LAST WEDNESDAY'S DINNER:
Veggie Stir Fry with Brown Rice $1.09
Shopping List (at the recommendation of a reader):
Organic Brown Rice
Trader Joe's Stir Fry Veggies
Package of Shitake Mushrooms (about 8 in a pack)
Organic Extra Firm Tofu
Fresh Ginger Root
Garlic
Bragg's or Soy Sauce
Toasted Sesame Oil
Olive Oil
Brown Sugar
Been a little hit and miss with the posts, lately. Sorry about that. But my morning sickness makes me not really want to write about food. I'm just about 9 weeks preggypants, so hopefully the moments of yak will pass soon.
This was a yummy meal! Next time I think I will add some toasted sesame seeds. So I started by marinating my tofu. And started my brown rice which usually takes about 45 minutes. For the tofu, I carefully cut it into cubes and placed it in a sealable container. In a little bowl, I combined about a 1/4 cup of Bragg's Liquid Aminos (you can also use Soy Sauce), about 1 tsp of brown sugar, and a little bit of minced garlic. I poured the mixture onto the tofu, put the lid on, and let it marinate for a little while. I flipped the container a few times to make sure it got good and coated.
When the rice had just about 20 minutes to go, I heated about 1 tbs of toasted sesame oil and 1 tbs olive oil in a large skillet. Sometimes if you use sesame oil only, it can be a little heavy. So heat the oil, add about 2 inches of peeled, finely chopped ginger root and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Turn your fire up to medium-high and add the marinated tofu. Be careful, it might spit hotness at you! Fry the tofu until it's browned. Try not to turn it too much or the tofu might fall apart. While your tofu is browning, slice the shrooms into strips. Once the tofu cubes are browned, push them to the sides and add a bit more oil if your tofu has absorbed most of it. Now throw in the shrooms. Cook them for a little bit until they sweat a little. Add the stir fry veggies and cook until bright green and slightly wilted. Add a splash of Bragg's or soy sauce and you have a yummy veggie delight to pile atop your brown rice!
Tasty! Even in the midst of morning sickness!
Tip: Pat your tofu with paper towels to absorb the excess water before cutting! Press down a bit, you will be surprised at how much liquid is in the tofu. If you don't do this, your tofu might not brown up and will become mushy.
How do you buy all those ingredients for $1.09 a serving? How many servings does it make? I am assuming it is for about 4. how do you get it all for under $5?
ReplyDeleteGreat question! Some of the meals I make serve 4, while others serve 6 or even 8, thus bringing the per person cost down even further. I realize now that I actually had forgotten to add in this particular post that the brown rice was FREE. Sounds weird, but Mark's cousin (old sick dude in his 80s) passed away a couple of weeks ago and had a pantry full of recently purchased dry goods. I snagged a couple of them which included organic brown rice! So, had I factored that in, this meal would have been over $1.09 per serving, but not by much. The other thing is that 1 item might be able to be used for several meals, so even though I might spend $2.98 on the fresh ginger root, I'm only using a tiny bit of it for 1 particular meal. Also, I don't generally include the cost of salt/pepper or even garlic. I consider those to be staples. Plus, they hardly affect the price.
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