Salt & Pepper Tofu

This is a little twist on the usual salt & pepper chicken. We essentially took the the salt & pepper tofu recipe and put it over a vegetable stir fry.  The stir fry recipe that we used is actually a quinoa fried "rice" recipe, but we substituted the quinoa for rice.

Ingredients:
Stir Fry:
1 cup Rice
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Peas
1 handful Green Beans
2 garlic cloves
2 eggs, lightly scrambled
2 Scallions diced

Stir Fry Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Tofu:
1 package of tofu (extra firm and diced)
Salt & Pepper
Vegetable oil

Stir Fry:
Rinse rice in a pot with water a few times to get the gunk off.  Then heat the the rice and water to a boil, and once it does boil, cover and bring to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.  In a separate bowl, mix the teriyaki, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  

Put the rice in a pan with a splash of olive oil and add the peas, green beans, and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add scallions and cook an additional 2 minutes. Last add the stir-fry sauce and mix everything together.  

Make a little ring with the rice, and cook the scrambled eggs in the middle until thoroughly cooked.  After cooked, mix together and the stir-fry is done.

Tofu:
In a pot (this protects chef from getting nasty oil burns), heat 2 tablespoons of oil over med-high heat.  Add half the tofu (adding too much prevents the tofu from cooking throughly and making it not crunchy) and cook until golden on both sides (about 4 min), turning once. Drain on paper towel, and repeat with rest of tofu.

Combine everything together and enjoy!

Sources:

Stir-fry:   www.cookingforkeeps.com/

Tofu:  www.rachaelraymag.com/

Egg Foo Young with Mushroom Sauce

Getting a little more on the crazy side, Sarah decided to go with Egg Foo Young.  There's a mushroom sauce that goes along with it, and when it's done you can put it on a bed of rice.  This is definitely a good way to spice up the Asian food in your week.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 ounces sliced mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Egg Foo Young:

2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

3/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup water chestnuts, chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped celery or bamboo shoots

2 cups bean sprouts

2 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more for dipping

5 large eggs

Sauce:

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat.  Add the mushrooms and sugar, sauteing until golden (~ 3 minutes).  Add the broth and and soy sauce, then mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, stir into the skillet and boil until thickened (~2 minutes).   Set aside.

Egg Foo Young:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet on medium heat.  Add the scallions for about 15 seconds, or until aromatic. Add the mushfrooms, water chestnuts and celery and cook for an additional 45 seconds.  Add the bean sprouts and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly softened.  Add soy sauce and cook for another minute until the bean sprouts have wilted. 

 

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the cooked mixture and combine well (Don't worry about the mixture being hot, the eggs will be cooked in the next step).  Pour enough oil to film the bottom of a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat.  Ladle about 1/4 cup of the egg mixture to form  4 inch pancakes.  Evenly distribute the veggies with a fork.  Gently fry for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown.  Between batches replenish the oil and adjust the heat to prevent burning. Spoon mushroom sauce over the pancakes and serve over rice.

Source: www.wiveswithknives.net/