Ma Po Tofu

This is Cooking Light's version of a fiery hot Chinese dish made with tofu and a little ground beef.

This was the perfect meal to make on the night that I workout in the evening, because I was able to prep everything before I left, including starting the rice cooker and getting the tofu under a heavy skillet to start pressing out the water. Then when I returned, dinner came together in minutes. Well, more than a few minutes, but you get my point. In no time at all I was in my pjs, curled up on the couch with my plate and a glass of wine, watching Arrested Development. That's right folks, that right there was a glimpse into my wild and crazy life.

Ma Po Tofu
adapted from Cooking Light - April 2010
serves 4 (1/2 cup rice, 3/4 cup tofu mixture per serving)

Notes: I pressed my tofu for 1 hour rather than 30 minutes because it worked out better for me time-wise, and it seemed to make no difference. Also, I had some shredded carrots that I wanted to use up, so I added a handful of those along with the garlic and ginger. Ground pork or turkey could also be used instead of ground beef.

1 (14 ounce) package firm water-packed tofu, drained
1-2 tablespoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong), depending on how hot you want it
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tablespoon black bean garlic sauce (Sun Luck is the brand we used this time, but we've also used Lee Kum Kee)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce (regular or less-sodium)
1 tablespoon chili oil
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 ounces ground sirloin
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
Handful shredded carrots (optional)
2 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Place the tofu onto a plate lined with paper towels. Cover the tofu with a couple more paper towels, then put a heavy skillet right on top of the tofu and let stand for 30 minutes. Discard towels and chop tofu into 1-inch cubes.

In a small bowl, combine the Sriracha, mirin, black bean sauce, and sugar.

In another bowl (or a measuring cup) combine the broth, corn starch, soy sauce, and chili oil. Stir until smooth.

In a large nonstick skillet, add the canola oil and heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ground beef and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and ginger (and shredded carrots, if using), stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the Sriracha mixture and cook for another minute, stirring occasionally. Add the broth mixture and bring to a boil. After about 1 minute, add the tofu and stir to combine. Allow the tofu to heat through for a minute or two.

Serve with rice and sprinkle the cilantro leaves over the top. We added some steamed broccoli alongside.

Southeast Asian Fried Rice

I love turning fried rice into a full meal! By adding lots of filling veggies, you can take a small amount of rice and a small amount of chicken and turn it into something very healthy and satisfying.

I have already posted recipes for fried rice, a "clean out the fridge" version and a tempeh version, both stemming from Mark Bittman's recipe. This time, I came across a Cooking Light version that I wanted to try. Instead of pork, they call for just two strips of bacon, which gives you a lot of bang for your buck in terms of flavor. It also calls for fish sauce and chili paste, two more efficient ways to add flavor.

By the way, I'm really loving Cooking Light right now. I have subscribed to them for years, but sometimes their recipes were very bland, and they relied on things I didn't buy, like light butter and condensed soups. This past year though, I feel like they have made some major transformations. First of all, I love the photography now. Second, their recipes revolve around whole foods and fresh, natural ingredients. They even have recipes from Mark Bittman, calling for "less meat, more flavor". If you had cast them aside a few years ago, it might be worth checking them out again.

Southeast Asian Fried Rice
adapted from Cooking Light - January 2010
serves 4

Notes: We didn't have fresh ground chile paste, but we did have a huge tub of red curry paste, which I figured would achieve basically the same effect (it tasted great to us!). For the chicken, instead of the exact amounts of white and dark meat that the recipe called for, I just had a wing and a breast, so I used that (we were working our way through a whole chicken and that's what we ended up having available for this meal).

Also, rather than cooking and crumbling the bacon separately like the recipe says, I cooked the bacon in the pan I planned to cook the rice in and used the bacon grease in place of some of the oil. If you happen to already have cooked bacon (leftover from breakfast, perhaps), use two teaspoons of oil in the first step (where you add the rice) instead of just one.

Feel free to get creative with the vegetable additions; chopped tomato, green beans, carrots, and bean sprouts would all be good here. I added a handful of shredded carrots along with the broccoli and red pepper because I had a big bag of them on hand.

