Sunday, January 12, 2020

TOFU VEGETABLE SAUTE

Tofu sauté cooking in a large non-stick electric frying pan.
A friend gave me a recipe she likes to make for a spicy peanut tofu stir fry. It looked delicious. I decided to modify it based on my preferences and the vegetables I wanted to use. You can add other vegetables to the dish than the ones I have listed. What attracted me to make this recipe is that tofu goes great with a sauce and I have been working my way through eating 1.4 kgs of tofu that we bought at Costco. I also like sautéed vegetables. 

The tofu package that was already opened was just over 10 ounces and I used that and did not open a new package to add another six ounces to make a pound. 

The dish was very good and the DH even had a helping. You can serve the tofu sauté with rice, quinoa, couscous or vermicelli noodles. I served it with a wild rice blend.

All the ingredients added except for the spinach, sauce and cilantro.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp oil 
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound (454 grams) of firm or extra firm tofu, drained
2 tsp flour, tapioca or arrowroot flour
5-6 mushrooms, sliced thin
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 coloured pepper, sliced into thin strips
2 green onions, chopped or 1 medium size onion, chopped
small bag of spinach ( 5 to 6 ounces, 140-170 grams)
handful of chopped cilantro (optional)

Sauce

1/2 cup orange or apple juice
1/4 cup almond, peanut or other nut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce or substitute
1-2 tbsp sweet chili sauce or spicy peanut sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Slice the tofu into small chunks, add the flour, mix and set aside. In a small bowl mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan to medium high. Add the garlic, mushrooms, celery and pepper (and onion if using instead of green onions) and sauté for three to four minutes. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tofu and green onions (if using) and sauté for another four minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the spinach, combine well in the pan and add the sauce. Stir everything. Continue to cook until the spinach is wilted. Add the cilantro if using. If the sauce gets too thick and the food sticks to the pan, add a bit of water. Serves 4 to 5.