Vegetable stir-fry with ginger sauce

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 cup Ginger Sauce
(see separate recipe)
1 tablespoon Safflower oil
2 Carrots; cut diagonally
Into 1/8-inch-thick slices
1 small Onion; thinly sliced
(about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon Minced garlic
4 Ribs bok choy; cut diagonally
Into 1/2-inch-thick slices;
Include green tops
1½ cup Sliced mushrooms
1 Red bell pepper; cut into strips
1 12 inches lo by 1/4 inch wide; about
½ cup Frozen baby peas; thawed
1 cup Silken extra-firm tofu
Cut into l/2-inch cubes
Garnish; (optional)
Toasted sesame seeds
Raw cashews
Sliced almonds
Mandarin orange sections
Scallion curls; (see Tip)

Directions

Consider this your basic stir-fry recipe, and vary the vegetables to suit your taste or to use whatever you have on hand. When you prepare the recipe for entertaining and want to keep last-minute chores to a minimum, shop the vegetables and make the Ginger sauce and rice accompaniment in advance.

Makes 4 servings

Prepare the Ginger Sauce. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat (see Tip).

Add the carrots; stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic; continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except the tofu; stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-render, about 4 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium; gently stir in the tofu and heat until warm, about 1 minute.

To serve, spread beds of rice onto individual serving plates. Top with the stir-fried vegetables; drizzle with half of the Ginger Sauce. Top with garnishes and serve immediately; pass the remaining sauce.

ADVANCE PREPARATION: Covered and refrigerated, the Ginger Sauce will keep for up to 2 days; reheat gently just before serving. The vegetables can be chopped in advance; stir-fry the vegetables and add the tofu and sauce just before serving.

VARIATIONS:

Substitute for the carrots, bok choy, mushrooms, or red bell pepper or add other vegetables (6 to 8 cups total) such as broccoli florets, baby corn ears, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, snow peas, shredded Chinese (Napa) cabbage, or sliced jicama, zucchini, celery. or tomato.

For a firmer texture, substitute pressed tofu.

TIPS: To make "scallion curls," slice the green parts of scallions very thinly lengthwise. Drop into a bowl of ice water; curls will form in 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir-frying over high or medium-high heat (depending on the stove and the pan) cooks food quickly as it is constantly and briskly stirred and tossed with a spatula or large spoon. Woks are the traditional pan used for this method; however, they are not necessarily the best choice for stovetop cooking. Horizontal pans with wide bottoms, such as a 12-inch skillet or saute pan, are usually a better choice. For the best results, the food is never more than an inch deep as it cooks.

Per serving: Cal 220, Pro 8.1g, Carb 35.4g, Fat 5.1g, Chol 0mg, Sod 379mg Per serving: 81 Calories (kcal); 4g Total Fat; (38% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 61mg Sodium Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; ½ Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates

Recipe by: The Complete Soy Cookbook, by Paulette Mitchell, page 120 Converted by MM_Buster v2.0n.

Related recipes