Today I was talking to my friend Janet about being tired after work and not feeling like cooking, and I followed up with a bit of my usual bragging about how I can make a decent dinner in as little as 5-10 minutes (sometimes even that seems like too much, though, which is why Chinese delivery exists). It’s true! I can make dinner that fast! And I do it all the time, especially if Evan has to work late or run an errand in the evening.
I hate to waste food, so my first priority with quickie-dinners is to use up scraps. I never use a whole block of tofu when I’m making a recipe, and if I put the extra back in the fridge, it inevitably goes bad before I get to it. I’ve learned a trick, though, and that’s to freeze it! Cut it into strips, press out the excess water, put it in a baggie or container, and stick it in the fridge. It’ll turn a weird yellow color when it’s frozen, but that’s okay. Just make sure you take it out of the fridge with enough time to defrost before you want to use it! The coolest part about freezing tofu is that it totally changes the texture—it goes from being soft and wet to being kind of chewy and spongy. You’ve probably had tofu like that before in restaurants and wondered how to make yours taste like that. Now you know! It’s awesome.
I’m also a rice-hoarder. When we get delivery food, there’s always about double the amount of rice included in the bag than we could ever use in one sitting, so I save the leftovers. If I’m cooking rice, I make extras. If you know you’ll be eating the rice within a few days, you can put it in the fridge—otherwise, freeze it. It’s so nice to have rice all ready to go when you want it.
So here’s what I made tonight, since I was smart and remembered to take the tofu out this morning. It literally took 10 minutes, and only about 5 of those minutes were spent doing anything related to preparing the meal.
SUPER-QUICK TOFU & ASPARAGUS (vegan)
Serves as many as you need to
extra-firm tofu (cut, pressed, frozen and defrosted)
asparagus
leftover rice
sesame oil
Japanese 7-spice (or some kind of spicy seasoning and sesame seeds)
Sriachca sauce
Put some sesame oil in a cast iron pan and put it on a medium-high burner. While the pan is heating up, wash and dry the asparagus. When the pan is hot, drop in the tofu strips and the asparagus—I like to do everything in one pan. Sprinkle with 7-spice.
While the tofu and asparagus are cooking, heat up the rice in the microwave (I know, I know…you can do it on the stove, too, but I usually put it in the microwave in the same bowl I plan to eat out of to cut down on dishes). Stir in a tiny drizzle of sesame oil and set aside.
Flip the tofu and asparagus after about three minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. When the tofu is nicely browned on both sides and the asparagus is bright green with a little bit of char, slide everything on top of your rice. Serve with a healthy squeeze of Sriracha sauce, and maybe an extra sprinkle of 7-spice.
DONE. Ten minutes from fridge to table, one pan, and one bowl. (See?)
59 Comments
Okay, ignorant question: when you say “press the tofu”, what exactly do you mean? Stick it in a colander lined with cheesecloth and top it with a weight? Press it between two thicknesses of dishtowel with your hands? I know it’s to get the excess moisture out, but I don’t know how to do that.
Thanks. I’m tofu-impaired thanks to a difficult childhood with quasi-hippies.
Sorry Jo, I should have been more specific! I usually lay the strips on a tea towel or paper towel, fold the towel over the strips, and press with my hand for 10-15 seconds. Nothing crazy!
Thanks for the freezing tips! I am the worst when it comes to food being forgotten in the fridge. I actually just threw out some left over tofu I had forgotten about earlier today.
Reads absolutely delicious! I have tofu and asparagus in the fridge, will improvise the other bits for dinner tonight.
I made an insanely tasty and simple vegan-friendly salad for lunch 2 hours ago that I am still enthusing about, Anna. Here it is:
Mixed beans (canned ones – red beans, chickpeas, and white beans)
Little olive oil
Sunflower seeds (a couple of teaspoons)
Squeezed lemon
Chopped tomato
Chopped parsley
A few random raw nuts left in bottom of jar
Little bit of chilli powder
all mixed and eaten as ‘wraps’ in cos lettuce leaves. SOOOO tasty. Could’ve done without the chilli power and random nuts.
That sounds so yummy! I always forget that I can make bean salads.
I think this would work most excellently with broccolini–yes?
Absolutely! Or any type of green, really.
(Or with rice noodles instead of rice, which is how I made it for Evan when he got home!)
This is my FABORITE quick vegan dinner! I eat this at least once a week! So satisfying, so quick and easy. Sesame oil & Sriracha are a MUST!
