Healthy, Low Calorie, One Bowl Meal – Peanut Stir Fry
When making dishes such as pasta and stir fries, load up on the veggies and reduce the pasta and rice – for e.g., 1/2 cup of pasta or rice per person. This is a tasty dish that is filled with protein and lots of vegetables. Of course, always try for organic, and if you can’t get it, soak your vegetables in water and vinegar or a commercially made product to take off some of the surface pesticides.
Block of extra-firm organic tofu or tempeh, cut into bite-sized pieces
Lots of veggies cut up in bite-sized pieces – for 2 people, I used a full onion, half a red pepper, half a green pepper, and a few sliced mushrooms. You could also add broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, or any other vegetable that you like.
- In ribbons. 1/4 cup cilantro
- 2 sliced green onions
- 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, brown, black, or red rice
- 2 TBSP crushed nuts – walnuts or other
- Lettuce or beet tops sliced
Stir fry the tofu in a small amount of sesame oil – this is high in calories, so use a sprayer or use a brush to spread it in the pa,n and once brown, put it in a bowl for later. Saute the onions in the same pan, then add the peppers and the mushrooms. Put the veggies in the bowl with the tofu and add water to the pot..Steam the veggies. I cook them individually because I don’t want them to become overcooked. I want them to stay tender and crunchy.
Make a peanut sauce – I just wing it, but the rough amount would be the following:
- 1-2 TBSP peanut or almond butter
- 1/2-1 TBSP Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (kind of like soy sauce)
- Quarter size of fresh organic ginger – keep the skin on
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1/8 tsp of crushed chilis or fresh jalapeno to taste
- 2 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
- Water – start with a few tablespoons
- A little agave to sweeten it.
You can also add coconut milk, though this will bump up the calories. Depending on your taste, this could be enough sauce for 4 servings.
In a Vitamix or other blender, chop the garlic and ginger, add the Bragg’s, lemon juice, nut butter, peppers, and water. If needed, add some sweetener like agave syrup. Mix the veggies and tofu with the peanut sauce and heat.
Wash and cut a half a head of lettuce, beet tops, or whatever you have into ribbons. In a large individual bowl (this is a one-dish meal), add the lettuce, 1/4-1/2 cup rice, and top with tofu and veggies. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and or chopped green onions and top with crushed walnuts or other nuts.
Because this has so many vegetables and I don’t want the high fat of a lot of peanut sauce I also made a cilantro dressing made of a handful of cilantro, garlic, ginger, 2 tsp sesame oil, a dime size of agave syrup, 1/4 cup water and 2 tsp of Braggs, blended in the Vitamix. I layered this on the lettuce and then the rice, and then topped it with the veggie and tofu peanut mixture.
