Catching up over red lentil tofu

Also: sourdough, some things we made in the Berkshires, and our new air fryer

Jul 10, 2025

I feel like I rarely make something that steals my heart so instantly that I immediately have to write about it. Also, hi, miss you, sorry it’s been like 16 years since I’ve written last. I’m one of those eccentric, reclusive writers who only emerges once in a while to poke her head out into society. So chic.

Anyway, if you want to know what stole my heart so instantly that I had to sit down and open up Substack and get click-clacking, it’s this red lentil “tofu”. I put tofu in quotes because although many people on the internet call this tofu], I felt this was more of a little polenta cube or even a croquette. Like a little creamy potatoey thing. All made with, like, 50 cents of red lentils! My mom is always bugging me to eat more protein and this somehow makes protein taste like carbs, therefore it’s my kind of protein source. Absolute alchemy.

This was the method:

Soak 1 cup of uncooked split red lentils, a pinch of salt, and 3 cups of boiling water for 15 minutes
Transfer to a blender and then blend until smooth
Transfer to a saucepan and cook it down on medium until the mixture becomes thick and shiny
Put it in a glass dish (I used a square Pyrex, but could have easily used a glass container) and let it set in the fridge for around 20-30 minutes — no need to grease it or anything!
Turn it out onto a cutting board (it should slide out easily) and cut it into cubes
Air fry or bake with seasonings of your choice as you would with regular tofu (I did salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and onion powder)

For better step-by-step instructions than the ones I’ve written with photos just look at one of the recipes I linked and you’ll figure it out — this is a very, very easy recipe and I trust you’ll catch on.

What else is new? Our toaster oven broke so I broke down and got this combo air fryer/toaster oven. Have to say it’s absolutely revolutionized my time in the kitchen because it just cooks everything so damn fast. I’m still getting used to its sheer power and have burnt my fair share of things in there lately. But wow. Vegetables, frozen dumplings, chicken meatballs, leftovers, pita pizza — actually on another level. I’ve also been off social media for a month so if you’re reading this you’re a real one who subscribes instead of getting it off of my story. I appreciate you. I just felt like the noise was just getting so loud in my brain — like when I would lay down to sleep I would have viral audio in my head. Tired of influencer voice. Tired of videos of people doing podcasts. I’m trying to be more present and more still.

We just got back from our annual family trip to the Berkshires, a newer Weiner family tradition, where we hiked and grilled and picked blueberries. My sister Rissy made a perfect blueberry pie and this amazing corn pasta that we were eating cold the next day with our fingers. The mosquitoes mostly stayed at bay because I doused myself in bug spray, which I don’t mind because the smell reminds me of summers past. We packed a picnic of pesto pasta, poached salmon, watermelon, and wine (how’s that for alliteration?) to go to Tanglewood to see the legendary James Taylor under the stars. I saw a shooting star — a truly unambiguous one! Food and cooking are big parts of our family.

Our collaborative BBQ (Joey + Zach on the grill, me + mom + Rissy in the kitchen)

I’ve been making my own sourdough and I got pretty decent at it — nothing like the beautiful round decorative loaves you’d see on Instagram, but nice and tasty and free of weird preservatives. I make about a loaf a week, slice it up, and keep it in the freezer for easy toasting. The process of learning to make sourdough — and starting my starter from scratch — has been one of trial and error and intuition, and I’m certainly not an expert yet, but if you’re interested in learning, I’d recommend starting with this video from Artisan Bryan and this article from Alexandra Cooks, two chefs whose content I trust when it comes to baking bread. There’s also nothing wrong with baking bread with commercial yeast which is generally foolproof and reliable — this recipe from King Arthur is my go-to non-sourdough rustic bread recipe.

What’s on the menu this week? Summer produce is upon us — kind of — although I did get a bag of peaches from Trader Joe’s that smelled great but turned out to be kind of mushy. Those will become a peach crisp so I don’t waste them. The topping for that is made with equal parts oats, brown sugar, and almond flour, plus a shake of cinnamon and a pinch of salt, then just enough olive oil or melted butter to bind it together. (Bake at 350 until the fruit bubbles around the edges.) Lots of pickles, because it’s summer and they’re so refreshing. Iced green tea with lemon. Local zucchini in all its forms: roasted, air fried, parmed and zoodled. And marinated cherry tomatoes with fresh garlic and balsamic. Soooo good.

What’s happening in your kitchen — anything exciting? Is there something you want to cook but you need to talk it through first? I’ll be better about writing these, promise, but maybe you have home cooking questions I can help you answer and thereby gather inspiration?

Alex's Kitchen

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