Awesome tips – love it! I always wondered about freezing tofu, and actually I prefer the chewy texture! Can’t wait to try this ASAP.
What is that – monster asparagus!? By far the longest asparagus I’ve seen in my entire life. Everything’s bigger in the USA…
Actually it’s pencil-thin, very young asparagus. If anything, it’s on the small side. I think you’re just reacting to it being served in a small bowl!
Wow that sounds too easy for somehing that looks so delicious…I’m always delighted to spot any veg/vegan recipes that are easy to make…I’m sure to try this one asap. Found your blog today Anna…love it!! xx meenal
I’ve been upping my tofu intake lately. Last night I made a “green protein bowl” – it was too ugly to photograph but basically it was spinach/garlic/walnut pesto with roasted mushrooms and broccoli and sauteed tofu over quinoa. I felt like some sort of earth-loving Popeye after eating it.
THIS is literally amazing and is now precisely what I’m having for dinner. Thank you Anna!
And YES – I have wondered/researched/asked around/sobbed over the mystery of how tofu in restaurants has that texture. And now I know. The relief, the excitement.
I will promptly be freezing 90% of all my tofu from now on.
Made it almost to recipe and it was yum! Only difference: I didn’t have the required spices so made a simple teriyaki sauce by heating some soy sauce with a little sugar. Delish 🙂
delicious! I just ate my first asparagus of the year last weekend and it was great.
wondering, am i alone in having an impossible time finding chinese take-out that doesn’t use chicken stock in the sauces of their veg dishes?? i’ve recently moved and it’s a bummer.
Thanks for the tofu squeezing tip. It’s the wetness that can make tofu so bland. Do you like tempeh, which is also quite firm? It was very popular in the 70s (my California hippie days) and I had almost forgotten about it. I wonder if there is any evidence that soy increases the risk for breast cancer?
Wait, haven’t we had this conversation a few times before? 😉
I wrote this in a comment a couple of months ago, and I’m just going to copy & paste it since I’m feeling lazy!
Yum. I’ve had something like this twice this week, but my go-to green is lacinato kale. I can’t get enough of it right now! My favorite way (this week) is to saute it in some water until wilted, follow up with a teaspoon of oil to give it gloss, color, and flavor, and then toss all of it in a scant amount of Annie’s Goddess dressing. I eat an entire head of lacinato kale this way and, might as well be honest, could probably eat another half head.
oh, that sounds and looks delicious!
a quick and tasty meal I often make is an adaptation of heidi swansons Sushi Bowl – I cook some brown rice, then put some toasted sesame seeds in a large bowl, add some crumbled up nori seaweed, some grilled/sautéed (I just cook them in a dry pan for a few minutes) cubes of firm tofu – add the rice, 2 teaspoons of brown rice vinegar and 2 teaspoons of shoyu soy sauce, and whatever veggies are around. I like it with avocado, or some cucumber, and drink green rice tea alongside.
at my local health food shop, there are different kinds of tofu available, also firm tofu. that’s in the netherlands, though, maybe it’s different in the states?
Yes, you can buy all different kinds of tofu here, too (that’s why I specified extra-firm in the recipe!)—soft, firm, silken, etc. 🙂
Your sushi bowl sounds delicious!
oops, re-reading my comment it comes across a little condescending (“can your shops be as good as ours?”) and un-noticing of your specification of firm tofu.
I was just thinking of my favorite brand of tofu, Taifun, especially their Japanese Style tofu, and hoping you could also get that in the US – but fearing you couldn’t.
No way?! You can freeze tofu? I wonder if it would work if you froze it WITH some flavoring in it – like sesame oil and ginger…..hmmm…..
You could definitely try that! And yes, it freezes beautifully. 🙂
That reminds me: years ago, a roommate froze a block of leftover tofu (without pressing it, I think). A few months later, I was making “Clean Out The Freezer Special Soup” and tossed in the tofu along with bits and bats of veggies, etc. After it simmered a while, I found the tofu, all bright yellow and spongy — and could NOT figure out why Maggie (who was long gone) had carefully put a sponge in a plastic bag in the freezer, so that it ended up in my soup.
Thanks for the giggle!
HAH! Oh, that’s hilarious! 😀
Oh, excellent recipe BTW; I can’t wait to try it.
replace the tofu with samon and this is my 10yr son’s favorite meal. I think I’ll have to make it to night.
