Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Spicy Tofu


I tried this recipe from a recent issue of Bon Appetit. I love it. If you don't care for tofu, you can substitute sliced chicken, beef, or shrimp too.

You will need some tofu, red bell peppers, limes, peanuts, red pepper flakes, scallions, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, pasta, fresh spinach, and basil.

Slice 2 red bell peppers in thin strips and put in a bowl.

Peel a few chunks of fresh ginger,

and mince enough so that you have 3 tablespoons.

Add it to the sliced peppers.

Take 3 cloves of garlic,

mince,

and add to the bowl.

Next, take a 14 oz. block of extra-firm tofu,

and cut into cubes. Put this is a separate bowl.

Take 3 scallions,

and thinly slice on a diagonal.

Add these to the bowl with the tofu.

Then prepare a large pot of salted water for the pasta. Put it on to boil while you are finishing up the tofu dish.

Juice enough lime to equal 2 tablespoons...1-1 1/2 limes.

Put the lime juice in a small bowl,

add 3 tablespoons soy sauce,

and about 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes.....or more, if you like things spicy. I use 1 tsp. and it's pretty spicy. Too spicy for most, I think.

Next, get 6 oz. fresh baby spinach ready.

Along with about a 1/3 cup salted, roasted peanuts, and about a 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil. Leave these last three ingredients separate.

Mise en Place.

Heat about 1/3 cup of olive oil over med-high heat, in a large saute pan. OR, a wok if you have one.

Add the bell peppers, minced ginger, and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Then add the tofu, and scallions, and cook another 2-3 minutes.

If your pasta water is boiling, you can cook that at any point. Here, I am using some fresh linguine. But, spaghetti, angel hair, or rice noodles would work.

Back to the tofu...Add the liquid ingredients to the pan. Toss to combine, and cook another couple of minutes.

Add the fresh spinach in a few batches. First, a handful, let it cook down a bit, and wilt. Then add some more, and continue.

Stir in the basil, and peanuts.

Lastly, I toss in about half of the cooked pasta, and serve.

The other half of the pasta gets mixed with tomatoes & mozzarella cheese for the bozos. They do not care for Spicy Tofu.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Katie Pie, your cold leftovers are delicious.

LMBrown said...

Yummy that looks doolicious!
I cant wait to tryit!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm. Look what i did with it the next day!
Check out this link for the full story: http://dx266.com/leftovers

suzyqpatch said...

omg! rick you are f'ing hilarious. who knew pb and jelly went w/ spicey tofu.

ps-kate, your site is looking amazing!

Post a Comment