Kung Pao Tofu

If you're wondering how much of the holidays I spent living off of desserts and assorted crap, I've made real dinner with all sorts of vegetables twice already this year. IT'S ONLY THE 5TH. I need to not see any candy or cookies for a few days ...

Enter Kung Pao Tofu. All things Chinese-ish are a good choice for everyone in this house, so we're going to make our way through all of the different sauce choices. I still prefer General Tso Tofu to this one, but it was a solid way to get the girls to eat. Mila will happily live off of mushrooms all day long and Alexis loves zucchini, so there you go. They're both happy, even if they do eat off of each other's plates more than they should.

Kung Pao Tofu

Marinade
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 package extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed

Stir Fy
2 tablespoons vegetable or sesame oil
1 small zucchini, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced

Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce (yes again - it'll make sense after you read step 1)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger
2 teaspoons hosein sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup unsalted/roasted peanuts

1. Mix together the first round of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and cornstarch. Pour it into a Ziploc bag and add the cubed tofu. Squeeze out the air, seal, and allow to sit for at least half an hour. Overnight is better.

2. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable or sesame oil. Add the celery, carrot, and zucchini. Cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add the tofu and cook for another 4-5 minutes while you make the sauce.

3. To make the sauce, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, hosein sauce, sugar, and cornstarch together. Whisk thoroughly and set aside while you finish the stir fry part.

4. Go back to your skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the sauce from step 3. Stir thoroughly.

5. Add the peanuts.

6. Serve over rice.