Have you ever tried to deep fry tofu? I’ve had it at a Thai place, the texture was really firm and it had alomst a breaded texture, it was served in peanut sauce and curry with fried basil leaves. Dam, I now have saliva on my keyboard….
Oh yeah, absolutely!! I’m not going to be deep-frying anything at home, but I love getting it when I’m out!
Wah! I love it! This is my kinda cooking! 5-7 minutes is about all I have time and energy for!
I’ve put your blog on a handout for a workshop I’m doing on environmental vegetarianism – “great decor and regular fab recipes”.
You’re going to write a book one day, I hope.
A book! No, silly, that’s why I have a blog. 🙂
me + sriracha sauce = true love.
Hi Anna! I have to refer back to a previous food post…kale crisps and squash…and tell you that my husband really dislikes kale. I, however, do not and since I’m the primary cook, he’s a bit out of luck at times. Anyway, I made the little critters just like you said and HE. LOVED. THEM! So did I! Thanks for that.
Also, I like to take the tofu you buy in bulk and break it into rough pieces about the size of an unshelled almond. Fry in oil until golden, turning as they cook. Then put ’em into a bowl, add raw chopped garlic (and plenty of it,) and drizzle Tamari over. You can use right away or freeze, as you say. These are actually good on a salad with some toasted sesame seeds, sundry vegetables, and Old Cape Cod Toasted Sesame Soy & Ginger dressing.
Also, have you tried that Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice cream? Lord have mercy! They also have a soy one, I saw yesterday.
Have a great weekend! Suzen
Suzen, I have tried both of those ice creams, and while they’re certainly acceptable, they’re not my favorites! I greatly prefer Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss ice creams…and, if I’m feeling spendy, Organic Nectars. WAY better. Like, better than dairy-based ice cream. The ultimate ice cream, though, comes from a little shop here in NYC, Lula’s Sweet Apothecary. You’ve never had anything like it in your life. It’s like pure, frozen heaven. I have dreams about it.
Anyway, enough ice cream talk—I’m definitely going to try your tofu recipe! That sounds really good. I love sesame seeds!
p.s. GO KALE! 🙂
When I need to make dinner super fast, I usually make spaghetti, actually. I love the stuff and make a huge batch every week, and then if I don’t feel like cooking, we make pasta and top with the leftover sauce. Another way I like to be creative is with polenta and some type of vegetable with a sauce. It’s amazing how a lot of people think that cooking dinner has to be so expensive and time-consuming. It’s really all in what you eat!
Nice! I really love the pencil-thin asparagus, too. 🙂
And just to add another tip on rice-hoarding: freezing rice! Make a huge batch of rice in a rice cooker or pot, cool it a little, then wrap individual portions in plastic wrap and freeze. When you need it, just remove the plastic wrap and microwave/defrost. It honestly saves me so much time if I have to make lunch the night before, and makes the best quick lunch ever: rice balls and miso soup.
More info here: http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics/how-freezing-preportioned-rice
I’ve never tried freezing my tofu before. So excited to get that chewy texture!
I never even thought about freezing rice…good to know! I just went vegan at the beginning of the year, so your vegan dish posts are very helpful to me. I tried your kale chips last week, but I ended up burning them. I’m definitely going to have to try those again because they look so awesome in your post.
Your recipe posts are inspiring me to be more healthy…which isn’t always so easy. I also shared your kale chips recipe with a friend who raved about how good it turned out. I love it, too!
This looks delicious! I LOVE quick-to-make vegan recipes!
Now I feel a bit stupid….I looked up Sriachca Sc. only to discover that it’s what us Canadians refer to as “Rooster Sauce”. In fact I didn’t know that anyone called it anything else! -And I was equally disappointed that “Rooster” was not mentioned anywhere at all in the wikipedia article! Thank-you, Anna for widening my horizons.
K.
I’ve heard people call it that here, too, Kat…but maybe they were all Canadian. 😉
have you seen the cookbook from angelica’s kitchen? it’s one of my fave veggie restaurants in the city and their cookbook is so fab. the baked tofu recipe in there is killer and i love to take leftovers for lunch the next day, great in a sandwich even…
I’ve been to the restaurant several times, and while it’s not one of my favorites, they do have a few good offerings! 🙂 I’ll take a look at the cookbook, thanks.
