I bloody love tofu, but this tends to depend entirely on the type of tofu you buy. For stirfries such as this, avoid the silken tofu products at all costs. Silken works best scrambled, but go for the marinated or smoked/pressed types (e.g. Taifun) when you're after a stirfry. This recipe's one for anyone after a non-Asian inspired way of using tofu. This is undoubtedly a blasphemous way of using tofu (and don't get me wrong, South East Asian cooks are the Masters when it comes to tofu), but I think the versatility of tofu sometimes gets overlooked. So here's a rather different set of ingredients to use next time you cook with tofu.
What's the A to V?
Tofu is a fantastic source of calcium, as well as magnesium and (non-heam) iron. They also contain zinc and vitamin K.
Ingredients (Serves 2 with leftovers):
200g of tofu, chopped into 1-2 cm cubes
1 tbsp of sesame or olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped into rounds
2 large shallots, sliced
2 spring onions, roughly chopped
75g of black or purple olives (pitted)
100g of cherry tomatoes, halved
4 sundried tomatoes, chopped into smaller pieces
1 preserved lemon (optional), diced
2 handfuls of spinach
Method
Heat your oil in a pan. Add the shallotts and a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes. Then add your spring onions, tomatoes, and garlic to the pan. Cook for a further 3-5 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and are starting to brown.
Turn up the heat slightly, and add your tofu. After a further 5 minutes of cooking time, add your spinach, olives, preserved lemon, and the sun-dried tomatoes to the pan. Cook for a further 5-8 minutes, season, and serve.
This goes really well with brown rice or garlic bread and a side of broccoli.