General Tso's Tofu

A long time blogging friend, Shelby of Grumpy's Honey Bunch recently posted some of her faves on facebook and this recipe for General Tso's Tofu showed up. I haven't had tofu is a long while so I thought I'd give this a try. I'm always up for Asian foods anyway. I served it up with some gluten free asian rice noodles and veggies. It was delicious and I even saved some to take to work the next day where coworkers were jealous of my lunch. haha. Head over to Shelby's blog and check out all her yummy recipes!

General Tso's Tofu
from Grumpy's Honey Bunch 

1 brick extra firm tofu
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Sauce:
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
3 tbsps Hoisin (I used a GF homemade recipe)
3 Tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (GF Tamari)
1/2 Cup water
1 Tablespoon Sesame oil
4 green onions, sliced
3 Tbsps fresh ginger, grated
Red pepper flakes, desired amount

Squeeze tofu of excess water by placing between a thickness (I use about 3-4 thick paper towels folded about 3-4 times) of paper towels and sitting a heavy pan on top. Let sit 20-30 minutes. While waiting for tofu to be squeezed dry, mix together the first 6 ingredients and set aside.
To prepare tofu for frying, slice into 1/2" slices, then cut each slice into thirds. Coat lightly with cornstarch and fry in a shallow frying pan with olive oil until browned and crispy. Remove from frying pan and set aside. Wipe pan clean with paper towel and add sesame oil with onions and chopped ginger. Fry about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add sauce mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and tofu back to mixture, toss to coat. Serve garnished with green onions.

enjoy,

Fried Rice

I love fried rice, but sadly can't eat it from take away anymore since I doubt they have a gluten free option, SO I make my own. I have combined two of my fave recipes to one I like. You could call this leftover rice, since it's best made with day old rice, meats and with frozen veggies it comes together quickly. I have been making this for a while now and meant to blog it, so after I made this for dinner tonight, I sat my butt down and wrote this for you. (these photos are from last July!! I've been hiding this recipe from you all since then. lol)


Fried Rice
adapted from Cooking with Kai and Steamy Kitchen

4 Cups cooked leftover rice
1/4 lb thinly sliced or diced raw meat/shrimp/tofu/spam (or use cooked leftovers)
1/4 Cup veggies (frozen peas and carrots)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbl cooking oil
3 green onions, sliced for garnish

Sauce
3 Tbl low sodium tamari (soy sauce)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp shaoxing rice wine
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

Combine all sauce ingredients, set aside. Add oil to a large hot skillet, cook meat for 2-3 minutes (you could add a little bit of sauce while cooking the meat). Remove from pan and set aside. Add eggs and scramble for about 1 minute. Add in rice, meat and veggies allow to heat through.
Add in the sauce ingredients, allow to heat through. Garnish with green onions.

spam fried rice

Please share this post if you liked it. =)

enjoy,

Crispy Tofu with Veggies and Noodles in a Sweet and Spicy Soy Sauce

Ok, I am finally going to post this, I have shared about it on Facebook so much lately. It's become one of my favorite lunches (because no one else here would eat it). The recipe is taken from Steamy Kitchen's cookbook (pg. 111) and of course I changed it up a little (making it gluten free now), added some veggies and noodles making a meal of it.

Crispy Tofu with Veggies and Noodles in a Sweet and Spicy Soy Sauce
slightly adapted from Steamy Kitchen

4 TBL low sodium Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

4 TBL honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sambal oelek
1 TBL crushed garlic
14 oz block firm tofu
Veggies of choice (mushrooms, bean sprouts, bok choy...)
Cooked Asian rice noodles (or soba/ramen if you're not GF)

Combine Tamari, honey, sambal oelek, and garlic. Set aside.
Drain tofu, slice into 8 thin slices, lay on paper towels and press to drain out excess moisture.
In a hot skillet, heat about 1 TBL canola oil. Add tofu slices and let cook for 4 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. Set aside on paper towels to drain oil. Cut into bite size pieces.
In the same skillet, heat a little oil and add selected veggies and let cook until softened (can add a tiny bit of water, cover pan w/lid), about 3 minutes.
Using the same hot skillet, add the sauce and let it boil for a few seconds, turn off heat and add tofu and noodles, gently toss to combine.
This will give me 3 lunches worth.

