Tiny House Diet: Sweet 'n Sour Tofu With Toasted Sesame Seeds
07-28-2015
Author: Blog Editor in Diet for a Tiny House
Getting more plant-based, delicious meals are not hard to make. Even in an RV on the road. Once you decide to feed your body properly, it’s easy to put together great meals you can feel good about and that taste good, using locally grown produce, fresh ingredients, and tasty sauces.
Here is how to do meal planning. Start with a vegetable as the centerpiece of a meal, not meat. What’s in season? What do I like? Tomatoes, for instance, are everywhere and make all sorts of great dishes -- Italian, Mexican, pasta salads, Indian. Vegetables are the stars in main dish meals like quiches, rice bowls, Nicoise salads, Mexican casseroles, stir-fries and so on. Add eggs, cheese, beans, seitan, tofu, high protein pastas, quinoa, or small amounts of fish or meat to compliment the veggies in a supporting role. It’s never been easier have a plant-based diet without scrimping on the delicious.
So with that said, it’s time to think about dinner.
Wendy’s Food Prep Criteria:
An Airstream kitchen, to say the least, is not a gourmet cooking facility. So the faster and easier it is to make a meal, the better.
Here’s a typical daily menu dinner-planning scenario:
I have the following in my fridge:
Sweet and Sour Tofu and Vegetables is the answer. This recipe makes a delicious tangy sauce that perfectly bathes the crisp-tender vegetables and crispy tofu. Kids love it. The brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, pineapple and Worcestershire-based sauce is a lick-the-pot delicious concoction you’ll want to marry, so you have a winner here.
And of course, it’s easy to prepare and easy to clean up in your RV or Airstream kitchen. The stir-frying is done on our outdoor propane camp grill with a high flame to minimize inside cleanup. Do not try this recipe with an electric stovetop.
This recipe requires a medium sauce pot with a lid for the rice --the same pot can be used for the sauce mixture -- and a wok or other deep pan for the stir-fry. It's as simple as my last tofu recipe with pea pods and red peppers!
You’ll need paper towels, a spatula, tongs, a good cutting knife and cutting board, and prep bowls.
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Serves 2
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Ingredients
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Instructions
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Prepare the rice according to package directions. Remove to a serving bowl.
Wash and prep the vegetables. Chop them into bite-sized pieces. Separate the quick-cooking ones (peapods, bell peppers, onions) from the slower-cooking ones: broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, carrots. Slice carrots very thinly and slice broccoli florets in half or even thirds if they are large.
Cut the pressed tofu into bite-sized squares if you haven’t already.
If using canned pineapple, open the pineapple can and separate the juice from the pineapple chunks.
Clean out the saucepan used to make the rice. Combine in the saucepan the sauce ingredients: pineapple juice, ketchup, brown sugar or honey, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, ginger and Worcestershire sauce. Adjust to taste. Heat the sauce, stirring to break up and dissolve the cornstarch into the mixture. Bring to a boil until it thickens. Turn off heat and set aside.
Over high heat in a large wok, pour in about a half inch of oil and heat on a high flame until it begins to smoke. Add tofu chunks carefully and allow to them to get good and crispy, moving only when they are browned on the bottom, and once or twice more until the other edges are golden. It’s important that the wok be very hot and that you let the tofu sit to brown a while before turning them over. The tofu is not like vegetables where you keep them moving. Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs to a plate with paper towels.
Remove all but a tablespoon of oil from the wok. Raise heat to high again and add the slow-cooking vegetables like the carrots and broccoli. Keep them moving. They should start to brown on the edges and will get brightly colored. Taste for crisp-tender doneness after about 5 minutes. If they are not cooking fast enough, add a few tablespoons of water and put a lid on the wok to steam them for a minute or two. When ready, remove to a bowl.
Then stir-fry over high heat (and another drop of oil if you need it) the fast-cooking vegetables for a minute or two (peapods, onions, bell peppers). Taste for doneness.
Now you’re going to assemble the whole thing and pour on the sauce. While the wok is still hot on high heat, add everything to the wok with the peapod mixture: the slow cooking vegetables, the pineapple, and the tofu. Pour the sauce over everything. Bring to a bubbling boil and turn off heat.
To serve, have people take a large spoon of rice and then put a ladle of the stir-fried mixture over their rice in deep, individual bowls. Top with toasted sesame seeds if desired. If you want more heat, toss in some sriracha sauce.
A crisp, cold Asian beer would be a great match for this dish.
Diet for a Tiny House is Copyright 2015 by Wendy Gorski. Write me at [email protected]! Mailing address: Wendy Gorski c/o Southeast Publications, 7676-B Peters Road, Plantation, Florida 33324.
About Blog Author Wendy Gorski: I'm a full-time traveler with my husband Nick, and we live in a 2011 Airstream travel trailer. In 2012, we sold our 4,000-square-foot house with its gourmet kitchen and bought our 100-square-foot tiny Airstream house. In this blog, I'll share recipes, tips, thoughts, and experiences as we careen across the country in search of adventure. All my recipes will be primarily plant-based, fast to cook, easy to clean up, and delicious!
Here is how to do meal planning. Start with a vegetable as the centerpiece of a meal, not meat. What’s in season? What do I like? Tomatoes, for instance, are everywhere and make all sorts of great dishes -- Italian, Mexican, pasta salads, Indian. Vegetables are the stars in main dish meals like quiches, rice bowls, Nicoise salads, Mexican casseroles, stir-fries and so on. Add eggs, cheese, beans, seitan, tofu, high protein pastas, quinoa, or small amounts of fish or meat to compliment the veggies in a supporting role. It’s never been easier have a plant-based diet without scrimping on the delicious.
