Sunday, May 17, 2009

Spicy tofu with noodles and mushrooms

spicy tofu with noodles and mushrooms, adapted from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
I could make up an elaborate story about how I decided to make this recipe, but in all honesty, I just needed to use up my tofu before I leave for Florida this week. I have mixed feelings about tofu because I know far too many people who do research on the effects of soy and phytoestrogens on the brain (and it's rarely good news), but I usually manage to put aside these feelings because it's so delicious. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

Spicy tofu with noodles and mushrooms (adapted from "The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook")

1 cup boiling water
1 oz. dried mushrooms (I used a combination of oyster and shiitake)
4 oz. spaghetti (I used brown rice spaghetti)
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2" piece of ginger, minced
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp soy sauce (use wheat-free tamari for gluten-free)
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 lb. firm tofu, cubed
12 romaine lettuce leaves

Combine boiling water and mushrooms in a small bowl, cover, and let sit for 15 min. Drain mushrooms and chop. While mushrooms are soaking, cook pasta according to package directions. Then, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add mushrooms, both types of onions, carrot, ginger, Sriracha, and garlic and stir-fry for 3 min. Stir in soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, tofu, and noodles and cook for 3 more min. Put 1/2 cup of mixture into each lettuce leaf. Serves 4.

I really liked this, and it had a good mix of hot and sweet from the various sauces. It paired perfectly with one of my favorite simple veggie dishes - roasted broccoli tossed in soy sauce. My only complaint was that the spaghetti made it hard to eat (it kept making its way into my lap). But perhaps that's only a problem for people who excel at making a mess.

2 comments:

Julia said...

I never heard of tofu getting a bad rap... interesting. Your noodles look delicious, and I love your presentation.

Katie said...

Unfortunately soy is basically interpreted by the body as a synthetic form of estrogen (and tofu also contains enzymes that may be harmful). But, for every report of it being tied to Alzheimer's disease and weird endocrine disorders, there's another one saying that it protects against breast and prostate cancer. Sometimes science is incredibly frustrating!