Monday, May 11, 2020

MONDAY RECIPE POST - VEGGIE TOFU STIR-FRY


I gave this dish a 10 out of 10.  Gregg gave it a 9 out of 10 which is still darned good.  I will give his reasons for dropping that point at the end of the post, which might be helpful in making your own decisions.  This week's recipe came from a food blog called The Minimalist Baker

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Servings: 2


1 14 oz. package firm or extra firm tofu
2 cups roughly chopped green beans 
1 cup diced carrots or a sweet red pepper (or both)
2 tablespoons sesame oil for sautéing, or you can use peanut or coconut oils

Sauce:

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (you can buy gluten free)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons organic brown sugar (reduce slightly for a less sweeter sauce)
1 tablespoon of Agave Syrup (or honey if not vegan and reduce amount for a less sweeter sauce)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For serving (optional)

Brown rice
White rice
Quinoa
Peanut Sauce


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C), and begin drying out your tofu.  Drain, remove it from the package.  Place it between two thick towels folded snuggly but not too tight around the tofu.  Place it between two plates and put something on the top plate like a book, heavy can of something, or a frying pan (whatever you think will do the job).  The more liquid you can get out of the tofu, the crispier it will be.  Let it dry for 15 minutes and if the towels get too wet, repeat with two dry ones.

When dry cut into 1 inch cubes or rectangles.  (You can check the photos on Minimalist Baker and see additional tips.)

To prevent sticking arrange the tofu on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet for a total of 25 to 30 minutes, turning over once for even cooking.  This will help dry out the tofu and give it a more meat-like texture.  If you want a firmer texture add a few minutes, for a less firmer texture, lessen the time.  When it is done to the way you like it, take it out, put it in a bowl and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Start cooking your rice according to package directions.

In a small bowl whisk together all sauce ingredients and set aside.

To a large skillet over medium-high heat, add sesame oil and swirl around to coat the bottom of the skillet.  Add the veggies and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often.  When the vegetables have softened a little, add the sauce and stir gently to evenly coat the vegetables.  It will begin to bubble and thicken.  Add the tofu and incorporate it into the veggies-sauce mix to coat.  

Cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes.  Hopefully the veggies are cooked to how you like them but check just in case.  

Serve with rice or other ingredients mentioned above.

Our host says this is best when eaten fresh, but will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
In our humble opinion this was top notch and delicious.  We did change a few things to fit in with our own taste, and there were adjustments depending on what we had in the fridge and pantry.

With the ingredients we changed them to the following:

1 chopped yellow onion
A handful of frozen peas
1small sliced zucchini
No green beans but kept the carrots

Sauce ingredients:

1 teaspoon ginger powder as we had no fresh
(we decided we would add 2 teaspoons next time)
Agave syrup and honey in the pantry but we chose the Agave
1 tablespoon of Chili paste which made it nice and hot but not too hot

We both would like more sauce next time, and thought maybe adding a little vegetable broth would be good.

This sauce wasn't too sweet and we will keep the brown sugar and Agave as is.

We used our favorite Jasmine Rice from Trader Joe's because A) it is tasty as rice goes and B) it is super easy to do.  One box has three packets and each packet has enough for both of us.  You just pop it in the microwave for three minutes and that's it.  Very nice and fast, though we do have regular Jasmine Rice in the pantry.  I daresay we will be using that when we run out of the frozen, as I am not sure when we can get back to Trader Joe's.

Now for that one point I mentioned at the beginning of this post.  Last time we cooked tofu the recipe called for us to marinate the tofu in a sauce.  Gregg liked that and so did I.  In this recipe he thought the tofu was a bit bland. I didn't but then my tastes run to the plainer side of things. Well, it would be a boring old world if we all thought the same wouldn't it?

There you go, I hope you like the sound of this dish and that I haven't overwhelmed you with all our thoughts and changes.

I also hope you are doing okay out there considering what we are all dealing with around the world.  Take good care of yourselves and thanks for stopping by.





