiced

1 bushel cilantro, divided 2 tbsp lime juice 1 tbsp agave nectar 1/2 quality salsa 16 oz can pinto beans 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes 6 chipotle peppers, canned, in adobo (plus 1 tbsp adobo sauce form can) 1 1/2 cups water 2 tbsp coconut oil salt and pepper, to taste 1. Make sure your poblano peppers are roasted and cleaned. (You can do this by placing them on an open flame on your gas stove top, turning every 3 min, or when blackened. Or you can turn your oven to broil, and broil them on each side; at 4-7 minutes per side. Allow them to rest before peeling off the blackened skin and cleaning out the interior seeds.) Set aside. 2. In a large sautee pan, add 2 tbsp of coconut oil and bring to a low heat. 3. Make sure your tofu is cubed roughly 1/2"-1" in size. Also give it a good press to get out excess water before adding it to the pan. 4. Put your tofu in the coconut oil and season with salt and pepper. 5. Pan fry, stirring every couple of minutes, for 10-15 minutes. You just want it to crisp up a little bit. 6. While your tofu is crisping, add the roasted poblanos, garlic cloves, juice of 2 oranges, limes juice, salsa and agave nectar to a food processor and blend. 7. Add the blend to the pan. Also add 1 can of pinto beans, and 1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes. 8. Im going to have you divide up your cilantro now. Set aside 1/4 cup of diced cilantro leaves for your guacamole. Divide the rest of the bushel in half,and chop it up. Add half to sofritas, and the other half to your rice; which you should probably be starting now. 9. Add 1 1/2 cups of water to your sofritas sauce, and allow the mixture to reduce and come together for 15-20 minutes, stirring as it bubbles.

For the Cilantro Lime Rice: (I used smaller rice portions, and lots of leafy greens to cut calories and add nutrition. If you really plan on serving 6-8, you may want to add more rice. Also, my rice to water ratio is what was outlined on my brown rice/quinoa blend. If you use white rice or another grain, please read packaging instructions.) 1 1/2 cups brown rice 3 1/4 cups water 1/2 head of cilantro, divided 1 tbsp lime juice salt and pepper, to taste bag of greens, optional (I used a baby kale, power green blend) 1. Add all of the ingredients to your rice cooker, or pot. And follow the cooking time as directed. (Just add the lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper and coconut oil and stir. Nothing fancy here.)

For the Guacamole: 2 ripe avocados 1 tbsp lime juice 2 garlic cloves 1 1/2 tbsp diced, pickled jalapeños 1/4 cup cilantro 1. Halve your avocados, and remove the core. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the avocado lengthwise, then side to side. Scoop out the contents with a spoon and empty them into a mixing bowl. 2. Add 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 1/2 tbsp diced pickled jalapeños, and 1/4 cup cut up cilantro leaves. Stir all of these together. 3. Mince up your garlic as small as possible. And add it along with a little bit of salt and pepper and stir again. (Remember, you can always add more salt, but you can't take it out. Haha.) 4. This amount of guacamole is for 1-2 tbsp of guac to be scooped onto each bowl, if you are wanting more, you can change the recipe proportions.

Plating: 1. Start with a base of greens (if you're using them), and top with brown rice (white rice, quinoa, no grain), add your sofritas and top with a tbsp of guac. Enjoy!!!