Chinese Orange Tofu & Vegetables

You can probably tell by now (if you check my blog on any kind of semi-regular basis) that I love to stir fry. All of the world's evils can be corrected with a wok, tofu, vegetables, and some rip-off Chinese sauce. I'm normally pretty boring and make the garlic sauce 5 out of 6 times (it's just that good! and easy!), but I decided to splurge and cook the poet something different for a celebratory "you just got through your first day back to teaching" meal.

Since I'd been grocery shopping at the Dekalb Farmer's Market fairly recently, I had a lovely head of organic bok choi on hand, as well as several blocks of tofu, and mushrooms. I thought about the sauces I love at Green Sprout (can anyone say garlic broccoli?!?! It's so addicting) and remembered a tangy orange sauce they serve on certain dishes. The sauce I made isn't exactly like the one at Green Sprout, but it's pretty heavenly. I'm heavy on the spices, so if you don't like spicy food, I'd definitely cut the crushed red pepper down to 1 tsp or less.

Chinese Orange Tofu & Vegetables

For the sauce:
2/3 cup orange juice
4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp crushed red chili peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp powdered ginger

For the stir-fry:
1 16 oz block of extra-firm organic tofu, cut into thin 1x1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 head of organic bok choi, chopped into 1 inch pieces
8 oz button mushrooms, halved and quartered (depending on size)
vegetable oil for cooking

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Dry fry the tofu. I divide to tofu into 2 batches to do this. Once cooked to the way you like it, set aside on a plate to add to the stir-fry later.

In a wok, heat up 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil on medium heat. Add the onion, cook for 6-7 minutes or until the onion turns clear and soft. Add the mushrooms and previously cooked tofu. After 3-4 minutes, add the bok choi. Cook everything until tender.

Add the sauce to the wok and cook everything for 1-2 minutes.

Serve over rice.

VwaV Scrambled Tofu & Baking Powder Biscuits

No time for a real post. But coming up, the world's best biscuits EVER. Even better the ones above. If you want the recipes and don't own Vegan with a Vengeance...then you should really buy it. Seriously. That and Veganomicon. Oh, and while you're at it, go vote for Terry & Isa in the VegNews Awards.

Happy Thursday, all!

Pistachio Crusted Tofu

Remember Shake n' Bake? That glorious mix of bread crumbs and parmesean and god-knows-what-else-but-it-was-tasty? Yeah, I miss it sometimes. Who knows, maybe there's a by-accident vegan Shake n' Bake out there, but it wouldn't be right without the chicken. Do I miss chicken? No. I just miss the baked crusty deliciousness of what's put on chicken sometimes.

Thank God there's Susan and her blog. If I hadn't stupidly deleted all my original posts on here, you'd realize that I got into blogging (in part) because of her and her recipes. She definitely helped me go vegan. The Pistachio Crusted Tofu is her recipe and it's damn tasty. It's Shake n' Bake meets tofu. It's everything I crave of the good ol' midwestern meat and potatoes that I grew up on. I can't stop raving about it. Plus it was so so so easy. I tweaked the sweet and sour dipping sauce a bit, but other than that, all the praise goes out to Susan.

Pistachio Crusted Tofu (a la SusanV)

14 ounces tofu
2 tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup pistachio nuts
ground pepper -- to taste
2 tablespoons spicy mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
1 tablespoon tofu mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 400F; prepare a baking sheet by either oiling it lightly.

Cut the tofu into 8 1/2-inch slices and dry them lightly with paper towels. Brush both sides of the tofu with the 2 tablespoons soy sauce and set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes.

While the tofu is marinating, measure out 1 cup of crumbs into a wide, shallow bowl. Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until they are reduced to fine crumbs. Add them to the bread crumbs along with a generous grating of black pepper, and mix well.

In another shallow bowl, combine the mustard, syrup, soy sauce, and mayo.

Dip a slice of tofu into the mustard mixture, lightly coating all sides; then place it into the bread crumbs, sprinkle crumbs over the top and sides, and lightly press them into the tofu. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all slices of tofu.

Put the tofu into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until bread crumbs are golden brown.

Serve with the sauce of your choice, such as the Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce below.

