Tofu veggie stir fry

UGH. Ever get in a rut in the kitchen? When you feel like you only cook the same 4 dishes (or variations thereof) over and over, and yes, you’re getting good enough too cook them in your sleep, but why on why can’t you come up with anything NEW?

My culinary monotony is not from lack of sources. There’s that full shelf of my own cookbooks, plus all my roommates’. I happily peruse cooking blogs, and always keep an eye out for good recipes to tear out in magazines. It’s the same feeling I get in the morning, bleary-eyed and cranky, when I stand in front of my (very full) closet and moan, “I’ve got nothing to wear!”

There were a few weeks there when we first moved in, that I made a crustless quiche and lasagna each week.

Time for something new and different.

This tofu stir-fry did the trick.

Note: when making it, I followed the recipe and did NOT fry the tofu before adding it to the vegetables.

Bad move–it added probably 20 minutes to the cooking time. I have learned the hard way with tofu – it needs time and space to crisp properly and get that delightful golden-brown color. Else you’ll end up with poached tofu (not bad if that’s what you are going for).

Fitness Magazine calls this Buddha Tofu, but let’s just call it a Tofu Veggie Stir Fry, shall we?

Indian Vegetarian Fried Rice

I hate to break AFCB’s silence with another fried rice recipe but… here’s another fried rice recipe. Nothing wrong with that, right?

I sure hope not.

This recipe comes from Shape magazine, which someone who used to live in my current apartment had a subscription to. These days I’m getting much more cooking inspiration from magazines than from the (whole shelf of ) cookbooks I have in my apartment. Maybe because I can rip the pages out? I guess I could do that with my cookbooks too (like when Martha tells me about the seven-layer wedding cake I could make, or the fresh oyster bar for 24–yeah right, Martha), but it still feel sacrilegious.

This recipe totally fits the easy, quick dinner-time meal I gravitate towards. Plus, it’s healthy (!).

Indian Curried Fried Rice, from Shape Magazine