Spicy Braised Tofu and Garden Vegetables

I found the best recipe for tofu!!  It is from the Vermont Zen Center of all places.  I was trying to search for a "braised tofu" dish like the one I had in San Diego at the Mission Cafe that was served with egg whites, grilled zucchini, and brown rice.

I have adapted it more to my tastes and find it to be very versatile.  It goes really well with brown rice (or any rice) and vegetables, either cooked with the tofu or separately.
A typical weeknight, after working out at the gym, I looked for something to cook in the refrigerator, grabbed a package of medium firm tofu (but the recipe works with any type of tofu), drained it, cut it into slices about 1/2 inch thick and set it on paper towels to dry out a bit.
I went out to the vegetable garden to see if anything was ripe and found a summer squash, a couple pieces of okra, a bell pepper, and some cilantro.  I had some carrots already cut up in the refrigerator from lunch and a piece of onion.
After braising the tofu I heated 1/2 tablespoon of canola oil and stir fried the cut up vegetables with a tsp each of garlic and ginger and a little low sodium soy sauce. I sprinkled the minced cilantro on top after they were done.  Brown rice was cooking in the rice cooker. The finished dish was full of flavor from the garden fresh produce and the gingery sauce on the tofu.  I had some cooked Thai beef in the freezer from another meal so I defrosted it and served it along side Steve's dinner.  He would not consider tofu, rice, and vegetables alone to be "dinner".

Spicy Braised Tofu

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar or evaporated cane sugar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Set aside.
1 pound tofu, medium to firm
1/2 tablespoon canola oil and a few drops sesame oil
1 scallion, chopped for garnish
1 tsp grated ginger for garnish

Cut dried tofu into bite size cubes.  In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute tofu until lightly browned.  Stir sauce again to combine, then add to tofu.  Cook stirring occasionally unti sauce comes to a boil.
Simmer until thick and sauce is no longer milky.  Sprinkle with scallion and ginger.

The braised tofu also tastes great for breakfast with an egg white omelet and toast or rice, or cut up a put on a salad.