If you’re a fan of Asian flavors you’ll love this one skillet tofu and bok choy with an Asian style peanut sauce. It’s simple to make and tastes wonderful. The most complicated part of the entire plate is cleaning any grit from the bok choy and making the sauce.
You start with extra firm tofu, give it a press to expel the excess water and cut it into cubes or slabs, whatever takes your fancy. While the tofu is being pressed, chop a couple bok choy into managable pieces. Then make the peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice and whatever Asian condiment you have on hand. I used sweet chili sauce and would have added a little fish sauce if we had any.
I used my son’s large cast iron skillet to make this. I’ve missed cooking with cast iron on gas. One skillet meals are so much simpler to prepare when your cookware can easily go from stove top to oven. With a large skillet and a dutch oven I could probably prepare the majority of our meals.
After the tofu has a nice color, remove it from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Then, pour off a good amount of the oil in order to cook the bok choy. Once everything is ready, mix in the sauce and serve! It doesn’t get much easier than that! I served mine over rice. If you’re grain free or low carb you could serve tofu and bok choy alone or over spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice.
This recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express Cook Book. There are over 400 recipes for any meal. The recipes are written in a colloquial style, like your aunt describing how she makes her chicken and dumplings. You take some of this…and add some of that…
Ingredients
- 1 package extra firm tofu drained, pressed and cut into bite sized cubes
- 1 or 2 heads bok choy depending on their size, sliced into ribbons, washed and drained. Separate the thicker stems from the leaves. OR about 4 cups any hearty green you like
- 1 medium onion peeled and cut into petals
- optional chopped garlic
- generous pinch of red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet to about 1/2"
- optional chopped peanuts for garnish
For the peanut sauce
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
- juice of a lime
- any other condiment to taste
- some water to thin it out
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients for the peanut sauce together in a bowl first and allow to stand until the rest is ready. It will take about 1/4 cup of water or more to thin it down.
- Heat the oil and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium high heat. Fry the tofu on all sides until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Season with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Pour off most of the oil and heat the onions and large stems from the bok choy until softened and beginning to change color.
- Add the rest of the leaves and stir fry until tender and bright green.
- Return the tofu to the pan and pour over about half of the peanut sauce. Mix to coat.
- Serve with the remaining peanut sauce and chopped peanuts for garnish.
I’m sharing this recipe with the bloggers of I Heart Cooking Clubs where this week’s challenge was to make something healthy and delicious. Tofu with bok choy is all that and more.
I like this recipe. For whatever reason I tend to forget about Mark Bittman but he sure has some good recipes.
I like that he’s taken world cuisines, especially the veggie heavy ones, and made them accessible to the home cook.
What a great dish — easy, and just loaded with flavor. And healthy! Winner! 🙂
I like Bittman’s recipes. There’s always room for a substitution or an addition to suit your tastes. It was very flavorful although my son would have liked a little more red pepper flakes. Thanks!