I find that some of my best dishes are unplanned. When the fridge is full of food that needs to be eaten quickly I get creative and make up the meal as a I go. So this makes its hard to write down a recipe, but it also a fun experiment that I hope others can learn to appreciate in their kitchen.
Cooking without a recipe can be daunting, but it allows you to be creative and use what you have on hand. My best advice is to use recipes as an outline of suggestions! My husband always laughs because he's never seen me cook a dish exactly as the recipe says. I'm always adding ingredients and substituting for what I have on hand in my pantry and fridge.
This all brings me to last night's yummy and healthy (not to mention meatless) meal packed with veggies. I bought a stove top wok at Ikea a few months ago and had been dying to break it out. Growing up I always used my mom's electric wok which is great and heats up evenly. The Ikea wok worked great and was much more affordable than an electric one.
Here's my ingredient list, but remember especially with stir fry and fried rice you can really add so many different ingredients including meats, veggies, fruit, grains, etc.
Ingredients
- 1 cube firm tofu (I get mine at Trader Joes) - cut up in cubes
- Hoisin sauce
- Soy sauce (I like low sodium)
- Red chili paste
- 1.5-2 cups cooked grains (I used brown rice & quinoa mix from Costco)
- 1 cup chopped brocolli
- 1 medium zuchini cubed
- 1/2 red onion chopped
- 1/2 white onion chopped
- 1 cup chopped peppers (I used small sweet ones)
- 1-3 eggs (depending on how much other stuff you have)
- Salt and pepper to taste (Asian sauces have lots of salt so you likely wont need much)
Steps
- Heat the wok (or large skillet) and add thin coat of vegetable oil
- Add the tofu cubes, 1 tablespoon Hoisin, and a splash of soy to coat the cubes
- Cook 5-10 minutes until the cubes are browned and beginning to firm up, remove cubes and set aside on a plate
- Add a bit more oil if wok is dry
- Add veggies, 1 tablespoon Hoisin, splash of soy and red chili paste (I used lots, but use less if you don't want it spicy)
- Once veggies have softened (5-7 minutes), add cooked grains and tofu and mix all together
- Check seasoning and add salt, pepper and more of the Asian sauces to taste
- Create a hole in the middle of the mixture and pour your whisked eggs in
- Scramble the eggs in the hole (its ok if some veggies get mixed in)
- Once the eggs are pretty scrambled mix all ingredients together and cook for 2 minutes
- Serve!
- You could have peanuts, cilantro, green onions, Sriracha, etc to add as toppings
