Quick No Fuss Dinner: Veggie and Tofu Stir-Fry

Today was one of those days when I was unfocused and dinner wasn’t on my mind. On days like this I turn to a few different genres, pasta (did that Saturday), pizza (did that Sunday), or stir-fry. Hmmm, I don’t remember that last time I made a stir-fry. Obviously stir-fry was the winner. I love that Asian food is mostly veggies so it is healthy as well as quick.

Looking through the refrigerator I had a large bok choy, red and orange bell peppers, carrots, tofu and chili garlic sauce. Additionally there were some dried black mushrooms, and onions in the pantry. I quickly baked some tofu, started the basmati rice and prepped the veggies. When Dan called and said he was on his way I was 10 minutes away from dinner. Thankfully Asian food comes together quickly. Here is what I made.

Veggie and Tofu Stir-Fry
makes 4 servings

Tofu Ingredients:

14 ounces extra firm low fat tofu, cut into 24 pieces
1 tablespoon Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon mirin

Rice Ingredients:

1 cup brown basmati rice
2 cups water
1 pinch salt

Stir-Fry Ingredients:

1/2 ounce black mushrooms
3 cups water
½ tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, sliced
3 carrots, sliced in diagonals
1 head of bok choy, sliced thinly (greens and stems held separately because they have different cooking times)
1 cup red bell pepper, sliced
1 tablespoons liquid aminos
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the tofu, liquid aminos and mirin in single layer in a pan and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes flip the tofu over and cook another 15 minutes.

While the tofu is baking combine the rice, water and salt and bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer and cooker for 40 minutes (covered). Allow the rice to stand for 10 minutes after the cooking has finished. Then fluff with a fork.

Combine the black mushrooms with the water in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high until the water is hot. This took 3 minutes in my microwave. Allow the mushrooms to sit in the water with the tofu bakes, and rice cooks. When you are ready to use the mushrooms cut them into bite sized pieces.

Prepared the vegetables and hold in separate bowls, or separate areas on a half sheet pan until you are ready to cook.

Heat a large pan with the oil and add the onion and cook for 2 –3 minutes, or as long as necessary for the onion to begin to soften. Now add the carrots and cook another few minutes. Add the bok choy stems, bell pepper strips and black mushrooms. Add the chili sauce, liquid aminos and bok choy leaves and stir to coat the vegetables evenly. Don’t cook the greens for more than a minute or two. You want them to still have a little freshness.

Serve the veggies with the rice and baked tofu.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 313.89
Calories From Fat (14%) - 43.71

Total Fat - 5.11g
Saturated Fat - 0.66g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 940.63mg
Potassium - 947.63mg
Total Carbohydrates - 55.48g
Fiber - 7.39g
Sugar - 10.17g
Protein - 14.88g

Comments:

This dish has a lot of flavor from the chili garlic sauce and the baked tofu. We love Asian food for it high vegetable content and its flavor. Food that has a little heat I find to be more satisfying than bland food.

Each serving of this meal contains more than 21,700IU of vitamin A, 120mg of vitamin C, 410mg of calcium, 170mg of folate, 100mcg of vitamin K, 400mg of phosphorus, 120mg of magnesium and 12mcg of selenium. This recipe is surprisingly high in nutrition for a mere 310 calories. This is one of the things I love about Asian food.

Unrelated note:

My plans tomorrow are to exercise, make a new variation of seitan for the freezer, and come up with something new for dinner from what I have in the refrigerator. As I mentioned before I tend to overbuy produce. If something looks good I buy and think about what I am going to do with it later. Not the best plan I know but it is how I operate. I decided this weekend my goal is to get through all the produce in my two refrigerators before I go to Costco on Friday. We will see if I can make it. There is a lot of veg for us to eat. Dinner tomorrow is going to be based on what I can do with what I have on hand.

Now I am curious how do all of you handle meals. Do you plan a weekly menu and shop from a list? Or are you more like me a buy what looks go that day and wing it later when it is time to cook.

Today didn't exactly go as I had planned and it impacted my mood. However, it was nothing a good nights sleep won't fix. Maybe I will start the day tomorrow with a nice walk around the neighborhood in the cold. That sounds like the perfect way to start the day with a clear head.

I hope you all have a great evening.