Jace Everett ~ Just A Little Less Lonely
Louis Armstrong ~ I'm In The Mood For Love
Shelby Lynne ~ Go With It
P. Diddy ft Nicole S ~ Come To Me
Feist ~ 1234
Joan Jett ~ I Still Dream About You
Gordon Haskell ~ How Wonderful You Are
Holly Williams ~ Railroads
Joan Jett ~ Love Me Two Times
The Eagles ~ Love Will Keep Us Alive
Sugababes ~ Stronger
Nirvana ~ Lithium
Sandi Thom ~ Gold Dust
Anna Nalick ~ Breathe (acoustic)
Today is a good day for no real reason..it's just a good day. I still feel lousy physically but emotionally I feel good. After getting myself together I made it into my kitchen again and I think I was actually wearing a smile the entire time I was in there. I know being in the kitchen is some peoples idea of hell and I get that. Ask me to sit at a table doing jigsaw puzzles and I would be tearing my hair out..lol But for me food related kitchen work is one of my Zen places...stood at the counter with a sharp knife in hand..slicing or chopping veggies and I am one very happy chick. So with my time spent in the kitchen everyday this week...my smile is massive.
Last week I threw together a veggie stir fry and I had forgotten just how much I enjoy them and have been craving another since. This time I wanted something a little different. I obviously wanted it to be crammed with veggies but I wanted to keep the flavours subtle. I wanted the delicate flavours of the veggies to come though but I also wanted another layer of flavour. I had recently bought a packet of Organic GMO free Smoked Tofu and usually I use it as a binder in a veggie pattie recipe. But as I was pulling the veggies from my fridge my instinct told me to grab the tofu too. Unlike me...as I very rarely use tofu this way.
One of my issues with tofu is the texture. I enjoy it as a binder but as a stand alone ingredient I still struggle. Guest host and good friend Dev has cooked it and I have enjoyed it very much but my own attempts have always been...ok. They have usually been marinated and baked until the texture has hardened. It's the soft squishy texture that I don't enjoy. I never 'fry' anything..not even shallow fry if I can find another way of making a recipe work. But in my mind I wanted crispy strips of tofu to complement my stir fry. (I even get hinky calling stir fries a stir fry..lol I tend to part steam/saute them instead) But there was no way I would be pouring oil into my wok and then frying the little strips I had cut. I did add a little sunflower oil to my strips, put them in my wok and kept them moving over the highest heat and within minutes I had crispy strips. Marvellous.
This stir fry has subtle flavours but there are plenty of them. It has many different textures and all of them are enjoyable. I also threw in some pumpkin seeds at the end of cooking. I devoured every last bite and I'm happy I am finding my stir fry love again. Some classics are irreplaceable but sometimes we forget!
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| Rocket & Roses Tamari Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu |
Rocket & Roses Tamari Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu
(Original recipe from the Rocket & Roses Vegan Kitchen)
No fixed amounts for the ingredients...quantity to your own personal need
White cabbage, shredded
Green cabbage, shredded
1 onion, sliced
Beansprouts, handful
Carrot, grated
Mangetout, handful
Babycorn, handful
1 tbsp tamari
drizzle of Sriracha sauce
1 portion of smoked tofu
1 tbsp sunflower oil
pumpkin seeds, handfull
Take your smoked tofu and cut off one portion if it's marked like mine was..otherwise cut off a quarter of the tofu.
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| Handy pre-portioned tofu slab. lol |
Then slice the tofu and then cut into thin strips. Toss then in the sunflower oil and place then into a very hot wok or skillet. I kept them moving by flipping the wok whilst I was chopping the veggies. When every side of the strips are browned, leave them over the heat for a couple of minutes longer and then scoop them out and let them rest on a piece of kitchen towel to absorb any remaining oil.
Toss the chopped and shredded veggies into the hot wok and keep them moving over the heat until they have mulched down some and then add tamari and sriracha sauce and stir to distribute the sauces throughout the veggies. Serve the veggies up and top with the crispy tofu strips. Toss in some pumpkin seeds at the end.
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| Gratuitous foodie close up...lol |
Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Thursday has been an interesting one...
~Red~
