Pan-Seared Tofu With Harissa, Dates and Citrus

Change is hard. When you grow up enjoying burgers and bacon and cheese (and bacon cheeseburgers), like I did, you might understandably resist cutting back on those things when confronted with evidence that they are contributing to the climate crisis. I speak from personal experience about this resistance, which I maintained for years.

My husband proposed to me over a milkshake in 2010.

And so I say to the Wall Street Journal editorial board member who authored an opinion piece called "First They Came for the Cars, Then the Cows," take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. And you can be part of the solution.

The author was peeved because policymakers in various countries are trying out policy options to discourage animal agriculture, which she acknowledged is contributing to climate change:

"Livestock production accounts for about 11% to 17% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and about 32% of the world’s methane, which is 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Pound for pound of protein, beef production generates nearly 18 times as much greenhouse gas—and pork, four times as much—as tofu."

I couldn't have said it better myself. But where she grumbles about "anti-bovines" who are seeking changes to the food supply and diets, I see innovators. Not every policy measure has the desired outcome when implemented, but that's not a reason not to keep trying to address an enormous, global, and relatively new problem--one that is already challenging economies and societies--with policy solutions that may be very effective.

As I see it, the challenge is that policymakers aren't moving fast enough to limit the negative effects of climate change, and that is why I not only call for more government action, but I also do what I can as an individual to minimize my climate footprint. The op-ed author does not indicate whether she eats meat. But she understands that climate change is a problem and meat contributes to it, and she disapproves of government efforts to address that problem, so I hope she embraces the role that individuals can play in reducing demand for meat.

She could, for example, substitute tofu for the chicken in a recipe like "Pan-Seared Chicken With Harissa, Dates and Citrus" (NYT Cooking).  When I made it, I pressed and chopped two blocks of extra firm tofu instead of using chicken pieces, and I used veggie stock rather than chicken stock, and it worked just fine. 

I might use orange zest rather than peel next time, because you're not going to eat the peel anyway in the finished dish; it's there for flavor. My big pieces just looked kind of odd in the end.

In step 5, I cut the stock and orange juice in half, knowing tofu would take less time to cook than chicken, but more liquids would probably have been good for flavor. I used "mild" harissa (Mina brand, in a jar) and it was not spicy at all. I served it over rice and my backup dancers enjoyed it. I assure you that it did not come across as "nonnutritious gruel," as the op-ed author described meatless food.

If you forget to serve it with labneh, as I did (you knew I was going to screw up something, as I do every time I cook!), then it's also vegan--even better for Planet Earth! If you haven't heard, "Veganuary" in January has become an international movement, and I applaud it. But now it's February, and I maintain that "Vegan Vebruary" is a catchier name in any case, so carry on with the vocus on plant-based voods.