Greek Pasta Dish a.k.a. Zorba the Geek

Hi!  I wrote about this little dish in my last "5 Things I Liked This Week".  I said I would give ya a recipe, so here it is!

Serves (2)

Ingredients:
2-4 tbs olive oil x 2 (for spinach and tofu)
1-small jar of artichoke hearts
about a handful of kalamata olives
a half a box of penne pasta
a bag of prewashed raw spinach
small jar of small capers
1/2 c feta cheese
about a handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half
very firm tofu
diced garlic (4 cloves) {I like garlic}
about 1/4C diced onion

Get the water boiling for the penne and get that started.  Now, start the tofu.  It will come to you in a large square with some water around it.  Take it out of the box and drain the tofu by wrapping it in a paper towel for a couple minutes.  If this is your first time working with tofu {It's weird.  I know.  Just roll with it.}  Cut the "block of tofu" in half and then just eyeball your cutting so that you are making medium sized cubes.  Put about 4 tablespoons (take your olive oil and make about 4 rings in the bottom of the pan) into the frying pan.   Then put the tofu in the pan.  Make sure that the tofu is laying flat, so that each piece has a side on the hot pan.  Note: Watch out! because you are cooking kinda wet tofu in hot oil.  It'll splatter.  Let the tofu sit on medium high while you cut onions, garlic, and tomatoes.

Next is the fried spinach.  Make another 4 rings of olive oil on the bottom of your saucepan and add the raw spinach.  Let the spinach sit on medium heat too.  It will cook down A TON.  

Now, in a bowl, add artichokes and their brine, capers (not their brine--too much brine goes a long way), onion, garlic, and olives.  Set aside.  Tend to the tofu as often as you can.  It will brown up very nice with just a bit of flipping.  I like to add some garlic salt to it at this stage.  Once it is browning on all sides, just turn the heat down and let it finish cooking. By this time your spinach should have cooked down a bit--it will almost appear that it is burning, but that is the crisp you want!  Fried spinach has a nice, nutty flavor to it.  Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.  Once the tofu and the spinach are finished you can fill your bowl of goodness!!  I start with the penne on the bottom and go from there!  YUM!

Enjoy!
Nik