Tofu with Peanut-Ginger Sauce

After my success with the Ground Pork with Spicy Peanut Noodles, I knew anything with similar ingredients would be a big hit with Joe and me, plus I still had a large part of a knob of fresh ginger that I love working with because it smells so good. Still aiming for our one vegetarian night a week, I decided to try a recipe with tofu.

Personally, I've always liked tofu, mostly because the first time I had it was in Whole Foods' Pesto Tofu. Joe, however, is iffy about tofu because he's had bad experiences with how other people have prepared it. This was actually my first time to prepare anything with tofu at home.

Not surprisingly, we really liked this dish, and I plan on cooking with tofu more frequently.

I am also submitting this entry to August's Tasty Tools Event featuring whisks, held by Joelen over at Joelen's Culinary Adventures. You probably recognize the name since she comments here frequently, and I recently made a delicious tilapia recipe adapted from her.


Tofu with Peanut-Ginger Sauce
adapted from Eating Well

Ingredients

5 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (see Ingredient note) or white vinegar
2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon Thai chili garlic sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
14 ounces extra-firm tofu, preferably water-packed
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups baby spinach
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
4 scallions, sliced

Instructions

To prepare sauce: Whisk water, peanut butter, rice vinegar (or white vinegar), soy sauce, honey, ginger, chili garlic sauce, and garlic in a small bowl.





To prepare tofu: Drain and rinse tofu; pat dry. Slice the block crosswise into eight 1/2-inch-thick slabs. Coarsely crumble each slice into smaller, uneven pieces.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add tofu and cook in a single layer, without stirring, until the pieces begin to turn golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Then gently stir and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all sides are golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes more.

Add spinach, mushrooms, scallions and the peanut sauce and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are just cooked, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Yield: 4 servings (Note: Between the two of us, we polished this off.)

I served this on a bed of brown rice.