26 comments:

  1. It sounds excellent. Tofu is a flavour sponge so I suspect I would agree with Gregg and marinate it for a while.

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    1. Hi EC, the tofu does taste great when it is marinated. Gregg is not a big fan of tofu but he will eat it this way.

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  2. It does look lovely, and professional! I have never been brave enough to ty Tofu. Love your cute signature at the bottom!

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    1. Thank you Ginny, tofu isn't everyone's cup of tea but I was one of those who took to it like a duck takes to water :)

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  3. An interesting portion of food! I could try that, but change the ingredients to suit me:-)

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    1. Thank you Anne, I hope you enjoy one day. This is a great meal to change ingredients to suit to your own taste :)

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  4. Hello, your food photos look fantastic. I have never tried tofu. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

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    1. Hi Eileen, thank you and I wish the same for you :)

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  5. i wish i could taste this because you lost me at drying out the tofu... i have never seen or tasted tofu of any kind. where is it in the stores? what department I mean. this looks really good from here... my friend loves tofu but she doesn't cook, her hubby provides her meals. i would eat anything if someone else prepared it..

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    1. You had me smiling at that first sentence Sandra :) I can get ours at any of the regular supermarket around here. Ours is in the Asian cuisine section and they have a smaller refrigerator where we can get tofu, fresh noodles and other ingredients that need to be kept cold. I first tried tofu in Chinese restaurants years ago, and started cooking it about three years ago. Nice to know your friend likes it and her husband, like mine, enjoys getting in the kitchen.

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  6. It looks delicious! You had me in suspense waiting for Greg's opinion.

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    1. Thanks Christine, I didn't mean to keep you in suspense, lol!

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  7. this sounds wonderful, - the tofu. i can't lie, i just don't like tofu. although i must also admit that it seems you took many steps in preparing it and perhaps the other times i have eaten it (out in a restaurant) i don't know how they pre prepared it. the other ingredients sound awesome, i would prepare this with chicken!!

    yours looks so pretty!!!

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    1. Hi Debbie, thank you :) Gregg disliked tofu at first and always added something extra like chicken or pork that he could enjoy. Scallops and Shrimp would be great with this also.

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  8. This does look good but neither of us is over fond of tofu. Stay safe, Diane

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    1. Thanks Diane, and the tofu is easily replaceable with something you would like. Stay safe too :)

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  9. I can understand that tofu marinated may be tastier.
    Many thanks for sharing the recipe and your tweaks to it … that's what is so good about cooking, recipes can always be amended to suit our individual tastes/needs.

    Wishing you a good week ahead.

    All the best Jan

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    1. You are very welcome Jan, glad you liked it. Very true, recipes can always be changed around. Makes it more adventurous :) I wish you the same.

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  10. Hello Diane, you've convinced me to give tofu another try! I knew about extracting as much liquid, however that extra step of drying it out in the oven sounds good. Thanks for taking the time to add all your own personal tips and thoughts too... always appreciated xx

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    1. Thank you Sue, it is an acquired taste. I hope you enjoy it next time :) xx

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  11. I never done much with tofu and some friends who know how to cook with it and season it. It was real good.

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    1. Hi Dora, Glad you enjoyed it when your friends cooked it. It is very versatile and I have eaten it in soups too :)

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  12. Back again Denise 😊 I've bought the firm tofu and will prepare it as you suggest. I would like to marinate it as you mentioned at the end of the recipe, would I put it in marinade after its dried out in the oven or before?

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    1. Hello again :) sorry I am late answering this here. The tofu is marinated before it is cooked.

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  13. I made a stirfry last night using the sauce recipe you had in a Monday post a long time ago. We like that one a lot . I haven’t tried tofu for a long time. ...Uncle Ben brand has some 90 second rice pouches that we like. (I found them in Florida... haven’t really been able to shop here... Bill ordered boxed rice, so that’s what I’m using.

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    1. That's wonderful Sallie, and it makes me very happy that you enjoyed the sauce a whole lot :) I have tried the Uncle Ben's rice before and like it. We have boxed rice also and now that we have run out of Trader Joe's brand, will start making that. I don't think Trader Joe is open thought I could be wrong. I will have to check on that.

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