Dinner a Child Can Love

Tofu with Stir Fried Vegetables (Homemade 'Chinese' Food)

Organic tofu - a 'deck of cards' size per person
Frozen organic stir fry vegetable mix
Organic wild rice and brown rice
Assortment of fresh vegetables - onion, leek, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, etc.
Soy Sauce
Mirin
Olive oil
Sesame seeds

Put rice mixture into pot with water, at the ratio of 1 cup rice to 2 cups of water. I put 1/4 cup wild rice mix per 3/4 cup regular brown rice. It lasts longer this way). Add in some salt, half teaspoon for a cup of dried rice. This feeds our family of 4 once. If you wish to have leftovers, double the rice, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes. When done, just turn off the heat and let it sit until you're ready to serve it. Don't uncover it.

Prepare the ingredients for the stir fry first. Slice and cube the tofu, then press between paper towels. Start to heat two pans on medium. One for the fried tofu, one (maybe a wok?) for the stir fry. Mince the garlic. Chop the onion, leek, ginger, mushrooms, leftover baked squash, etc.

When pans are hot, add enough oil to the tofu pan to make it rise above the edges of the tofu. As if the pieces are taking a sitz bath in hot oil. You'll know the oil is hot enough if a piece of food sizzles immediately, or the end of a wooden spoon sizzles. Carefully put in the tofu. (Don't stuff them into the pan, you can do this in batches if you need to). Then ignore it. I mean it. Pretend it's not there.

Put enough oil in your wok or larger pan to coat the bottom of it. Add in the onion or leek or shallot. When fragrant, add the garlic. When you start smelling cooked garlic, add the mushrooms, then any other fresh vegetable you have. Sprinkle in soy sauce. When these look like they are starting to warm up, add the frozen veggies. Add more soy sauce. Cover and let steam.

Take a look at the tofu. If the bottom edges look brown, turn to fry the other side.

Check on the vegetables, add some more soy sauce if the vegetables taste bland. Mistake the mirin bottle for the soy sauce and dump a bunch of mirin into the wok, instead of drizzling it down the sides at the end. Stir. Cover if the vegetables aren't fully cooked. Keep an eye on these. Don't overcook them. Once they are done, remove them from the wok with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl.

Remove the tofu to paper towels to dry. They should be tough on the outside, chewy on the inside. If you cook them long enough, they will be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. After the vegetables are in a bowl, put the tofu into the wok to coat with the delicious soy sauce, mirin and vegetable juices. Quickly remove to a serving bowl. Continue working in batches with the tofu if need be.

After the tofu is finished, add a bit of cornstarch to the wok. Sprinkle a bit at a time, while stirring furiously. Let simmer while you plate the food.

Put the rice, vegetables and tofu onto each plate. Spoon the thickened sauce from the wok onto dinner. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. If you have another dry clean pan, you could have toasted them first.

Serve to the kids by saying, "Woops! I put too much sweet stuff in the Chinese food! You're gonna love it." Even the three year old will eat a bunch before realizing it's just like regular Chinese take out, only a bit healthier.