Asparagus Stir Fry

I've been wanting to try this recipe from 101 Cookbooks.com.blog for quite some time. It combines one of my favorite (but for some reason rarely eaten) vegetables, asparagus, with tofu. It has an Asian flair, lots of spice, and intense flavor. Definitely will make again!

Ingredients:

a couple big pinches of fine grain sea salt
toasted sesame oil
8 oz. extra-firm tofu, cut into slices pencil thick
4 green onions, thinly sliced
scant 1 T freshly grated ginger (peeled)
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 a bunch of asparagus, trimmed, cut in 1 inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 big handful toasted cashews, chopped a bit
a few handfuls of spinach, kale, or chard
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 T hoisin sauce
1 small handful each of fresh slivered mint and fresh slivered basil

1.) Have all the ingredients prepped. Heat a splash of sesame oil in a large pan, or well-seasoned wok over medium-high heat. Alternately, you can do this in a large nonstick dry pan. When hot, add tofu and cook until golden, a few minutes. Remove tofu from pan and set aside.

2.) Add another (generous) splash of oil to the pan, and as soon as it's hot, add onions, ginger, red pepper flakes, asparagus, and salt. Stir fry for a minute, then add garlic, cashews, and spinach/kale/chard. Stir fry another minute, until the spinach wilts. Return the tofu to the pan. Stir in the lime zest and juice, and the hoisin sauce. Cook for 10-20 seconds, stirring all the while. Remove from the heat, and stir in the mint and basil.


*I made a few changes to this recipe:

-I baked the tofu to get it crispy. I did this by wrapping the tofu in paper towels and putting it between two plates to get as much liquid out as possible. I then sliced it into strips and put it on a baking sheet. I baked it for 30 minutes at 375, turning the pieces halfway through the baking time. Once they had cooled a bit, I then diced them and had them ready to add to the recipe.

-I used almonds instead of cashews, and skipped the mint and used dried basil.


This was a delicious recipe. As I said earlier, it is spicy. Next time, I will for sure cut back on the red pepper flakes, probably just 1/8 teaspoon. Otherwise, this was a nice change from our typical meals- and very healthy!