Serves: 4
Prep time: 1 hour total – can be partially made in advance and then finished at the time of service.
Here is a terrific way to use excess produce or veggies at risk of going bad, if not used right away. Soup and burgers are other options, but this is one of my go to creations. All the ingredients are subject to change depending on what you have on-hand. Taste as you go to ensure a great result. This is a suggestion for cooking, but you can vary the amounts, times and ingredients and still have stellar results. Have fun and enjoy.
Ingredients
2 carrots diced – blanched
2 cups broccoli florets – blanched
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch peeled ginger, finely minced
1 onion, cut into strips
2 bell peppers, diced
1 cup, chopped mushrooms (fresh or frozen)
2 tablespoons corn starch
5 tablespoons filtered water
2 cups of veggie stock. You may have some left over at the end, but better to have a little extra than to run out during the cooking. I often make mine with Better than Bouillon® brand, but there are some good recipes in the How not to Die and the How not to Diet cookbooks. Check them out if you can.
Baked Tofu
1 pound of extra firm tofu, cubed – if not extra firm be sure to press before cubing, if extra firm pressing is optional
1 cup panko (be sure to get vegan)
2 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons water
Farro
2 cups farro, millet or some other starch. Cook per the instructions on the package. Or use baked russet or sweet potatoes for a non-traditional, but equally delicious approach. We generally avoid rice because of the arsenic content.
Instructions
Turn on oven to 350°F. Prepare medium baking sheet with parchment liner.
Set a medium pot filled with water on the stove top and bring to a boil. This pot will be used for blanching your broccoli and carrots, so be sure it is big enough. Make an ice bath in a bowl with ice cubes.
In a medium bowl mix panko with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Toss with cubed tofu. In a small bowl mix sriracha, maple syrup, soy sauce with 2 tablespoons filtered water. Add to tofu/panko bowl and stir gently with a spatula to coat tofu. Place coated tofu on lined baking sheet and bake in oven for 20 minutes. Flip and bake for 20 more minutes. Let tofu cool. Check during cooking to make sure tofu is getting nicely cooked, but is not burning.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil on your stove top. Blanche broccoli florets for 1 minute and then plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking. Remove from ice bath and set aside.
You could do all of this prep work along with the chopping, set it all aside (refrigerated if longer than 1 hour or so) and do a preliminary clean-up here and do the stir fry at the time of service, which is what I generally do.
Cook grain per the package instructions. I like to cook grains in a veggie broth for more flavor, but good filtered water will work just as well because the veggies are so flavorful.
Make your veggie broth if using Better than Bouillon.
Make corn starch thickener by adding 2 tablespoons of corn starch with 5 tablespoons of water.
Heat your skillet with a little bit of broth on high. Once the stock is bubbling add your onions. Cook for approximately 4 minutes until translucent adding more stock as required to keep your onions from burning. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 2 more minutes. Add peppers and cook for 2 more minutes. Set that mixture aside in a brown and now add mushrooms to the skillet and cook until they are brown and have given up some liquid. Add a little stock if required, but the mushrooms need to get hot to release their liquid so keep any liquid additions to a minimum. Your pan will be very hot. Once mushrooms are cooked add them to the bowl with the onion mixture.
Return your pan to the stove top one last time. Add stock to coat the bottom of your skillet and turn the heat to the highest setting. Add onion/mushroom mix and heat through, adding more stock if required. Add one cup of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat and quickly stir your corn starch and water blend to make sure the cornstarch isn’t a big clump at the bottom. Add it to your pan, turn up the heat and bring it back to a boil. It will thicken quickly. Add blanched broccoli florets and carrots. Let then cook for about 1 minute to lightly cook and then add your tofu. Gently stir the tofu, so it does not break up.
Plate over your cooked farro or grain selection or serve at the table in the pan family style. This tastes great and is a lot easier than the recipe reads. It is hard to get the details without the words, but once you’ve done it, you’ll breeze through this in no time.