The other night I was hungry and had one of those “I have nothing in the house to eat” moments. Now, don’t get me wrong – I had a lot of food in the house – and a lot of leftovers – so I decided to get creative to make a satisfying, fulfilling, protein-packed meal. This recipe is adapted from my fridge clean-out that night – I’ve doubeld the recipe to allow for 2 servings, so you can make this for yourself and a vegan friend!
Vegan-Friendly! Veggie-Packed Stir Fry
½ block tofu, pressed/drained/pat dry
2 tsp avocado oil, or coconut oil – a spray works
salt & pepper, to taste
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp turmeric
1-2 cups broccoli, steamed and drained
1-2 cups butternut squash noodles
2 servings spaghetti/lo mein/rice noodles (cooked)
5-6 splashes coconut aminos – probably equal to 2-3 tsp
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
4 tsp sriracha
1/2 cup coconut milk
Cut tofu in half. Reserve about half (yes, half of the half) for the “scramble” that we’ll make later – set aside. Slice remaining tofu into thin strips – I’d say no thicker than ¼ inch. You want the strips to be thin without being transparent. Sprinkle tofu with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tsp oil or spray in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the tofu to the pan, making sure the strips do not overlap. This is the most time-consuming part of the recipe. It typically takes ~5 minutes for the tofu to get to my desired level of brown/crispiness. Flip the tofu, and cook on the other side for another ~5 minutes. This will really depend on your pan/heat source, so I suggest grabbing a glass of wine and watching the tofu so it doesn’t burn. You’ll know the tofu is done when it is golden brown and holds its shape (meaning – is not floppy). It doesn’t necessarily get pretzel-crisp, but it will have a hearty bite.
Remove fried tofu from heat and set aside. I’ll usually wipe out the pan at this point and add another spray of oil/tsp of oil and return the pan to the heat, lowering it from medium-high to medium. Crumble the remaining tofu into the pan. If your tofu has a lot of leftover moisture in it, it may stick together at first – but the water will ultimately cook out and you’ll be able to break it up in the pan, so don’t worry if that happens. Add salt and pepper, 1 tsp onion powder, and at 1 tsp turmeric. Cook until slightly browned. The turmeric adds a nice flavor and also helps the tofu look like scrambled eggs!
When scramble is done, add the steamed broccoli, butternut squash noodles, and spaghetti to the pan. Just for clarity: the butternut squash noodles are raw – I found mine in the produce section in Publix. The spaghetti/noodles are already cooked (I always cook up multiple servings of pasta at the beginning of the week – I’m impatient and hate waiting for water to boil). Pour in the coconut milk, and stir the mixture around. Add coconut aminos (watch this – if you add too much, the dish will be too salty – you can always add more later), lemon or lime juice, and sriracha. Stir until everything is heated through and the flavor has coated all the noodles. Don’t be afraid to experiment with flavors/spices! Swap out sriracha for sweet chili; add garlic; sprinkle in some chili flakes if you like heat. Whatever you do, the last step of the recipe is the same – divide noodle/vegetable mixture into two dishes and top each with a portion of crispy tofu.
Enjoy!
Your fitmiss in progress –
Jennie
fitmissinprogress.com 