Tulips, Plum blossoms, Tofu, Stir-Fry Veggies, 7-Grain Rice and Un-cooking Classes

The temps here in Minnesota have been wonderful this past week – we're definitely in spring mode. My tulips and daffodils are blooming and our Japanese plum tree has burst with sweet scented blooms. Of course the bunnies are curious, but this year we got ahead of the game and put fences around the flowers so we could actually enjoy all 60+ tulips (40 in back, 20 in front).

Camille (our cat) has one of the worst cases of spring fever I've ever seen in an animal. She spends her days out on the deck (when I have a work break) or trying to convince us she needs to go out on the deck. The goal is to eat grass and lay in the sun and if she can find a few moments to meow at the neighbor's dog she'll do that too. I swear she knows they have an electric fence and that there is no way he can come over to "visit" her. Little does she know his bark usually means "Hello" rather than "I'm dying to come over and eat you."

We went on one of our Costco shopping trips and found a great deal on tofu; 4 – 19 ounce packages for under $5 which is a steal. I've been searching for marinated tofu with a spicy twist because I've been trying to recreate the tofu at our local Asian restaurant.

One thing I learned was that if you remove as much water as you can from the tofu it absorbs the marinade better. So I sliced the tofu into strips and placed them on top of paper towels then covered them with 3 layers of paper towels and placed heavy objects on top of them for 45 minutes. I have to say it was just about bone dry.

For the marinade, I mixed: 4 T of soy sauce, 1 T rice wine vinegar, 1 T siracha sauce, 1 T agave syrup, 1T fresh lime juice, 3 cloves garlic and 1 inch of grated fresh ginger in a small bowl.  After placing the tofu in a shallow baking pan, I pour the marinade over the tofu, covered it with plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes (be sure to turn the tofu several times).

In the mean time chop, 2 stalks of celery, 4 carrots (on the diagonal), 1 ¼ peppers (mixed colors), 1-bunch scallions, 1 ½ cup broccoli florets, and some brown enoki like mushrooms (I got them at the Asian grocery store and forget what they are called but you can see them in the picture). 

Heat 1 T of toasted sesame oil in a non-stick pan and add half of the tofu slices, fry until crisp (approx. 3 minutes), turn and fry until crisp on the other side; fry the second half of tofu in the same way; keep warm until the rest of dinner is done. 

Add another Tbsp. of sesame oil to the pan and stir-fry carrots, broccoli and celery for 1 – 2 minutes. Add the scallions, peppers, and baby mushrooms and cook until the carrots and broccoli is crisp tender. Toss in a handful of chopped cilantro. Serve with 7-grain rice (from Aldi).

I would say the spicy tofu rivaled that of our local Asian haunt and after one bite, Dan declared it needed to be a repeat – so I guess since we have lots of tofu in the fridge it would be easy to duplicate.

We're taking a cooking class this week at a raw food restaurant where we will learn to make marinated asparagus, raw lasagna, garlic "bread" and a chocolate dessert – sounds delicious and will be fun.

Thanks for stoppimg by and if you don't know it, today is Star Wars Day; 

May the 4^th be with you 

And a shout out to my Dad, Bill Kelly, who is celebrating 80 years young today!