I’ve been dabbling around in the kitchen recently and decided to come up with fun, new vegetarian recipes. This week, I created this tofu steak with a semi-spicy green pepper and walnut sauce. I also made buttermilk orzo (recipe here) to go along with it.

The recipe for the steak took around 2.5 to 3 hours to make. Keep in mind that I did this without any help (hence why my kitchen looked like a disaster when I was done). You can probably cut down the time if you recruited some helpers.

Here is what you are going to need:

After drying out the tofu (I did this by placing a heavy pot over them while they were wrapped in paper towels for around 20 minutes), cut them into your desired number and shape. I cut out six rectangles.

Add the basil, water, parsley, thyme, vinegar, mustard, salt and garlic to a bowl and mix together. I also added crushed and powdered peppers to make it more spicy.

Pour this mixture into a Ziploc bag and then add your tofu. Place the bag into the refrigerator for around an hour, allowing the tofu to marinate. Make sure to turn the bag over after 30 minutes to allow all sides to get covered.

Once you take the tofu out, place the flour, egg substitute (if you want to use eggs, this is where they would go), and bread crumbs into large bowls (each in their own bowl). Don’t throw away the Ziploc contents — we are going to use it for the sauce!

First, place the tofu into the bowl of flour and completely cover it.

Then take the tofu and cover it in the “egg” mixture.

Finally, take the tofu and cover it with breadcrumbs.

After you have made a complete mess out of your kitchen (maybe because the bowls were too small or you were having too much fun), it’s time to fry the tofu!

In a fry pan, add the oil and raise the heat to either medium or high. Place the tofu on the pan and cook until golden brown.

To make sure they were fully cooked, I put the tofu in the oven (275 to 300 degrees F) for around 20 to 30 minutes. By the end, they should be crunchy and brown.

For the sauce, take half a green pepper and a handful of walnuts and crush them in a food processor/grinder.

Then add the mixture from the Ziploc bag and blend in the food processor. I also added some lemon juice (half a lemon). You should get a green “paste” like mixture. You can put it over the tofu (like I did) or serve it in a bowl as a dipping sauce (which I also did).

And you are ready to serve! I also included a small avocado wedge just for fun. Place the tofu over your side of choice (we had orzo) and enjoy!

The recipe for the buttermilk orzo is here, so make sure to check that out too. Let me know what you think of this dish in the comments!