After an afternoon of swimming, we got home too late for me to spend a bunch of time on cooking and I hadn't been grocery shopping in over a week so my fridge contents were extremely limited. I had a tad of tempeh bacon left in the freezer, some roasted potatoes from another meal and some yummy tortillas on hand so I decided to create some breakfast burritos...for dinner. I cooked the tempeh bacon until very crisp, put it in a warm tortilla, topped it with the heated potatoes, sprinkled a small amount of Daiya cheddar on it and poured on some bottled salsa. It was pretty good and very easy! Fakin bakin does have a place - just have to cook it right!!
Yesterday was a bit of a dreary day so I thought soup would be in order - especially since I needed to make a couple meals for people at church and soup is a great meal to share. I had some fresh chard from my garden and everything else on hand so I whipped up this simple soup for lunch. It was very mild in flavor but made for a nice light lunch along with salad and bread. It was vey easy to make.
Ok so after a light lunch of soup and salad, my hubby was ready for a filling dinner after working all day long on some home projects. I finally went grocery shopping yesterday so my fridge was full of fresh veggies. I made Kung Pao Tofu and Veggies - originally I had planned to just make a veggie version but my recent adoption of using tofu prompted me to use the remaining package of hot and zesty Nigari I had. This dish turned out so good! I scooped some out prior to adding the chili sauce as my kiddos are not fans of spicyness. It was indeed very spicy but sooo good. I served it over short grain brown rice which was also really yummy. We love brown rice but I would usually rather sticky rice with oriental food. Short grain brown rice is a fabulous addition to oriental food - more nutritional than sticky rice but still soft and chewy and not quite as nutty as regular brown. Of course I added far more veggies than the recipe called for! I pan-fried the tofu a bit before marinating it and it was fabulous! The tofu was nice and chewy and really just took on the flavor of the sauce. Frank said at dinner "Well honey, you have completely changed my views on food. Three months ago I wouldn't have dreamed of eating tofu"! He really enjoyed the meal!
Kung Pao Tofu
Marinade for tofu:
3 T soy sauce
3 T rice vinegar
1 t sugar
2 t cornstarch.
8 oz nigari tofu cut into cubes (I used Central Soy Hot and Zesty flavor)
Combine sauce ingredients and stir until smooth. Add tofu and toss to coat. Set aside.
Stir-fry sauce:
1 T cornstarch
2 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 t toasted sesame oil
¼ cup faux chicken broth
1 T Asian chili sauce, such as sambal olek
Mix all ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside.
3 T canola oil
1 T peeled minced ginger
1 T minced garlic
4 chopped green onions
2 celery stalks
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced mushrooms
(I added the broccoli, carrots and mushrooms (recipe didn’t call for them) and doubled the stir-fry sauce so we would have plenty for the extra veggies). Heat oil in skillet. Add onions, ginger, garlic, and carrots and cook 3-5 min. Add remaining veggies. Cook additional 5 min or until veggies start to get tender – don’t over cook. The dish looks and tastes much better when the veggies are still bright and al dente. Add the stir-fry sauce and stir to coat. Add the tofu mixture and mix to combine. Cook until sauce thickens – about 3 min. Serve over rice and top with peanuts.
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