So I got home tonight and again, my personal chef had not prepared anything for dinner. And then I got my daily reminder that I don’t actually have a live in personal chef. I stood in front of the fridge for awhile debating what to do. Closed it. Logged on to order delivery from Sidewalk Cafe. I ran out of patience going through the menu and realized I probably was going to find the delivery wait a tad too long if the menu was dragging on like War and Peace (hungry = cranky). DRAAAAAAGGGGGED myself back to the fridge (caps for dramatic effect) to take another look. Turns out there was PLENTY of food in there to make dinner. I was just being extremely lazy so with Brian Williams in the background chatting my ear off, I set to it. And just fifteen minutes later a colorful and delicious dinner was ready. It even had some nutritional value.
I have an addiction to spicy food. I love it. In Prague once, my friend and I stumbled upon a noodle joint, a welcome surprise in the land of overcooked unidentifiable meat and potatoes. I chose the Chang Mai noodles (3 spicy stars ***) and devoured them. To this day, I still have not found noodles on par with this deliciousness in broth. As I was shoveling it in, my friend decided she had to try them and see what I was enjoying so much. One bite and she literally lit on fire. Okay, not literally but let’s just say, there were tears, all liquid from our table and all nearby tables was immediately empty and we quickly realized why the menu was imprinted on a tissue box in the center of the table. She was in awe that I was shoveling these in. So I walked away from this meal a bit cocky (as if there is some status in being able to endure spicy food while others suffer).
Three months later that same friend and I were in NYC for a night and went to lunch at a Thai restaurant recommended by friends. I ordered the basil noodles “as spicy as you can make them.” OY! The noodles that came were actually red from the chilis and after just a couple of bites my face became tingly and my vision started to blur. It was the kind of spicy that is completely absent of flavor and numbs the senses. My friend pushed back from the table afraid to be even close to noodles that would have such an effect on me after the “Prague incident.”
After that trip, I came home and tried to replicate the Prague noodles. I never could. Sigh. But in the process learned a lot about Asian stir fry and the Asian market. And I have that to thank for tonight’s dinner….
Recipe: Cook sliced tofu in non stick pan with cooking spray until slightly brown on both sides. Remove from pan. Add sliced red onion, red pepper, yellow pepper, sugar snap peas and broccoli (or any vegetable you have). Saute until they start to get soft. Add 2 TBSP soy sauce, 1 TBSP oyster sauce and palm sugar and chili paste to taste (I added almost 2 TBSP palm sugar and chili paste). Add tofu back to the pan. Saute for 2 minutes. Add chopped thai basil ( I love it and added an entire bunch). Mix and voila. Dinner. And lunch tomorrow. And only one frying pan, a cutting board and knife to clean. Over brown rice would have been a nice way to serve this but waiting 45 minutes for rice to cook was not in the cards tonight.
Any veggies will do although I think the onion adds a bit of sweetness to it…
The other ingredients. If you are someone that is just starting to cook with tofu, this is the best brand and type (not just extra firm but SUPER firm). I was not a tofu fan for years because of that silken stuff….Bleh!
The final product