So with that said, it’s time to think about dinner.
Wendy’s Food Prep Criteria:
- Delicious
- Plant-Based
- Fast and Easy
An Airstream kitchen, to say the least, is not a gourmet cooking facility. So the faster and easier it is to make a meal, the better.
Here’s a typical daily menu dinner-planning scenario:
I have the following in my fridge:
- fresh peapods and scallions from my friend Kit’s garden
- white button mushrooms
- fresh pineapple cubes from the deli section of the supermarket
- 1 block of extra-firm tofu
- 1 bunch of carrots
- 1 red and green pepper
Sweet and Sour Tofu and Vegetables is the answer. This recipe makes a delicious tangy sauce that perfectly bathes the crisp-tender vegetables and crispy tofu. Kids love it. The brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, pineapple and Worcestershire-based sauce is a lick-the-pot delicious concoction you’ll want to marry, so you have a winner here.
And of course, it’s easy to prepare and easy to clean up in your RV or Airstream kitchen. The stir-frying is done on our outdoor propane camp grill with a high flame to minimize inside cleanup. Do not try this recipe with an electric stovetop.
This recipe requires a medium sauce pot with a lid for the rice --the same pot can be used for the sauce mixture -- and a wok or other deep pan for the stir-fry. It's as simple as my last tofu recipe with pea pods and red peppers!
You’ll need paper towels, a spatula, tongs, a good cutting knife and cutting board, and prep bowls.
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Wendy’s Sweet and Sour Tofu with Fresh Vegetables
-------------------------------------------------
Serves 2
-----------
Ingredients
-----------
- 1 package extra-firm tofu, drained, cut in half lengthwise, and each half pressed in a clean dish towel or between paper towels to absorb some of the liquid for about 15 minutes, then cut into 1/2-inch squares
- 2-3 cups of assorted fresh vegetables: peapods, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc. The more colorful the better!
- Brown or white rice, prepared according to package directions. One cup dry makes two cups cooked rice.
- 1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh) and one cup pineapple juice (Alternative: buy a 20-oz can of pineapple chunks and reserve the juice)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vinegar (rice vinegar)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Safflower or vegetable oil for stir-frying
- Toasted sesame seeds (optional)
- Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
-----------
Prepare the rice according to package directions. Remove to a serving bowl.
Wash and prep the vegetables. Chop them into bite-sized pieces. Separate the quick-cooking ones (peapods, bell peppers, onions) from the slower-cooking ones: broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, carrots. Slice carrots very thinly and slice broccoli florets in half or even thirds if they are large.
Cut the pressed tofu into bite-sized squares if you haven’t already.
If using canned pineapple, open the pineapple can and separate the juice from the pineapple chunks.
Clean out the saucepan used to make the rice. Combine in the saucepan the sauce ingredients: pineapple juice, ketchup, brown sugar or honey, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, ginger and Worcestershire sauce. Adjust to taste. Heat the sauce, stirring to break up and dissolve the cornstarch into the mixture. Bring to a boil until it thickens. Turn off heat and set aside.
Over high heat in a large wok, pour in about a half inch of oil and heat on a high flame until it begins to smoke. Add tofu chunks carefully and allow to them to get good and crispy, moving only when they are browned on the bottom, and once or twice more until the other edges are golden. It’s important that the wok be very hot and that you let the tofu sit to brown a while before turning them over. The tofu is not like vegetables where you keep them moving. Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs to a plate with paper towels.
Remove all but a tablespoon of oil from the wok. Raise heat to high again and add the slow-cooking vegetables like the carrots and broccoli. Keep them moving. They should start to brown on the edges and will get brightly colored. Taste for crisp-tender doneness after about 5 minutes. If they are not cooking fast enough, add a few tablespoons of water and put a lid on the wok to steam them for a minute or two. When ready, remove to a bowl.
Then stir-fry over high heat (and another drop of oil if you need it) the fast-cooking vegetables for a minute or two (peapods, onions, bell peppers). Taste for doneness.
Now you’re going to assemble the whole thing and pour on the sauce. While the wok is still hot on high heat, add everything to the wok with the peapod mixture: the slow cooking vegetables, the pineapple, and the tofu. Pour the sauce over everything. Bring to a bubbling boil and turn off heat.
To serve, have people take a large spoon of rice and then put a ladle of the stir-fried mixture over their rice in deep, individual bowls. Top with toasted sesame seeds if desired. If you want more heat, toss in some sriracha sauce.
A crisp, cold Asian beer would be a great match for this dish.
Diet for a Tiny House is Copyright 2015 by Wendy Gorski. Write me at [email protected]! Mailing address: Wendy Gorski c/o Southeast Publications, 7676-B Peters Road, Plantation, Florida 33324.
About Blog Author Wendy Gorski: I'm a full-time traveler with my husband Nick, and we live in a 2011 Airstream travel trailer. In 2012, we sold our 4,000-square-foot house with its gourmet kitchen and bought our 100-square-foot tiny Airstream house. In this blog, I'll share recipes, tips, thoughts, and experiences as we careen across the country in search of adventure. All my recipes will be primarily plant-based, fast to cook, easy to clean up, and delicious!
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