BBQ Tofu, Pasta  Salad, and Roasted Butternut Squash

I was in the mood for a hearty dinner tonight. I had a strenuous workout at the gym (15 pound weights! 30 pull-ups! well, assisted) and I didn’t have time to eat much at work today. I thought this dinner was a great mix of healthy proteins, grains and veggies. It was filling, satisfying and, best of all, very easy for a weeknight meal.

Roasted Butternut Squash – I love roasting vegetables because the oven does the work for you. Butternut squash is especially easy to roast because not a lot of cutting and peeling is involved. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half horizontally, then in half again vertically, then you can halve those pieces too. Scrape out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast skin-side down for 30-45 minutes. Delish!

Barbecue Tofu – This is also super easy and flavorful. Remove the tofu from package, cut into strips, and press out excess water. Preheat a grill pan and marinate the tofu in BBQ sauce (we prefer Dinosaur BBQ sauce) for a few minutes. When the grill pan is hot, grill for about 5-8 minutes on one side, flip over and grill for another 5 minutes. You can throw more BBQ sauce on if you want. If you’re a super grill master like Eric, you get the fancy grill marks like in the photo above. If you grill like me, the tofu will have funky brown streaks running through, but either way its pretty darn good!

Pasta Salad – I LOVE pasta and could probably eat it every day if given the chance. This is what happens when you grow up in an Italian family and that is all your parents ever feed you. Because I eat pasta so often, I like to keep it on the light side with a bunch of veggies. I always use whole wheat pasta. What I love about pasta salad is that it tastes fresh when you first make it, but it gets even better as it sits in the fridge and the flavors blend. In this pasta salad, I used:

1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup cooked peas
1 red pepper, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 lb whole wheat pasta

For the dressing I used a mix of homemade balsamic vinaigrette and 1/4 cup of Veganaise (not mixed together). For the homemade balsamic vinaigrette:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt & pepper
(whisk all together)

Combine the veggies with the pasta. Fold in the balsamic vinaigrette and Veganaise. Enjoy!