Meatless Monday - Spicy Peanut Butter Tofu with Sriracha

I love tofu. Always have, always will.
The key to tofu is cooking and/or seasoning it properly. Plain tofu = no bueno.

Monday is a rough day for some and a new beginning for others. I really got into Meatless Monday after reading that the meat industry generates one fifth of man-made greenhouse gases...which is more than transportation. Incredible. What's one day without meat? If you haven't heard of the cause "Meatless Monday," read more about it here:
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/about-us/history/
It's an awesome and easy movement to be part of, give it a shot.

In honor of Meatless Monday, I bring you Spicy Peanut Butter Tofu with Sriracha (it's also vegan!)

Makes about 4 servings (I live alone and this provided about 4 meals with salads)

Ingredients:
14-16 oz. firm or extra firm tofu
1 T peanut oil (I only had
several large garlic cloves, sliced
large piece of ginger root, sliced
2-3 T diagonally sliced green onions (for garnish)

Sauce Ingredients:
3 T soy sauce (reduced sodium is fine)
3 T rice vinegar (if using seasoned, use half of the sweetener)
2 T smooth natural peanut butter (use the lowest sugar
peanut butter you can find)
 1 T honey (agave nectar or a dash of regular sugar works)
2 T vegetable stock or water
1 T Sriracha (more or less to taste)



Instructions:

Drain the tofu. Put tofu pieces between a double layer of paper towels and press down with your hand so the liquid in the tofu is absorbed by the towel. Most likely you will need to switch out the paper towels 5-6 times to get the moisture out of the tofu. I tend to leave a heavy pan on top of the tofu so I don't have to stand there during the process. After drained, cut tofu into lengthwise strips about 1 inch wide.  

Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, honey, stock or water, and then add the Sriracha Sauce. Cut the pieces of garlic and ginger, and diagonally slice green onions.

Heat the dry wok (or heavy pan) over high heat for one minute.  Then add the oil and heat about 30 seconds more.  Add the sliced pieces of ginger and garlic and cook just until they are fragrant (about 30 seconds); then remove and discard.  Add tofu pieces, lower heat to medium high and cook, turning often, until the tofu is nicely browned on both sides, about 7-8 minutes. 

When all the tofu pieces are browned, add the sauce, turn heat to low, and cook just until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the tofu.  Don't cook too long or the sauce will get too thick and won't pour over the tofu pieces. I found that this is no more than 30 seconds. Remove pan from the heat, transfer tofu pieces to a plate and pour sauce over and garnish with green onion slices (if using.)  Serve hot.

The tofu kept in the fridge for 4 more days. I reheated pieces on medium in the microwave to put on top of salads during the week. 

Happy Monday!