A couple of dinners

Meals lately have not been very photogenic - here are a couple that weren't too bad.

Stir-fried tofu with carrots, celery, peppers and peanuts:

I often make a sort of salad bar for dinner, where I put out a bunch of vegetables, fruit, meats, etc and all may serve themselves (this cuts down on complaints a bit):

My resulting plate: greens with edamame, peppers, and tomatoes; cottage cheese; watermelon; hard boiled eggs; turkey and salami.

Asian bites

Chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce, chicken pot stickers (Trader Joe's), vegetarian spring rolls (homemade), and edamame

Spring roll recipe:

14 oz. tofu
1 oz. soy sauce
6 whole basil leaves 
1/4 cup minced basil
1/4 cup minced mint
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup mung bean sprouts
6 rice paper wrappers

Cut the tofu lengthwise into 12 1/2 inch strips (slice into four rectangles, then each rectangle into three strips). Marinate in the soy sauce and bake for 1/2 hour. Let cool.

Assemble all the prepared ingredients in a row. Wet four paper towels in warm water, then stack with three rice papers, starting with a paper towel on the bottom, alternating towels and rice papers, ending with a paper towel on the top. When the stack is finished, flip it over and remove the top paper towel; the first rice paper should now be pliable enough to roll. Place the dampened rice paper on a separate plate, and in the center place first the whole basil leaf, then two tofu strips, then small amounts of the remaining ingredients in a narrow pile. Fold the top and bottom over the filling, then the left side, then roll right to finish the roll (as if you were rolling a burrito.) Repeat with the remaining two damp rice papers, then repeat the paper towel stack with the remaining dry rice papers and fill them. Refrigerate the rolls until ready to serve. Serve with peanut sauce or hoisin sauce.

Makes six rolls, 75 calories per roll.

Delivery dinner

Sometimes you just don't want to leave the house.

4 oz. sesame tofu with broccoli: 200 calories
1 vegetarian spring roll: 100 calories
2 vegetable steamed dumplings: 60 calories

Stir-fry Lunch

Today's lunch was a vegetarian stir-fry:

4 oz. extra firm tofu
5 oz. mixed vegetables
(Pro-tip: if you're cooking for one, buy cut-up vegetables from the salad bar at the grocery store. It's more expensive than buying the whole vegetables, but less expensive than throwing away all the broccoli and celery that went bad because it never got used up)
1 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. sriracha

230 calories

Yellow Curry with Tofu and Vegetables

Tonight's dinner was Yellow Curry with Tofu and Vegetables.

1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp. yellow curry paste
1 block (15 oz) tofu
Mixed vegetables to taste
(I used cauliflower, peas, carrots and bamboo shoots)

Cut tofu into squares and saute in non-stick pan with cooking spray until the tofu is brown on all sides, then set aside. In the same pan, combine the coconut milk with the curry paste and cook together for 5 minutes, then add vegetables. Cover the pan and simmer until the vegetables are tender, then add the tofu and simmer until it is heated through.

Serves 4; 360 calories per serving.

Served with 1/3 cup brown rice (75 calories) and cucumbers in vinegar.