Sweet and Sour Sauce (riffed from SusanV)

3 tablespoons apple butter
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
1/2 teaspoon chili paste

Mix all ingredients together well. Serve over tofu.

Lazy Never Tasted So Good

Thanks for the comments on the flower picture. I'm rarely given flowers and the few times that I have been, the guys have been off the mark (sorry, I'm just not a roses or daisies kind of girl). Happily, this time, he was right on.

The poet brought me this sprig of fresia before we went to see big at the Atlanta Ballet. The evening was marvelous (seriously the best dance performance I've ever seen and probably ever will see), followed by a late dinner at Top Flr (my favourite restraunt in Atlanta, co-owned by my friend Jeff Myers, and the current home of the pastry chef I apprenticed under, Taria Camerino), and a glass or two of a nice shiraz I picked up at the Dekalb Farmers Market (note: cheapest place to buy imported wine and beer in Atlanta). All in all, a rad evening and I thought I'd share the flower with you.

On a different note, who doesn't love stir fry? I mean, seriously, can you admit to not liking it? As you can tell from almost everything I make, if I can cook it in a wok, then I will. So today, with my one day off of class and work, with 800 million papers to write (oh, the end of the semester is so much fun, let me tell you), I needed to eat something that was quick and easy to cook with minimal clean up. I had almost succumbed to pita and hummus...but I figured something with color might be a better option.

Thus, without further ado, I give you sweet and sour stir fry a la Cupcake Punk. And I'm back to my papers pronto.

Sweet & Sour Stir-Fry

2 cups cooked brown rice

olive oil (I mixed olive oil and peanut oil)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 package extra firm organic tofu, cubed
1 large head of broccoli, chopped into florets
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into small strips

1/3 cup brown rice vinegar
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1/3 cup water

Saute the onions and garlic in oil until slightly translucent. Add the tofu and saute it for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to burn the onions and garlic. Add the broccoli and bell pepper and cook until slightly al dente (this took approx. 10 minutes for me).

Meanwhile, combine the rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce in a pan over medium heat. Add the cornstarch-water mixture and stir/whisk until smooth and slightly thickened. Add more water if necessary.

Pour the sauce over the veggies and tofu, cook for one minute until everything is covered. Serve over rice.

Tofu & Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

Remember when you first became a vegetarian or vegan? Or, if you aren't either, just imagine that you are one for a second. You go to a restaurant, order a vegetable infused meal--no meat, eggs, butter, whatever in sight, and you're proud of yourself for finding an acceptable dish on the menu.

Now, imagine that you're at a take-out Chinese place. Your favourite Chinese take-out place where no one speaks English...well, very little at least. You order your favourite dish--garlic broccoli. You eat this dish for almost a year believing that it's vegetarian. Then, months and months later after your initial order of the supposedly vegetarian dish, you walk home from campus, are famished and sick of leftovers, have a crown of broccoli and a thing of tofu and cupboards full of spices and sauces and you go to the internet to pull up a Chinese garlic sauce recipe and--

Surprise!--

Garlic sauce isn't vegan. Or vegetarian. It calls for oyster sauce. Now, do you think that you're local Chinese take-out place doesn't use oyster sauce in their garlic sauce? Probably not. Why not? It's cheap, easy, and what every normal recipe calls for. So what the hell am I supposed to eat at a Chinese restaurant now???

Tofu & Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

1 pound of extra-firm tofu
1 crown of broccoli
1 c brown rice
1/4 vegetable oil (I used a combination of peanut and sesame oils)
2 c vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

For the rice:
Bring 1 cup of brown rice and 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Add water as needed until the rice is well cooked. Be careful not to burn (i.e. add water when necessary until rice is cooked).

For the sauce:
Bring the vegeble broth to a boil. Add the garlic, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper and sugar, stirring to combine well.

For the stir-fry:
Slice the tofu length-wise. Press dry between paper towels. This may take 15-30 minutes. Cut the broccoli into florets.

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet.

Add the tofu to the wok first, allow to brown on both sides. (Be sure to not let the oil get too hot or else it will pop up into your face and burn you--not a pleasant experience, trust me.) Add the broccoli, cooking just long enough until the florets are tender.

Turn down the heat. Add the sauce. Mix in the cornstarch, constantly stirring until the sauce thickens (5-8 minutes).

Serve over rice.