Your food making principles are good – just as same as I have. “Don’t throw food away….use ingredients in a economical way”, the list is endless. If I wan’t food quickly – hmm, let me think, what food I’ll make—–Chicken, perhaps. And I use oven- “bag” to cook, so chicken wont’t dry so much. In winter I like salmon soup, karelian hot pot, chicken, pasta. Greetings from Finland……
Wow this dish sounds amazing, will definitely be trying it for my dinner this week. Thanks Anna! Just a word of caution on the re-heated rice. I have a few friends that got very bad food poisoning from re-heated rice. You have to be very careful when re-heating and storing rice.. the food standards agency in England has this to say about it..
” I’ve heard that reheating rice can cause food poisoning. Is this true?
It’s true that you could get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. But it’s not actually the reheating that’s the problem – it’s the way the rice has been stored before reheating.
Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will germinate into bacteria. These bacteria will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won’t get rid of these toxins.
So, the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that bacteria, or the toxins they produce, could stop the rice being safe to eat.
It’s best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn’t possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating.
Remember that when you reheat any food, you should always check that it’s steaming hot all the way through, and avoid reheating more than once.”
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamcooking/
Anyway hope I dont come across as a killjoy but said I better mention it as I’ve seen the effects of contaminated rice.. not pretty!
Really love your vegan food posts. I’m making a conscious effort to eat vegetarian and vegan these days and your posts provide great healthy foodie inspiration keep up the amazing work 🙂
Niamh, that sounds like fairly standard advice when it comes to any kind of cooked food, though, right? That’s pretty much how I treat all of my food, not just rice. It would never occur to me to leave cooked foods out on the counter or reheat things multiple times.
Anyway, if it’s a concern for you beyond that, I suggest freezing your leftover rice! That’s what I do, and it works quite well.
You like drops, right?
http://spottedbynormanncopenhagen.com/2011/02/28/name-it-draw-it-win-it/
That’s great! I think I have to enter. 🙂
I agree, sound advice for any food. I am a huge lover of leftovers and never throw out anything if I can re-use it. Its just you mentioned using rice within a few days.. I had a friend who was very ill from eating rice that had been in the fridge for 2 days and I’ve heard rice is one of the biggest offenders for food poisoning. Anyway I’m sure your well versed on good food hygiene but said I’d mention it as alarm bells went off when you mentioned eating after a few days. It just needs to be handled with care is all and thought it may be worth flagging. Just from friends experience its not worth taking chances with..
I must say I’m quite perplexed by/skeptical of the caution to use the rice within one day even if it’s been cooled and stored properly. I’m not concerned about refrigerated rice that’s over a day old, personally (there are far greater risks lurking in the fridge and in the cupboards!), but as I said…if you’re concerned beyond basic food handling practices, rice really does freeze quite well.
Sorry to keep quoting the food standards agency but it is a common concern..
“Cool leftovers as quickly as possible (ideally within one to two hours) and then store them in the fridge. Eat any leftovers within two days, except for cooked rice, which you should eat within one day to help avoid food poisoning”
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe/storing/
This is the reason I flagged it… hope it helps clear up my pressing the point..
It isn’t that I don’t understand or haven’t read the article and quotes you posted, Niamh, it’s that I disagree—and that I could quite easily counter with literally dozens of other health/food-related articles that are contradictory. You are free to do as you wish, of course, and this is why I recommend freezing your rice if you are at all concerned.
I’d suggest taking a look at the rice cooling and storage guidelines recommended by the USA Rice Federation for clearer details:
http://riceinfo.com/foodservice/storage-tips/
These are essentially the guidelines that I follow, and have no hesitation or concern in doing so.
I must admit I had never seen guidelines otherwise. This is news to me and good news. I was always afraid of rice having heard the horror stories. I suppose we all must follow the guidelines that we are comfortable with. As a mother of small children I feel I must err on the side of caution. Informative reading though.. thanks
I was reading Holly’s Facebook post about you contributing to her book and so I came here.. my heart (or it might be my stomach) made a little jump seeing the combination of Tofu and green asparagus! Both my favorite food 😉
I am so gonna try this.
For some reason I keep half of the tofu fresh by changing the water every day and the still sometimes forget to eat them the third day…. gosh!
desiree
yep. i totally do this with my tofu. the texture is so much nicer. and i am the same way re. waste. must not do it!
Ummm… dinners like this in 5-10 minutes? I think you’d better start posting more recipes!
Seriously! I have never heard of pressing tofu or freezing it… ever- and have ALWAYS wondered why tofu is so much better and less mushy bla (even though I still eat copious amounts) at home!!
This is the best! Thank you ever so much!!
xo Jessica Rae
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