1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce (lower sodium or regular)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste), divided (we didn't have that, so we used red curry paste)
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 small bunch green onions
 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided (we were out, so we used grapeseed oil)
2 bacon slices (cooked and crumbled, or not, see note above)
2 1/2 cups cooked and cooled brown rice
1/4 cup vertically sliced shallots
2 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup julienne-cut red bell pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
Cooking spray
4 lime wedges

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon chile (or curry) paste, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

In another small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon chile (or curry) paste.

For the green onions, slice off the green tops, thinly slice diagonally, and set aside. Take the thicker, lighter green parts of the onion and chop into 1-inch pieces, set aside. Discard the very bottoms.

Lay the uncooked strips of bacon in a large nonstick skillet. Turn the heat to medium-high. Cook the bacon, turning every so often, until crisp. Remove the strips and drain on a paper towel. When cool enough to handle, crumble into small pieces. Try not to eat too many.

Check the volume of bacon grease in the skillet. Add peanut oil as needed until you have about 2 teaspoons of grease/oil total. If you are starting with precooked bacon, just add 2 teaspoons to a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high.

When the oil is hot, swirl to coat the pan, then add the rice. Stir-fry for about 1 or 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer rice to a large bowl. Add two more teaspoons of oil to pan. Add shallots, stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until tender. Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the brown sugar mixture to the pan and bring to a boil. This will cook the inside of the chicken pieces. Reduce heat and simmer for about a minute, stirring occasionally. After the liquid has thickened slightly, transfer the contents of the pan to the bowl with the rice.

Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel, and return to medium-high heat. Add 2 more teaspoons of oil and swirl to coat. Add the broccoli and bell pepper, stir fry until the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, the 1-inch green onion pieces, and the garlic. Stir fry for just another minute or so, until fragrant. Return the chicken/rice mixture back to pan and stir to combine, cooking for a couple of minutes, until the mixture is thoroughly heated. Put the whole thing back into the bowl again.

Return the skillet to medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray.  Add the egg mixture to the pan and stir gently to scramble. As the egg cooks, break it up into small pieces. Add to the large bowl, along with the bacon, and gently mix everything together.

To serve, scoop about 1 1/2 cups of the rice mixture into each bowl. Top with the thinly sliced green onion tops and garnish with a lime wedge. We needed to add a bit more salt to our portions.

Inside-Out Spring Rolls

This is a wonderful, simple meal to have when you either don't have much time to cook, or you just don't want to spend a big chunk of your precious free time in the kitchen.  Sure, you could get take-out like this, but it's healthier to make it yourself, and taking some help from packaged pot stickers is a nice short cut.

I also would like to point out that this is the third meal I have made from just ONE head of cabbage!  Talk about stretching a buck!

Inside-Out Spring Rolls
adapted from Real Simple - Meals Made Easy
Serves 4

I used vegetable pot stickers but you could use whatever kind you like.  I also used regular soy sauce instead of low sodium, and dry roasted peanuts instead of salted.

1 16 ounce bag frozen pot stickers
1 tablespoon olive or peanut oil
1 large carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 small head Napa or green cabbage, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce (regular or low-sodium)
1/4 cup peanuts, salted (or dry roasted)

Pan fry the pot stickers according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the carrot and cabbage and stir to coat with the oil.  Add the soy sauce and cook for just 2-3 minutes, so the vegetables are crisp-tender.

To serve, fill the bottom of a bowl with the vegetables, top with pot stickers, and sprinkle the peanuts over the top.

If your pot stickers came with a soy sauce packet, you can pour it into a small dish, heat it in the microwave, and serve alongside (I thought the soy sauce packet that came with ours was nasty, so I just dipped my pot stickers in some of our regular soy sauce).

Tofu Chow Mein with Mushrooms and Bok Choy

I'm loving our stir fry theme right now.  We had extra cilantro, scallions, and limes from our beef stir fry earlier this week, so we decided to try another of Jamie Oliver's stir fry recipes.  This time we chose his recipe for chicken chow mein, except we substituted tofu for the chicken.

We decided to use Mark Bittman's recipe for poaching tofu.  If you are using firm or extra firm tofu, you don't necessarily have to do this, but we thought it would help keep the tofu from falling apart in the stir fry.  Just bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Carefully add the whole piece of tofu to the boiling water.  Lower the heat so the water bubbles gently.  Cook until the tofu floats, about 5-10 minutes, then remove the block with a slotted spoon and allow it to drain on paper towels.   

