This week was the busiest thus far in terms of the amount of food I made. I was excited to try the Jamaican tofu, where the recipe called for black or brown rice on the side. Unfortunately, rice has never been something I can eat, so I decided to make the Jamaican stew as well. I had extra things going on this week and wanted a bit more prepped to eat on the go. I was unsure how the stew would be if I had to eat it cold, but I assumed it would still be good.

After trying tofu in a few different ways over the past weeks, I was very excited to try the jerk tofu with the variety of flavours and spices this recipe called for. I had most of the ingredients for the tofu but had to buy a few more, which were luckily not hard to find in stores. Similarly, I had all of the ingredients ahead of time for the Pineapple Salsa, which was a sub-recipe from the same website where I found the jerk tofu recipe. I started by combining the ingredients for the salsa first so it could marinate while I made the rest of the meal. It was very quick to prep. I had never tried pineapple sala before, but I liked the balance of sweet and savoury. Once I made the salsa, I put the stew together to be ready around when the tofu was. Again, I had all the ingredients but the red curry paste, kidney beans, and coconut milk, which were also very easy to find. The recipe had called for scallions, but I skipped adding them since someone in my family was allergic. The tofu would be a good source of protein, as will the kidney beans, so I was not worried about getting a good amount of protein from the meal. I put the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno in the pot to cook and prepped the jerk tofu while they were cooking. I made the jerk seasoning and brushed it onto the tofu in this time, which was very quick to put together and get the tofu in the oven. By the time the onions were translucent for the stew, I had the tofu in cooking, which was effortless to prepare alongside each other. I got the few ingredients in the pot and could get ahead on cleaning for less to do later. Once the 20 minutes were up for the stew, I added the remaining few ingredients and partially pureed it. After adding the collard greens, the stew had another 5 minutes on the element. It was ready just as the jerk tofu was ready after 30 minutes.

Pineapple Salsa Recipe:

I was unsure about preparing the two meals alongside each other. It ended up being completely effortless and aligned very well through prepping each and how they were ready simultaneously. Both meals were delicious and complimented each other very well, which I did not anticipate but was very relieved about. I had some jerk tofu and a lot of stew left over, and both were great meal preps to take with me later in the week. The stew reheated well and was delicious cold as well. It was a great source of flavour and freshness during the day, while I found the stew filling with having the full-fat coconut milk in it. I find that this makes a huge difference in my mood, and I look forward to making this stew again in the future over the course of the week. My dad tried the tofu with some rice on the side, which he said was very good together.

Next week, I will move to my Italian recipes, starting with the lentil soup. I cannot believe I am moving into the last two recipes of this project. However, I am confident that I will leave with a great cookbook of recipes that will become staples in my diet while expanding it to incorporate more flavour, freshness, and diversity.