Vegan Tofu Fried Quinoa
Written by Rachel, Posted in Dairy-Free, Dinner, Fruit, Gluten Free, Grains, Leftovers, Lunch, Main Dishes, One Dish Dinners, Quick and Easy, Quinoa, Rice, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
We don’t eat a lot of meat. We enjoy it, but it’s expensive, and we’ve found that there are plenty of other ways to get enough protein in our diet. So the meals containing meat are few and far between, and we fill in the gaps with meals like this take on Fried Rice.
It starts with some seasonal veggies. Right now we’ve got greens like kale, chard, and mei qing choi. There are carrots, snap peas, and spring onions. And we’ve got the most delicious spring onions.
If you wanted to adapt this to suit another season, you could try some of these options:
Spring: Radishes, green beans, asparagus, fava beans, garlic scapes, or kohlrabi.
Summer: Zucchini/summer squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, or sinqua.
Fall: Beets, arugula, cabbage, celery, chard, fennel, or radicchio.
Winter: Broccoli, cauliflower, winter squash, bok choy, mustard greens, or daikon radishes.
No matter the veggies, it’s going to come together super quickly, so I’d suggest having all of the components ready to go before you begin cooking. Stir fry type dishes generally tend to cook over pretty high heat, which means they need to be stirred almost constantly. This doesn’t leave time for chopping up the next ingredients while the first ones cook.
I’d made some quinoa the day before, and used the leftovers in this dish. You could also use bulgur wheat, rice noodles, or regular brown rice (cook according to the package’s directions).
The quinoa takes the place of brown rice, since it has a bit more protein. The tofu mimics the egg, to make it vegan. I asked Tim if he could tell that there weren’t eggs in here. He said that it wasn’t noticeable.
Like a lot of things, I enjoy this served with a wedge of lemon to squeeze over top. The brightness that it adds is the perfect way to complete this dish.
Happy Eating!
Ingredients
- 2 T oil
- 1 C snap peas (or green beans), strings removed, chopped
- 1 C carrots, chopped
- 1/2 C fennel (or celery), chopped
- 1 C onion, chopped
- 2 C greens, chopped
- sprinkle ginger
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- sprinkle cayenne
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 T soy sauce or gluten-free aminos
- 2 T rice vinegar
- 1 C quinoa (or bulgur wheat, brown rice, or rice noodles) (cooked)
- 7 oz. tofu (firm), drained and crumbled
- 1/4 C green or spring onions, chopped
- 1/2 to 1 C microgreens
- lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Heat a wok, add oil over medium-high heat. Add snap peas through cayenne and cook for 3-5 minutes, turning constantly.
- Add greens through microgreens (if microgreens are very delicate, wait to add them until 1 minute before you finish cooking) and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.