Tofu (or Chicken) Chow Mein

adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution

serves 2-3

1 tablespoon ginger, minced or finely sliced (if you use the jarred stuff like me, it is already minced)

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1/2 a fresh red chili, finely sliced

1 large skinless chicken breast fillet, preferably free-range or organic, OR a one pound block of firm tofu, poached as described above if desired.

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 scallions, finely sliced

Small bunch fresh cilantro

2 baby bok choy, or one larger bok choy

Handful shiitake mushrooms (optional), roughly chopped or left whole

4 ounces (2 bundles) chow mein noodles

Peanut or vegetable oil

1 heaped teaspoon cornstarch

One 8-ounce can water chestnuts, not drained (I could only find a 5-ounce can of sliced water chestnuts)

2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 small lime

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  While waiting for the water, pick the leaves off the cilantro and set aside, and finely chop the cilantro stalks.  Cut the bok choy in half lengthwise and set aside.  If using chicken, slice it into 1/2 inch strips and lightly season with salt and pepper.  If using tofu, slice into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes.  

Preheat a large wok or large frying pan over high heat.  When good and hot, add a couple tablespoons oil.  Add the chicken or tofu pieces and cook for a few minutes, until lightly browned.  

Add the noodles and the bok choy to the pot of boiling water.  Cook for 2-3 minutes only, then drain in a colander set over a bowl, to reserve some of the cooking water.  

To the tofu (or chicken), add the ginger, garlic, chili, cilantro stalks, mushrooms if using, and half the scallions.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.  Add the cornstarch, water chestnuts (including their water).  Stir, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom.  Remove from heat.  Stir in two tablespoons of soy sauce.  Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the mixture and stir to combine.

The stir fry, before adding noodles and bok choy (yum!):

Add the noodles and bok choy to the stir fry, adding a little of the cooking water to loosen the noodles if necessary.  Taste and season with more soy sauce as needed.  

To serve, pile your portion into a bowl or onto a plate, making sure to grab a piece of bok choy or two.  Spoon some of the juices over the top, and garnish with some of the reserved scallions, the cilantro leaves, and lime wedges.  

Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce

Has anyone else been watching Jamie Oliver's new show, Jamie's Food Revolution?  I think it's great what he's trying to do with that town in West Virginia.  He's trying to reform the school's lunch program and get people in that town to learn how to cook and eat real food, not frozen/fried processed crap.  In one episode, Jamie prepares this fresh teryaki noodle dish with 5 different kinds of veggies in it for the school's lunch, but it's not considered equivalent because it doesn't contain a full 1 1/4 cups of veggies.  So he points to the burger and fries they are serving and asks where the vegetables are in that meal?  She responds, "French fries are considered a vegetable."  WHAT?!?!  Ugh, we have a long way to go people. 

In the most recent episode, Jamie was trying to get 1,000 people to cook in his community kitchen in 5 days.  Each person learned how to make a basic stir fry and got their picture taken with their finished dish, which was taped up on the wall.  After watching people cook and eat that delicious-looking stir fry for an hour, it's no wonder we had a craving to make one ourselves.  I happen to have his cookbook, also called Jamie's Food Revolution, so we flipped through that for a stir fry idea.    

We decided on a stir fry that used sirloin, rice, and black bean sauce.  We couldn't find black bean sauce at the Co-op, so we went to a little Asian food store in town and found a chili black bean sauce.  The recipe called for a fresh red chili, so we thought we would kill two birds with one stone and get this sauce.

...It was SO UNBELIEVABLY SPICY.  The flavor, from what I could tell, was really good, and the meat we got was really tender, but it was so spicy I couldn't even enjoy it.  I think I was actually in physical pain.  Next time, we'll just do the regular black bean sauce (like the recipe called for), since I am such a wuss.

Anyone want a jar of super spicy black bean sauce?  You're welcome to it!

Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce
adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution
Serves 2 (we had extra rice)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup long grain or basmati rice
1/2 pound top loin or sirloin
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely sliced (or approximate the equivalent of jarred mined ginger)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1/2 a fresh red chili, finely sliced
2 scallions, finely sliced
a handful of fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sesame oil (could probably use less, it was pretty oily)
Peanut or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons good-quality black bean sauce
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more as needed
2 limes
1 egg, preferably organic or free-range

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, stir in the rice and cook according to package directions.  When the rice is done, use a fine mesh strainer to drain the rice, and rinse in cold water.  Allow the rice to dry out and chill in the fridge while you get the rest of the meal going.  You could also make the rice the night before and refrigerate until ready to use.

