This is a riff on a recipe from Madhur Jaffery’s World Vegetarian cookbook. I love to serve it with green beans and rice.

Tofu with Tomatoes and Peas

1 block firm tofu, drained and pressed

vegetable or peanut oil

1 Tbs mined garlic

one inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

6 scallions, sliced

1 14oz can petite diced tomatoes (drain off extra juice)

2 Tbs soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup frozen peas, defrosted

(optional) hot chili sauce (1/4 tsp to 1 tsp by taste)

After pressing the tofu, cut into small cubes. Heat about 3-4 Tbs oil in a large pan and fry the tofu until crisp and golden. Remove from pan. Into remaining oil, add garlic, ginger and scallion. Stir until fragrant then add tomatoes, soy sauce, salt and sugar. Stir well then add peas and tofu along with optional hot chili sauce. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with rice! Yum.

I use a lot of tofu. I like different kinds for different meals. The best tofu for stir fry is a firm tofu with body. We have a local place that make excellent cakes of tofu that I can buy at Whole Foods, it is called Bridge Tofu (it is made in Middletown CT, see http://www.bridgetofu.com/). The closest thing that is available on a broad commercial base is probably the extra firm Nasoya that is water packed. But try looking for something that is made locally.

Tofu Stir Fry

1 1/2 cups rice (I prefer short grain rice)

1 cake firm tofu, cubed

2 Tbs oil (I prefer peanut or olive oil)

5 large shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 small head broccoli, cut into florets

1 cup snow peas, large ones sliced longwise (I used the ones from my son’s garden!)

2-3 Tbs Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce (if you cannot find it at your grocery store, try an Asian market)

Cook rice. I use a rice maker as it is fool proof. It is a great investment as it makes family meals so much easier!

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the tofu and fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove from wok. Add the mushrooms, snow peas and broccoli (you can substitute other veggies) and a about 2 Tbs water and cover wok to let veggie steam for about 2-3 minutes. Uncover wok and stir veggies until they are cook thoroughly. Add cooked tofu and the stir fry sauce with a little more water. Toss to even coat and distribute flavor.

Noah (10) ate everything, noting that it was delicious.

Eitan (8) picked out the mushrooms and then ate 95%.

Lilian (5) ate it all then asked for more broccoli.

Jethro (2) ate four servings of rice and most of the tofu.

I like making rice with a bit of flavorings, but I don’t like all the extras that come in the boxed pilafs. I have found that it takes very little extra time to make your own pilaf and it tastes so much better than a box. You can control the salt content as well!

Rice Pilaf

1 onion finely diced

1 large clove garlic

2 tbs olive oil

1 cup rice (I prefer brown basmati)

2 cups water, broth, or water with bullion

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add onion and put garlic through a garlic press. Saute until onion begins to get limp (5 minutes) then add rice. Stir well so all the grains are coated in the mixture. Add liquid (I am using the water with bullion) and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender- 45 minutes for brown rice, 20 minutes for white rice.

You can see a picture of this pilaf on the Cheesy Salmon post.