Sprinkled with Love

The other night I went to the grocery store hungry. Terrible idea. What did I buy, you ask? A random assortment of veggies (I’m trying to get back into my healthy diet and work-out regimen now that Homecoming is over,) soba noodles, extra-firm tofu, among other things. By the time I got home, not as hungry after snacking on sweet, red seedless grapes during my car ride home, I decided I was in the mood for something salty. After putting two-and-two together, I came to the conclusion that an Asian-inspired stir fry would do the trick. DUH! Of course I should have planned more effectively and looked up recipes PRIOR to my Big Y spree, but that wasn’t the case so I had to make due with what I had just purchased. Consequently, I kind of wung-it for this post and created my own dish comparing different recipes and reviews. Let me just say, it was quite the success and I’m super proud of myself. Not to toot my own horn but Taylor, wide-eyed and jaw dropped, said, “this is the hands down the best thing you’ve ever made.” Thanks, Tay-Tay. Let me explain my little concoction:

Ingredients:

1 box of buckwheat soba noodles (about 12 oz.)
Extra firm tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes: I used the entire Nasoya Organic container because I anticipated left-overs
Veggies of your choice (I used peppers, zucchini, shredded carrots and snow peas)
1 cup sprouts (any kind, I used mung)
1 big clove garlic, finely chopped or minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon ginger (optional)

Future reference: I would add sesame seeds for crunch and 1 teaspoon of garlic chili sauce or some kind of chili powder. I just didn’t have any!

Before I forget I want to give a shout out to inspirational sites
(I kind of combined these recipes and excluded/substituted things I didn’t have)

FitSugar.com
Yasmeen Health-Nut blog
Epicurious

Instructions:

To start out, cook soba noodles for about 10 minutes.

Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium high heat and cook tofu cubes.

Cut up vegetables and chop garlic.

Sauté veggies (minus the sprouts,) garlic and ginger until they are cooked to your preference (I still like them a bit al dente.)

Create the sauce! Whisk together the peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce and chili powder or sauce (which I didn’t have, but wish I did because it would have benefitted with a kick!)

Add everything together to pan (noodles, tofu and sauce.)

Toss and cook evenly. Prior to serving, add in the bean sprouts!

Finally, drum roll please…EATTTTT!

This was an awesome, filling (and healthy, per usual) meal and I highly recommend you experiment a bit, too! Try different veggies, substitute chicken if you’re not a tofu fan, etc. Let me know how it goes.

Sprinkled with Love,

Lauren