Trim any excess fat from the steak and slice into 1/2 inch strips.

Pick the cilantro leaves off their stalks and set aside.  Finely chop the stalks.

In a large bowl, add the ginger, garlic, chili, scallions, cilantro stalks, and steak strips.  Add the sesame oil and mix everything together.

Preheat a wok, or a large frying pan, over high heat.  When it's very hot, add a couple tablespoons of peanut oil and swirl to coat the pan.  Pour your bowl of chopped ingredients into the pan.  Mix quickly and give the pan a good shake.  Stir fry for about two minutes, stirring constantly so nothing burns.  Add the black bean sauce, one tablespoon of the soy sauce, and the juice of half a lime.  Keep stirring.  Taste and season with salt and pepper and more soy sauce as needed.  Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl, cover with foil to keep warm.

Wipe the pan with a paper towel and return to the heat.  Add a couple more tablespoons of peanut oil and swirl to coat the pan.  Crack the egg into a small bowl (I always crack eggs into a small bowl first, just in case I get a piece of shell in the egg, I still have a chance to fish it out) then add the egg to the pan, stirring immediately.  Add a tablespoon of soy sauce to the egg while it quickly cooks.  Once it is scrambled, gradually stir in your cooked rice, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan as you go.  Keep mixing for a few minutes until the rice is steaming hot, then taste and season with soy sauce as needed.

To serve, spoon the rice into bowls or onto plates.  Top with the meat and black bean sauce.  Garnish with cilantro leaves and wedges of lime.

Homemade "Yumm" Bowl featuring Cabbage Rabe

This week in our CSA we received a bunch of cabbage rabe (also may be called raab, both pronounced like 'rob').  At the end of the growing season, cabbage plants go to seed, sending up shoots of leaves with flowers at the end.  The leaves, flowers, and thin parts of the stem are all edible and nutritious.  Kale, collard greens, and broccoli all do the same thing (though not to be confused with "broccoli rabe", which does not come from the regular broccoli plant...confusing, yes?).

We sauteed our rabe in sesame oil with a little garlic and ginger, along with a few other things (kohlrabi bulb and leaves, onion, spinach, frozen peas) and made a nice little Yumm Bowl out of it.

Sauteeing the veggies, that blur in the background is Joe toasting cashews:

Sweet 'n' Sour Stir Fry

This year I received a gift subscription to Woman's Day Magazine and it has already proved useful!  This month's issue had a page with a basic stir fry method and three variations which (I decided) could be mix and matched.

I chose to make ours with tofu as the protein, sugar snap peas, red pepper, and scallions, for the vegetables, and sweet 'n' sour for the sauce.  I really liked the tangy sauce and I got to use some of Joe's mom's apricot preserves to make it!

If you wanted to try this using exactly the combinations they suggested, rather than mixing and matching, I listed them in order, so the first protein goes with the first vegetable, which goes with the first sauce, etc.

"Stir-Fry It" 
adapted from Women's Day Magazine, Feb 17, 2010 issue
Serves 4

Protein choices:

• 1 pound boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
• 1 pound boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
• 14 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1 inch pieces

Vegetable choices:

• 1 red pepper cut into 1/2 inch strips, 8 ounces sugar snap peas
• 2 peppers cut into bite size chunks, 4 scallions cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cups small broccoli florets, 1 cup presliced mushrooms, 1 cup shredded carrots

Sauce choices:

• Sesame: 1/3 cup stir fry sauce, 1/3 cup orange juice, 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• Sweet 'n' sour: 1/2 cup apricot preserves, 1/4 cup bottled barbecue sauce, 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, 1 can (8 ounces) pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained
• Thai: 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon red curry paste

Stir-Fry Method:

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Using a large bowl or a large plastic ziplock bag, combine your protein with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix thoroughly to coat.

Add protein to skillet, stir fry for 3-5 minutes or until browned and cooked-through.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

Add another 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet.  When heated add the vegetables and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes or until they are crisp-tender.

Add the sauce to the vegetables in the skillet and stir to coat evenly while the sauce comes to a simmer.  Add the protein back to the skillet, stir to combine.

Serve over rice.  Yummy toppings could include things like toasted peanuts, sesame and/or flax seed, and cilantro.