I truly think that some of the best dinners I cook are those that are literally pulled from the fridge with whatever ingredients I have on hand. The picture above is a tofu stir fry that was part of last night’s dinner. I am partial to tofu in a stir fry and the rest of the family…well not so much. Complicating this is the fact that youngest son is allergic to sesame, so addition of sesame oil (which I also happen to like) is a big no-no on anything that he is eating. Hence, we are usually a two dinner family.

The “other” dinner I made last night was a chicken stir fry with broccoli and snow peas. Simple and quite tasty. For both recipes I put the protein into cornstarch and coated it before cooking – for the tofu that enabled it to be crunchy on the outside while still soft on the inside – for the chicken it gave it a nice moist taste.

Basically I pulled whatever I had in the way of fresh veggies out and you can do the same, but here’s the recipe for these particular recipes:

TOFU STIR FRY

1 container of extra firm tofu- drained on towel and cut into one inch cubes.

3 scallions chopped into 1 inch pieces

1/2 large onion, sliced thinly

2 carrots sliced thinly on the diagonal

1/2 large red bell pepper sliced into thin strips

handful of snow peas, chopped in half

handful of broccoli florets

chicken broth 2 cups

low sodium soy sauce 3 tablespoons

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 t. sesame oil

vegetable oil for sauteing (about 2 T.)

1. Dredge cubed tofu in cornstarch (about 1/4 cup total) until all sides are covered. Heat vegetable oil in frying pan or wok and add tofu, let cook on one side for about 5 minutes (or if you’re like me until the smoke detector goes off) and then flip so all sides are browned nicely. Remove from pan.

2. Add all vegetables and stir fry for about 5 minutes until vegetables are cooked enough for your taste.

3. Add sesame oil, chicken broth mixed with remaining cornstarch and soy sauce.

4. Bring to a boil so it thickens and then serve with jasmine or brown rice.

CHICKEN STIR FRY

3 boneless chicken breasts sliced into 1/4 inch slices

2 large broccoli crowns cut into florets (bite size)

1/2 pound of snow peas sliced in thirds

2 c. chicken broth

3 T low sodium soy sauce

1/4 c. cornstarch

vegetable oil for sauteing (about 2 T)

1. Dip slices of chicken into cornstarch to coat. Put oil into frying pan and heat, add chicken – cook until browned.

2. Steam broccoli florets in microwave with 1/2 c. water covered for 2 minutes to par-cook.

3. Drain broccoli and add it to pan along with snow peas. Stir fry until vegetables are cooked to your liking, about 5-8 minutes.

4. Mix chicken broth with remaining cornstarch. Add soy sauce and mix well. Add to pan and bring to a boil to thicken.

Serve with white or jasmine rice.