Peanut Sauce Stir Fry w/ bonus recipe for leftovers!

Anybody else like repurposing leftovers??? 

Me too! I had a craving for coconut and peanut butter flavors that I usually only get when I go out for Thai food! I decided that can’t be that hard so I came up with this simple peanut sauce. I used my peanut sauce to stir fry up some veggies and tofu (would also be good with chicken!) . The next night I used up the tofu, veggies, and rice, but as a “warm Thai style salad”. Sounds weird I know…But so good! The first recipe took about an hour to prepare. The second one only takes about 20 minutes, because it is pre-prepped! I hope you enjoy these two recipes:

Teriyaki Tofu: 

1 block extra firm tofu

½ cup Teriyaki marinade 

Coconut Rice:

¾ of a can coconut milk

1 cup water

1 cups uncooked rice- I used brown basmati 

Peanut Sauce: 

2 tsp sesame oil

½ cup diced up onion

1 jalapeño (seeded if you don’t like spice!)

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp soy sauce

coconut milk (whatever is left in the can)

½ cup peanut butter

dash of ground pepper

1 tsp turmeric powder 

1 tsp ginger powder

 Peanut Sauce Stir Fry:

Teriyaki Tofu: 

I started with squeezing out some of the extra moisture in the tofu. I do this by wrapping the tofu in a couple paper towels and placing a heavy bowl on top for about 20 minutes. 

Next, I soaked the tofu in the premade Teriyaki marinade that I had in the fridge for another 20 minutes. 

Coconut Rice:

While the tofu was doing its thing, I started the coconut rice. This is super simple: just add about ¾ a can of coconut milk with a cup of water. Get it to boil, and add your rice. Turn down to a simmer, and cover. (Cook time based on type of rice: brown rice is usually about 45 minutes) This will yield about 3 cups of rice.

Next, I prepped the veggies: I had 1 onion, 1 & ½ bell peppers, 1 broccoli crown, 2 large carrots, and a bunch of green beans. I simply chopped them up how I like them in a stir fry- and put half away in a container (to save for the next recipe!). The veggies you use are totally up to you. Anything goes with stir fry in my opinion!

Peanut sauce: 

Sauté the onion and jalapeño in the sesame oil, for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic, for an additional minute. Add the rest of the ingredients over low heat, I found a whisk did the trick to mix in the peanut butter! Taste, and add more spices if needed. (Fresh minced ginger would also be delicious if you have it!)

Putting it all together: 

To stir fry, simply add the veggies into a large fry pan or a wok with oil. Add in about ½ a cup of water and cover. About 5 minutes in, add ½ the tofu. (You’ll use the other half in the next recipe) Keep the lid off at this point, and occasionally stir. Once your tofu & veggies look about done (light browning on the tofu) stir in the peanut sauce. Yeah… I know it smells freaking drool worthy.

Once everything is nice and hot it is ready to go over your rice! I highly recommend a squeeze of lime and sprinkle of cilantro. BAM!

Recipe 2!!! 

So next up is a hella quick way to use up those leftovers: A Warm Stir Fry Salad. 

In a large bowl put in about 2 cups of greens (I used a wilting spicy salad mix).

Simply sauté up the leftover veggies, the same way you did in the first recipe. Add in the tofu, cook about 10 minutes. Next add in your leftover rice with a little additional oil ( or I suppose you could just microwave it, if you have one of those fancy things!). Once everything is cooked to your liking, smoother it in your favorite teriyaki sauce.  

Place all the contents of the fry pan over your greens. I added half an avocado with some Everything But the Bagel Seasoning, cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and a splash of liquid aminos. 

SOOO yummy. I’m not sure which recipe I liked more… You guys will have to let me know what you think!