Thursday, September 25, 2014

Pesto Tofu and Stir Fry Vegetables

We all know I'm a lean mean baking machine. If there's any occasion to bake, I'll seize it. And naturally, all my friends are my guinea pigs (whether they like it or not, which most of the time I guess they don't mind). Cooking on the other hand, seems less exciting to me. I'm usually a one trick pony when it comes to cooking. Not to mention how impatient I already am, if I have to cook something that requires waiting along with those cookies I'm already waiting on in the oven, I might explode (a virtue I sorely have to work on).

Luckily, the only waiting required in this dish is for the tofu to marinate in really good lemony pesto. And I guess I made an exception since my toe nails needed painting in the mean while. Oh, and did I mention I am really slow at julienning? How quickly time flies when you're sitting there making match sticks out of vegetables . . .


Pesto Tofu and Stir-fry Vegetables
Serves 4

For the Pesto Tofu:
300g Tofu (1 package)
Handful of Basil (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/8 Cup Walnuts
1 clove of Garlic
zest of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 tsp Salt

For the Stir-fry Veggies:
1/2 medium sized Celery Bulb (if this is hard to find, use celery stalks)
1-2 medium sized Carrots
1/2 stalk of Leek
1/2-2 fresh Chili Peppers
1 tbsp of Oil
dash of Salt, Coriander, and Cumin to taste





Drain your tofu of excess water and press if possible for 30 minutes (in Germany, you can easily buy vacuum packed tofu, which contains less water in the package). Place basil, walnuts, garlic, and lemon zest in a blender or food processor and pulse. Add the oil and run the machine until you have a fairly smooth, sauce like consistency. Add salt to taste.

Lay your tofu out and cover the tofu in the pesto. Marinate for 1-2 hours.




Clean and peel both celery bulb and carrots and cut into julienne (thin) strips. Wash leek and cut into horizontal chunks (about 1/2 inch thick). Dice the chili peppers. Heat a pan on the stove to medium high, then add the oil. Sauté the vegetables in the oil for a couple of minutes, until they become tender and pliable. Add the salt and spices to your liking, mix, then transfer onto a plate and set aside.

In the same pan, cook the marinated tofu. When the pesto has started to brown slightly, flip the tofu and cook on the other side (the cooking of the tofu is just to heat it up essentially, since it doesn't require much cooking to consume).

Serve both veggies and tofu with a side of rice. Guten Appetit!


1 comment:

  1. looks soooo yummy!! <3 <3
    Very interesting combination!!

    ReplyDelete