Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Eggplant & Tofu Stir-fry




When I'm being a nice wife, I make broccoli stir-fries because that's what Daddycrat loves. But yesterday, two beautiful, gleaming eggplants were making moon eyes at me from the fridge. What's a mommycrat to do? Cruelly shrug and suggest, "You can always pick the eggplant out. Purple vegetables are good for you."

I mean, look at this pretty thing, can you really blame me?



For this recipe you'll need:

1-2 organic eggplants, diced into 1 inch squares - $3.99
1 package firm organic tofu, drained and diced into 1 inch squares - $1.69
2 cloves garlic (or more, depending on your tastes)
1/4 cup organic tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) $.50 (@ $5/bottle)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
optional - 1/8 cup sugar

1 cup uncooked rice - $1.20 (@ $3.99/2 lb bag)

Total: $7.38 not including small amounts of olive oil and sugar.

Before you start chopping or wok-ing, put your rice on the stove according to the directions on the package - usually 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. Bring it to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes. Your stir-fry will be done about the time your rice is.

Chop your tofu and eggplant into one-inch pieces. In a wok or large frying pan, heat a 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a medium/hot temp. Just when the oil starts to smoke, add your tofu and let it sear off on a few sides. If you add the eggplant too soon, its moisture will make your tofu soggy.

When your tofu is a golden brown or really - the texture you like it - add the garlic, eggplant, soy sauce and sugar. I add the sugar because I prefer a sweeter, teriyaki-ish sauce. If you prefer salty, just leave it out. The heat needs to be high enough to quickly sear and brown your eggplant. As the liquid soy sauce cooks off, the tofu and eggplant will caramelize. Mmmmm.... Take it off the stove when it looks good to you. That is really the secret to all cooking. If a recipe is tells you something that doesn't feel right, use your gut! The best cooks do.

This is what I like mine to look like when I'm done:



This recipe makes enough that I'll be able to eat this for lunch for a few days. Some people hate leftovers, I love having a lunch that I don't have to think about. It's cheaper, better and healthier than bento I could get down the street from my office.

What vegetables would you like to see in your dream stir-fry?

5 comments:

  1. Dream stir fry? Snap peas! And carrots. And if you could cook the right way, parsnips, which are sort of like carrots and potatoes but way better.

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  2. I was going to say eggplant and onions but then I read the parsnips comment... and then I thought about adding a little red pepper for the pizzaz and or maybe... sorry, I'm starving now. Gotta eat breakfast.

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  3. Maybe I didn't have high enough heat but neither the tofu nor the eggplant caramelized. It ws still pretty good. Partway though I remembered I had holy basil growing under my tomatoe plants so I threw a few leaves in along with some slices of ginger. I would say mine turned out a "C" and I ate it but the eggplant was more like mush than creamy...

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  4. Anonymous - the problem may have been the heat, tofu tends to steam itself on low heat instead of getting that crispy outside. Also, a lot depends on what kind of tofu you used. Extra-firm is best for stir fries and if it's watery when you take it out of the package it's best to slice it in two and pat the extra moisture away with towels. If water still comes out when you squeeze the tofu, let it drain on the towel for about 20 minutes before you cook it. Eggplant also will turn mushy if the heat isn't high enough. You want the heat high enough to sear off the outside of the tofu or vegetable. Hope that helps!

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