Meatless Monday: Tofu-Tater Stir Fry

This basic vegan stir-fry recipe is versatile and can incorporate a wide variety of vegetables! The veggies I most recommend for this dish are: the ones about to go bad in your crisper or on your counter. This recipe, as I made it, yields approximately 4 servings. Need more servings? Add more veggies! This took about 35 minutes to get from gathering the ingredients to the table.

What You'll Need:

• A grain or grain-like substance to serve it over, prepared as directed. Rice is a popular choice. I used quinoa this time.
• Cooking oil. I use coconut. For everything.
• Toasted sesame oil. Optional, but highly recommended.
• Garlic. As much you can stand. I used 4 cloves. I would normally use an onion, too, but didn't happen to have one this time.
• Potatoes. I used 3 medium ones. You can use more, bigger, smaller, different colors, whatever.
• Tofu. I used a package of Teriyaki marinated baked tofu. If you're less lazy more ambitious than I am, you could marinate your own!
• Veggies! I used mushrooms and broccoli, because that's what we had. Can you tell I made this on a "Boy, we really need to get some groceries." kind of day? Other suggestions: carrots, peppers, cauliflower, zucchini, asparagus...pretty much any vegetable will work! Fresh is best, but frozen or canned works just fine!
• Not pictured: prepared (or made from scratch) sauce of your choice such as soy sauce, teriyaki, or my choice, Bragg Liquid Aminos. 
• Oh, do I need to tell you that you need, like, a pan or something to cook it in? I used a Wok, but any large skillet or frying pan would do, I'm sure.

What You'll Do:

• If your grain or grain substitute isn't already prepared, start with that. Prepare as directed.
• Heat your cooking oil of choice over Medium-High heat. 2-3 Tablespoons of your main cooking oil and a splash of toasted sesame oil, if you're using it. While it heats up, mince your garlic and dice your onion if you're using it. Cut your potatoes in half, then in half again, then thinly slice them. When the oil is sufficiently heated, toss in the garlic and onions. Don't burn them, like I did. Instead, pay attention to them, stirring or tossing, until the onions start looking translucent. 
• Add the potatoes, stirring or tossing to coat. Continue stirring or tossing until they start getting soft, in the neighborhood of 10 minutes. If you're using carrots, add them at this time; they take a while to cook, too!

• Add your other veggies, with the exception of mushrooms, if you're using them. Those cook fast, so you'll add them last. Unless you like them really, really soft, in which case, GROSS. Again, stir or toss to coat and incorporate. If things seem too dry at this point, you could a bit more oil or other liquid, such as vegetable stock.

• While that cooks, cut your tofu into cubes. I cut them about 3/4 inch size. I wouldn't go much smaller than that, but you could go a little bigger, if you'd like. Add tofu to pan, add mushrooms if you're using them, and stir or toss. Add a bit of the sauce of your choice, but not too much. You can always add more later! There are few things worse than too much soy sauce. Continue stirring or tossing occasionally until the tofu is cooked through, 5-10 minutes.
• Serve over rice, quinoa, or whatever you've chosen. Alternately, eat it as is! The potatoes make it heftier and more filling than traditional stir-fries, so it would stand alone just fine!
• Enjoy!

Questions? Comments? Think it looks delicious? Disgusting? Let me know! :)



***If you like this blog, please vote for me on   Babble's Top 100 Mom Blogs.  Thanks for your support!