(this is with ramen noodles, bell pepper & green onion curls, not GF)

sautee up veggies

let sauce simmer with tofu, add veggies

ready to add noodles

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enjoy,

Garden Vegetable Stir-fry with Tofu, Steak and Brown Rice

This is another tried and true recipe for us. It's what I call a healthy feel good meal. I love the tofu in this, but I also add in meat for the rest of my family, like steak, chicken and even shrimp, you want all tofu, use the whole pack of it. The vegetable are totally up to you also, I bought a stir fry pack of fresh veggies so use which ever ones you like. I always forget, but I would double up the sauce recipe if you like to have some to pour over everything, otherwise there's isn't much left in the pan to drizzle with.

Garden Vegetable Stir-fry with Tofu, Steak and Brown Rice
adapted from Cooking Light August 2000

2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup canned vegetable broth

2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1/2 package (12.3-ounce) firm tofu, sliced into 4 pieces
1/2 lb steak, thinly sliced (I used a tri tip roast-steaks)
1 cup thinly sliced white onion
1 cup red bell pepper strips
1 cup sliced zucchini or yellow squash (about 3/4 pound)
2 cups cut broccoli
5 spears of asparagus, cut
1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed
3 cups hot cooked long-grain brown rice

Tofu and Steak Marinade:

1/4 Cup low sodium soy sauce
2 TBL crushed garlic
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 TBL brown sugar

Combine ingredients for marinade in a bowl with a lid. Add sliced tofu and let marinade in fridge ahead of time (1-2 hours).

Combine water and cornstarch in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Stir in broth and next 6 ingredients (broth through crushed red pepper).

Heat 2 teaspoons of canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu (reserve marinade for steak); stir-fry 3 minutes per side. Remove tofu from pan. Place tofu on several layers of paper towels to drain.

While you are cooking the tofu, use the marinade for the steak. Add 2 TBL cornstarch to the steak and marinade for 5-10 minutes.

Once tofu is done cooking, add a little more oil to pan and stir fry the steak for 2 minutes per side.Remove, set aside.

Add 1 teaspoon canola oil to pan. Add vegetables, stir-fry 1 minute, add a splash of water, cover and let steam another minute or two. Add tofu, steak and broth mixture, stir. Bring to a boil, and cook 2 minutes, it thickens fast. Serve with rice.

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enjoy,

Tofu and Veggie Melt Sandwich

This sandwich is inspired by one I used to make while working in a Cafe. I say inspired because I cannot remember the recipe. lol. A friend turned me onto this and we always used to go eat lunch there (before I worked there). I cannot remember what all goes into the marinade, but I know there's soy sauce and garlic. I also forgot to add avocado to it. But I did remember it comes with garlic jack cheese YUM. So basically it's marinated sliced tofu in some sort of Asian flavors, on toasted sourdough with garlic jack cheese, sprouts and other veggies you like. It's soooo good. I wish we weren't so far from home, I'd go get one of these (and probably still be working there, I loved it). Here's how I made mine:

Tofu and Veggie Melt Sandwich
inspired by Calico's Cafe

about 1/2 C low sodium soy sauce
1 TBL crushed garlic
firm tofu block, sliced
sourdough sliced bread
garlic jack cheese
sprouts
tomatoes, sliced
red onion, sliced
avocado, sliced

Add just enough soy sauce with garlic to cover tofu in a container to marinade over night (or a few days). Lightly toast sourdough bread, place 2 slices of tofu on bread, add one or two pieces of garlic jack cheese, melt toaster oven or under broiler for a minute. Meanwhile, on your other slice of toast sourdough, add your veggies. Add the tofu melt piece and cut sandwich in half. Enjoy!

~Be sure to follow my recipe blog so you can get all the latest goodies!~

enjoy,