One of the things that I hate THE MOST about being a gown up is figuring out what to have for dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking and find it fun (for the most part), however, trying to decide what we're going to eat every week drives me bonkers.
We meal plan and grocery shop once a week, usually Sundays. So Sunday morning/early afternoon usually consists of us sitting down and deciding on our meals for the week and writing out a grocery list. Ugh. What should be a five or ten minute chore turns into a hour long conversation of "what should we have for dinner", which always gets the response of "I don't know" or "homemade macaroni and cheese". Sorry Hubby, I'm not feeding us macaroni and cheese once a week. It's never going to happen.
What we really should do is make a list of dinner ideas and then just consult the list every week and pick out what we want to eat and shop for. But that just makes too much sense. Why would we make things easier on ourselves?
This dinner, however, is one that I made up and tried out a little while ago, and Hubby really enjoyed. So it's now one of our staple "go to" dinners. Not to mention, the fact that I can get Hubby to eat tofu
and acutally enjoy it just blows my mind.
TOFU NOODLE STIR FRY
This is a great weeknight dinner as it leaves you with a lot of leftovers, but not so much that you'll have to eat it for the rest of the week. It makes enough for Hubby and I to each have a bowl for dinner (and for Hubby to have seconds) and for both of us to take it for lunch the next day.
2 handfuls of frozen shelled edamame beans
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup soya sauce
About 2 cups of carrots and broccoli stems, julienned (I just used a half package of
broccoli slaw that I bought at Superstore - basically just add in any veggies you want)
Vermicelli noodles (about 1/2 package)
Start by cutting the tofu into chunks. Not too small, not too big. Heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan (or wok) over medium heat. Add the tofu and cook until golden on all sides.
Once golden, remove the tofu from the frying pan and set aside. Add the broccoli and carrots to the frying pan with the soya sauce. Cook for a couple minutes and then add in the edamame (no need to thaw first). Cook for another couple minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
While you're waiting for your veggies to get nice and tender, cook the vermicelli according to the package directions (the ones I use just need to sit in a bowl of boiling hot water for a minute or two).
Add the noodles (make sure to drain all the water first) and the cooked tofu to the vegetables. Give everything a good toss to mix everything together. Feel free to add a tad more sesame oil and/or soya sauce, as needed. I also like to give a generous grind of pepper and maybe a little garlic powder. Whatever you're in the mood for.
Serve warm, but is also great eaten cold at your desk the next day while you're working through your lunch.
