Vegetable Stir Fry Recipe. Meat and Chicken Variations

Vegetable Stir Fry

Vegan Soy protein vegetable stir fry

The Perfect Dinner! All variations are included

You don’t need to wait until Meatless Monday to enjoy it. It is quite a substantial one-dish main course any time. You could swear you’re having a steak dinner: It’s that hearty!

The miso sauce and Sake yield a rich, silky and luxurious sauce. I took my recipe Asian all the way. Pretty easy to take your dish in any direction with a well stocked pantry!

For this Vegetable Stir Fry, I love to use Super Firm Tofu

That’s the firmest textured tofu in the whole tofu gamut, and is becoming increasingly available. It lends itself beautifully to grilling and stir-frying. Firm and reliable, it won’t let you down or break apart: You will enjoy it more often. It only needs a few drops of oil to sear on each side.

You have plenty of room to play

Although I was very happy with my vegetable selection, on another shopping day I might find something else more inviting. So this week it was tiny, and I mean tiny rainbow baby potatoes, less than an inch in diameter. They were impossibly cute, so of course I knew better than to leave them behind. Then I found small cremini, small baby bok choy, and small baby peppers. But many other choices will do: Small Brussels sprouts, asparagus chunks, thin zucchini, sliced shiitake, sliced nappa cabbage, even diced kohlrabi, butternut squash chunks, and so on. Likewise, you could skip the potatoes and serve the whole dish on a bed of soba or rice noodles.

Do not add any salt to your vegetable stir fry

Once you put in the miso, you will find the dish amply seasoned without any added salt. You don’t want to ruin your dish by making it too salty!

Always have some exotic spices on hand!

I always have chipotle powder and truffle salt on hand: Accessible, exotic and low maintenance luxuries that help turn your pantry into a real treasure trove. (Enjoy the truffle salt in another dish though, we have enough salt in the sauce)

Use a large nonstick skillet!

That’s a must-have utensil. As usual with stir fry dishes, the wider the bottom of the skillet, the less oil you will need, and the faster your dish will come together, even while it keeps its vibrant color and crunch. Stir-fry the vegetables that have a comparable cooking time together. For example: stir-fry nappa, mushrooms and baby peppers together. Stir fry baby potatoes and tofu together, and so on.

Use another protein in your vegetable stir fry

Strips of beef, chicken or seitan will work beautifully here too, instead of the tofu. Just cur them thin enough so they cook fast. If you would like, tenderize the strips in a corn starch-water slurry before stir frying them (this doesn’t apply to the seitan)

Ingredients

Stir-Fry

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 dozen tiny rainbow baby potatoes
2 pounds super firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch thick strips
2 dozen baby rainbow peppers
4-5 baby bok choy, quartered (leave them attached at the stem)
3 cups small cremini mushrooms

Miso Sake Sauce

2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 inch piece ginger, minced
1 cup dry sake
3 tablespoon dark or white miso paste
2-3 tablespoons sriracha sauce ot 1 tablespoon chipotle powder

Instructions

Make the Stir-Fry

Mix the oils in a bowl. Add half of the oil mixture to a large nonstick skillet. Add the baby potatoes and the tofu, in one layer, and cook, covered, on a medium-high flame. After a few minutes, turn the tofu over, and give the potatoes a good stir. Test the potatoes with the point of a knife. If the point goes right through, the potatoes are tender. Transfer the mixture to a platter.

Repeat with the remaining oil and bok choy and cremini. Add this mixture to the platter.

Make the sauce:

Heat the oil in the same skillet. Add the ginger and saute until just fragrant. Whisk in the sake, miso and sriracha, just a few seconds. Return all the stir fry to the skillet and toss. Serve hot. Serves 6.

Although the Vegetable Tofu stir-fry is best eaten righter cooking, it reheats very well.