21 April 2007

Lazy Rice Noodle Tofu Stir-Fry

I am posting this to tide you all over (and myself) while I upload my huge backlog of photos to share with you all. For now, here is some more un-baked goodness I've had sitting as a draft for a long while. A simple, quick, standby for a lazy night. I got some baby bok choy at the co-op (now you have reference to when I made this since the co-op's been gone since late Feb) and knew it had to be thrown into a stir-fry. I love how the greens not offer nutrition and color, it also adds a nice combo of textures, both silky smooth from the leafys and that nice little crunch from the stems. And I love how cute and little they are, especially as you peel down...

I can't remember exactly what is in this, but I do advise you to follow the recipe for the sauce on my recipes page, the "Best Spicy Stir-fry" one. Now if you are super-lazy like I was that night, most of your ingrdients should be pre-cut in bags (organic of course) in the freezer. I simply cut the tofu earlier in the day and marinated it in the sauce until I was ready to cook. If you are super lazy, skip the marinated step altogether. Now that the tofu is ready to go, pull out your ingredients. I first start with taking out a pot and boiling the rice noodles. You don't have to start with this since they are so quick, you can actually end with this step, but I like to know they are done and I just let them sit while I'm cooking. Plus, rice noodles are made in a matter of three or four minutes, rather than almost an hour like grain rice, hence the laziness...

Back to the ingredients... In my case, the only necessary chopping/cutting was half an onion, a few cloves of garlic, carrots (you can see I cut them lazy-large) and the baby bok choy. The rest is simple, just pull out whatever you have suitable in the freezer and dump in in a heated wok with olive oil. I like to keep tri-colored bell peppers in the freezer especially for times when organic bells are $6 a pound fresh! I also keep edamame (a great snack) and cashews of course. Dump it all in the wok and heat on high or med-high until everything is nice and browned and steaming hot. Pour it over the noodles and consume.
This looks a lot "blander" and beige than it really is... the spicy sauce really ties it all together, you just can't really see it. There you have it, a lazy stir-fry. I will post more drool-worthy stuff soon, stay tuned.

19 comments:

scottishvegan said...

That stir fry looks pretty drool worthy to me already! I love baby bok choy in stir fries too…I just don’t seem to see it around all that often. Looking forward to even more drool worthy stuff!

laura k said...

Anytime you throw cashews into a stir-fry, you improve its yum factor. It doesn't look bland to me either, though I have looked over your spicy sauce recipe before and I know it probably packs in a lot of flavor. I should try your bell pepper trick--those organics are pretty steep around here all the time! (Hence why I almost always just use green...)

Shawn Powers said...

I always struggle coming up with a good sauce for stir fry. I'll have to check out your spicy sauce!

Jody from VegChic said...

I think the colors look great. Spicy = yummy!

Glad to see you back to posting. Believe, me I know what you mean about being sidetracked. I've got lots to post about, but just haven't buckled down to do it.

I'm also super psyched that you are baking again! I thought of you a few weeks back when I made some cookies. I almost packed some up to mail as a surprise.

They wouldn't be nearly as impressive when you can bake your own. On the other hand surprise cookies in the mail is never a bad thing!

Hoping to see you posting more!

aTxVegn said...

Hi, Leslie! I can't believe I missed your previous post. It's good to hear from you and good to know you're still eating well and also enjoying baking! You know everything you create and post I think is awesome.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't look bland to me , i will love to have some now!

i cant wait to see more drool-worthy stuff soon :)

urban vegan said...

she's BAAAAACKKKK! Yay!

Kris said...

2 posts in one week?! I'm holding my chest in shock! :)

I always forget about those rice noodles, I need to pick some up. Funny, a stir fry is a quick thing for you and I hate making them because I obsess over the veggies and the sauce and they end up tasting like bland crap. I need to try a toned down version of your sauce.

bazu said...

I love the look of those noodles! Give me wide fat noodles in any kind of spicy sauce and I'm a happy camper. Now that the weather is (FINALLY) warm, I could go for cold noodles too!

KleoPatra said...

Isn't it funny how sometimes food looks a lot different than it tastes? Spicy is good. This looks really good!! And i snack on roasted edamame like it's goin' on style... good stuff!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

How did you know I had baby boy choy in the fridge as well?? And rice noodles in the freezah??

Carrie™ said...

I also love baby bok choy. It costs more per pound than regular bok choy, but it's worth it I think. Tofu stir-fries are a great meal. We have them alot. Can't wait to see what's up next.

Unknown said...

These all look great. I especially love the phrase "lazy stir fry". It combines two concepts that are very dear to my heart.

n/a said...

That looks like a dish I used to get from a Vietnamese place in Indiana that was excellent!

Michelle said...

ya, i'm already drooling! can't wait to see what comes next!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Your stir fry looks & sounds awesome! I must try your spicy sauce...

Briggitte said...

mmm that looks good
i think ill make some of those tommorow

mb said...

ah, so glad i found you. i am have been border-line vegan since my 2nd daughter was born...

Now I am pregnant with #3 and this baby rejects (literally) any, I mean any animal product (except goat yogurt). So my little vegan-baby needs some highly charged food...can't wait to get ideas from you.

I also live in AZ, SE Scottsdale and frequent Green quite a bit! Leaving soon, though...going to Washington State. Summers too ling for this mama.

peace
mb
www.misplacedmama.blogsome.com

Anonymous said...

I just stopped in from Shawn's site and really thought that this recipe sounded good! I think that we might give it a try! Thanks!