Tofu piccata with mushy butter beans

low day + variation on the sauce + accidental mushy beans

Chicken piccata is a popular Italian-style dish. Yet I have never made this; a mystery to me since I know I have happily devoured it a few times at restaurants.

I was somehow musing over this thought one day when I had not slept well (too many nightmares). Both fatigue and apathy had kicked in, glueing my body to the couch. I kept on thinking about piccata sauce, a lemony buttery sauce with capers promising all sorts of vibrancy and comfort. I was thinking about how I like eating capers, especially with smoked salmon and I imaged the buttery lemony sauce tingling my taste buds. I crinkled my forehead realizing there’s no chicken in the fridge and the energy levels were insufficient for a foray to the grocery store. Heck, the energy levels were insufficient to even make it to the kitchen. What is a girl to do on such days?

• Well, the first thing is to continue to languish…because that requires zero effort.

• The second thing is to sink deeper under the blanket becoming one with the couch… because if you can’t see or be seen, reality doesn’t exist, right?

• The third thing is to remain there for unmeasured number of minutes…

• And then finally when you have embarrassed yourself enough…to yourself, you springboard out of the couch and splash water on your face. And you drag your feet to the kitchen, vowing to yourself that you will not leave until some form of piccata has been created and consumed. You forge ahead with this because going back to where you sprung from might lead you closer to insanity for who knows how long.

I had tofu so I decided to make tofu piccata. I had butter beans I had soaked the night before and forgotten about. I found a lonely head of broccoli in the back of the fridge. All these ingredients masked themselves as a bit sad (or perhaps my mood was projecting on to the perfectly fine ingredients). But, they actually ended up turning into a pretty tasty lunch in the end.

I pressed out the moisture from the block of tofu for ~20 mins using a heavy block while working on the other ingredients. I seasoned the sliced tofu with salt and pepper on one side and then added corn starch to get it to crisp up (traditionally this is flour but I did not have any). I placed the seasoned side down on a pan on low-medium heat containing olive oil. While the underside of the tofu slices were cooking and getting crispy (~5-7 mins), I seasoned the other side the same way. I flipped the slices and crisped up the other side for 5-7 mins. I removed these from the pan and set them aside.

In that same pan I heated up some butter and sautéed chopped garlic until good aromas emanated from the pan. I have seen versions with and without garlic, unsure what the traditional one is. But I love garlic, so why not? I deglazed all of this goodness with ~0.5 cups of liquid whey, for two reasons:

1) Generally this is done with white wine, I did not have any at home.

2) I had recently prepared paneer, a farmer’s cheese made from cow milk, and had plenty of leftover whey that I needed to use.

As the whey was working it’s magic I also added ~3 tbsp of lemon juice and a handful of capers and mixed everything into the sauce. Generally this sauce is thicker than mine was (because of more flour and butter) but I decided to keep it on the thin side, it was looking pretty good to me.

I got the crispy tofu slices back into the pan and spread them around to let the sauce coat them with the heat turned on for ~1 min and then off for ~5 min. Tofu piccata was ready to be served.

Now let’s talk briefly about the beans. Hailing from a North Indian family, I have grown up beans of all types. But whenever I see a new kind of bean, curiosity gets the best of me and I immediately buy some. I saw large butter beans a few weeks ago at my local market and decided to give them a try. I had soaked them the previous day (when I had energy and inspiration) so they needed to be cooked today. As I often do with many of my bean dishes, I pressure cook them. That’s what I did with these but when I opened the lid of the pressure cooker, I found myself staring at a bean mush… I had overcooked them. Sigh. I momentarily wanted to quit the kitchen but given my earlier resolve, I stayed put. Fret not, I told myself, mushy beans are often more delicious. I flavored them with salt, thyme, & oregano but forgot to take the photo in my short lived disappointment.

Tofu piccata with charred broccoli & mushy butter beans was served for lunch that day. The lemony capery buttery sauce with crispy on the outside but soft on the inside tofu made for refreshing bites, contrasted with crunchy broccoli in between. The mushy herby butter beans were screaming comfort food - they were delicious beyond my expectations! Dipping pieces of tofu piccata into the beans resulted in beautiful flavors and textures playing on the tongue.

This meal did the magic. It transformed some of my earlier apathy into warmth. My body got some energy to deal with this difficult day, I did not end up back on the couch. I went for a walk instead. On some days that’s the biggest win you will get and you take it.

Dish Debrief:

• Is this my winner or disaster? Win

• How would I rate this dish out of 10? 8 out of 10

• What would I change next time? Use flour and white wine to try a more creamy sauce

• Would I make this again? Yes! (A few days later I made Chicken Piccata).