The Suburban Herbivore

I found this recipe online that says it’s the one used by P. F. Chang’s. I changed it up a bit, and was really, really happy with the results. I was out of vegetable broth (for shame) so I used water, but as Mr. Brown says, water doesn’t bring any flavor to the party. Here’s my recipe for Ma Po Tofu.

Ingredients
14 oz tofu, extra firm
1 tbsp chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 tbsp miso paste (preferably brown)
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tbsp fermented black beans
1 tbsp (or more) crushed red pepper
1 cup vegetable broth or water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
4 stalks green onions, chopped
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Put the entire block of tofu in a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook for three minutes. Remove, drain, cool until it can be handled, and cut into one-inch blocks. Heat both oils together in a large deep skillet or wok at medium heat. Mix the chili sauce and miso into a paste, add to the oil, and cook for about one minute. Add the black beans and crushed red pepper, and cook for thirty seconds. Add the broth, sugar, and soy sauce, mix well, then add the tofu and simmer for about five minutes. Add the green onions. Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle into the skillet a little bit at a time and stir. Keep adding until the sauce thickens to your liking. You may not need to add all the cornstarch. Serve with some broccoli and steamed rice.

After four hours of cooking, here’s what I have left:

1/2 lb beets
7 small turnips
1 lb bok choy
7 radishes

And here’s what I made:

Thai Curried Vegetables

Sugar snap peas, broccoli, carrots, and onions were used to make this simple curry. I also added some tofu. Based off a recipe in Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, I wasn’t happy enough with this to share how I made it. I cooked the broccoli and snap peas briefly before adding them to the curry, and I think this made them too soft and mushy.

I’ve made this a few times before. It features beets and dried cranberries, and yes, it really is that color. Risotto in general is just delicious, and this dish is no exception. Cinnamon and cloves add depth to the sweetness of the beets. This is from Lorna Sass’s Recipes From an Ecological Kitchen.

I’m not sure what makes the spices particularly Moroccan, as it was just cumin, turmeric, and cayenne, but this was a very tasty way to use up all those greens. It called for preserved lemon, which I didn’t have, so I added a few splashes of lemon juice instead. Check out Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone for the recipe.

Well, it was efficient in vegetable usage, anyway, though it took a couple of hours to coordinate and pull everything together. All the recipes came from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.

The first part of last night’s meal was braised root vegetables with miso. I used the radishes, the turnips, and the kohlrabi. This turned out really well - the turnips and radishes turned creamy and yummy. The kohlrabi could have used a little more cooking, but was still flavorful.

While this was stewing, I steamed a big mess of greens - last week’s kale, plus the radish, kohlrabi, and turnip greens - for use on Sunday or Monday. I refrigerated them, and began chopping up the bok choi and last week’s tatsoi. I sauteed the stems in peanut oil for a while, and added the greens. Later on, I added fermented black beans, some green garlic, and tamari. I probably added too many black beans - the flavor of the overall dish was a little strong.

I’d planned to bake some tofu to compliment the meal, but was running a little short on time, so I tried poaching it. I have to say, putting a big block of tofu in a pot of boiling water seemed a little silly, but it wasn’t too bad with a little tamari drizzled on top. But I think I prefer baked.

So at this point, I have left: green lettuce, kale, and some green garlic. Not bad!