Hot Tofu

There's just something awesome about making stir fry dishes. They're fast, have tons of flavor, and somehow exciting, but I can't explain how or why. Rob thinks it's the peanuts.

Tonight I decided to make Cooking Light's Szechuan-Style Tofu with Peanuts. You broil the tofu (gotta love that whole roasting/broiling/carmelizing thing), while the rest is cooking on the stovetop. The recipe doesn't have rave reviews on the site, but I thought it was pretty good. It's not something I'll probably make again (or at least I'll add some garlic), but I like the idea of broiling the tofu, which is new to me. It also calls for a full tablespoon of sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste), not that I'm complaining (YUM).

Tofu. It used to scare me. Tofu is fairly harmless, though. It takes on whatever flavors you throw at it, which is handy since it won't interfere or clash with anything else. I've come to love the firm variety, and I especially love tofu in stir fry dishes. It almost seems like tofu was made for a stir fries (maybe because it's Asian, but maybe not). I hear that it might originate from cheesemaking in Europe (source).

At any rate, this week it seems that the cooking bug has bit (note photo). Library books that I just wanted to 'take a little look at.' Gah! Looks like my reading schedule is booked up (HAHAHA) for awhile (oh, come on.. I'm a former librarian, so I'm allowed one or two awful book-related puns).