As I cook, I notice different people have different ways of complimenting you. One person that shall remain anonymous always dances in his seat whenever he finds something tasty.  He has learned how to control these squirms as we grew up but once in a while, I still catch a twitch. Another anonymous taste tester of mine always seems to criticize everything I make. The more he loves it, the more he pretends to hate it. I love him, and believe it or not I even love his compliments. The trouble is, everyone has different and multiple ways to expressing themselves.

I’m still trying to learn all of Ilya’s verbal and nonverbal ques. I’m always trying to find out what he likes or doesn’t like because he rarely comment without being prompted.  So how does Ilya comment on this dish?  Does he whisper sweet words? Nope.  Does he send me a card? Nada. Give up? He goes out to the supermarket on his lunch break (we typically go shopping together) and buys me the exact ingredients needed for this recipe…times three!  Because…you know…these ingredients “just happened to be on sale”.  J You can only imagine how happy I was that day. But no matter how you are loved ones show you their gratitude, I promise you this dish will defiantly get a response out of anyone.

PS. This was my first time using tofu and it was a great beginner dish. It’s great because it makes the dish firmer, takes on the luscious taste of the parsley and adds a lot of protein to the dish. If you are looking to add tofu or just protein to a picky eater’s dish, this is a great recipe for you.

This is the tofu I used that I got at my local farmers market

Source:  Adapted from Cooks.com

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. mozzarella cheese
• 1 lb. ricotta
• 1 package of extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup of parsley
• 1-2 tbsp. milk
• Lasagna noodles
• Your favorite spaghetti sauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook Pasta according to package instructions.

3. Chop the parsley finely.

4. Chop the tofu into large squares.

5. Place the tofu, ricotta cheese, milk and parsley into a food processer and processor. Process until mixture is soft and blended together. Place in bowl and leave to the side.

6. Grate the mozzarella thinly.

7. Place in layers in a rectangular pan, firs tomato sauce, then lasagna, then tomato sauce, mozzarella, and ricotta; repeat until ingredients are gone.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.