Tuesday, February 19, 2013
What’s with the generic term “Asian,” you ask, rightfully? Well, today’s dish is what happened in my kitchen when I had two leftover sauces sitting in my fridge, Szechuan (Chinese) and spicy peanut (Thai). Neither quantity was quite enough to make dinner for two, and I didn’t feel like making rice. Next thing you know, I grabbed whatever veggies were in my fridge, sautéed them up, seared some tofu, and tossed everything together with whole grain spaghetti. Thus was born this amazing meal, a Chinese-Thai hybrid redolent of ginger, sesame, peanut, and soy delightfully married into one fantastic sauce.
To put the dish together, sear the tofu, chop into chunks, and set aside (more here). Roughly chop the vegetables and sauté in a bit of peanut oil until crisp-tender. Mix in the sauces and al dente pasta; brown rice noodles would be perfect, but I was out and spaghetti works just fine. Gently stir in the tofu and cook until heated through (more here). Of course you may use whatever selection of veggies and protein you prefer, but this mix of red and green peppers, zucchini, tofu, and peanuts was spot-on.
Between the brightly colored vegetables, whole grain pasta, protein-packed tofu, and healthy fat-packed peanuts, this meal was a nutritional powerhouse with unbelievable taste.
If you aren’t yet making fabulous stir frys at home, it’s time to begin.
And it’s okay if you can’t find the purple Thai basil for the garnish. Really. I’m just lucky since I can get it from my local farmers’ market.
Beautiful, though, right?
