Finally back up in Minnesota and my daughter Amy, the dietitian, fixed a vegetable stir fry with tofu and chicken. I became the designated vegetable chopper and she finished this delicious meal.
Vegetables for stir fry
Amy already got some nice broccoli from her garden, despite the ups and downs of the temperature this spring. It was tender and full on flavorful.
I also chopped some carrots into small spears, celery into bite sized pieces, red bell pepper into slices and some green onions for garnish. The veggies were softened in a skillet with a little vegetable oil.
I’ve never made anything with tofu before, but Amy used a 14 ounce block of extra firm. She squeezed the excess liquid from the tofu using paper towels between two plates gently pressing the liquid out, then cut it into one inch cubes.
She then put the cubes into a bowl and added about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 1 or 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mixed it well. Next, the cubes were placed on a baking sheet and placed in a 350° oven for 20 or 25 minutes until they started to brown.
Is the stir fry vegetarian friendly
The cut up chicken breast pieces were put in a separate non-stick skillet and browned a bit, then a tablespoon of soy sauce was added. The chicken was finished cooking in 4 or 5 minutes.
Keeping the chicken separated from the vegetables allows any vegetarians to skip the chicken and just add some of the tofu. Everybody is kept happy this way.
Some other vegetarian dishes are: Tangy Vegetarian Minestrone Soup, Broccoli Cheddar cheese Soup, and Spinach Potato Quiche.
This whole thing comes together in 40 or 45 minutes. It also allows you to use up some of those got-to-get-it-out-of-the-fridge-now vegetables. It’s all good. We even added a few cooked baby potatoes that were left over from the night before. Serve this with a side of basmati rice.
Below are the vitals for making this great meal.
Vegetable stir fry with tofu and chicken
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 14 oz. Extra firm tofu sqeezed dry and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Vegetables
- 1 head broccoli cut into florets
- 1 red bell pepper cut into bite sized strips
- 4 celery stalks chopped bite sized
- 4 medium carrots peeled and cut into 2 to 3 in. strips
- 4 green onions chopped for garnish
- 1 lg. garlic clove minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil for sauteing vegetables
- 2 6 oz. chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 or 2 tbsp soy sauce for cooking chicken
Sauce
- 3/4 cup low salt chicken broth divided
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup basmati rice or other rice cooked to package directions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Drain and dry tofu, cut into 1" cubes and place in a bowl with olive oil and soy sauce. Mix well and place on a baking sheet and put in the oven 20 to 25 minutes until browned. Remove and keep warm.
- Place broccoli, celery, bell pepper and carrots into a skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil on medium heat and saute until softened, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove to a bowl.
- In the same skillet, add 1/2 cup broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, sriracha, and minced garlic bring to a simmer then stir in the cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup broth. Bring to a low boil 2 minutes and add the vegetables back to the skillet and combine well.
- In a separate non-stick skillet on medium heat, place chicken and stir to brown, 2 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tbsp. soy sauce and cook until the chicken is done, 2 to 3 more minutes.
- Plate the vegetables with desired protein with rice on the side. Add green onion for garnish and additional soy sauce.
Thank you! We enjoyed this. I made half the recipe, and my husband ate two servings and I was happy with one. My only change was a heaping spoonfull of sambal oleek, the chili paste. Loved the mixture of tofu and chicken breast.
Thanks Ellen. The hot sauce sounds perfect with this.
This was a delicious meal and the tofu was so good that I kept popping plain cubes of the cooked tofu in my mouth when no one was looking when we were cleaning up from dinner. It was the tastiest tofu I’ve had!
Sounds good, looks good, and and tastes good. This is a perfect go to recipe for stir fry. Instead of using “got-to-get-it-out-of-the-fridge-now vegetables”, we look in the fridge and use “musgoes”.
Hey Alan, Amy’s stir fry sauce is quite good.