Tofu and Fried Rice and... Sweet Potato Fries??

Sigh... tonight's dinner was a success and a failure. Everything tasted great, but I misunderstood my hubby earlier today and thought he asked me to make some sweet potato fries tonight. So that threw off my plans for our stir fry night and I cut out the vegetables to make room for his fries. I added a salad so we'd have "something" green, but while we were eating dinner he said "This would be great with some stir fried vegetables, too." I just had to laugh.

But... the GOOD thing is that I get to share two recipes tonight! I can't tell you how much I LOOOOOVE pan fried tofu! I love it so much, in fact, that I started prepping dinner about 2 hours before I started couldn't just because I was craving the tofu! It makes my heart sing! : )

Pan Fried Tofu and Fried Rice
Take some extra firm tofu and slice it according to your desired size/thickness. Set down some paper towels (about 4 sheets thick) and lay the tofu out on it to drain some of the moisture. After the paper towels are drenched I put down a new set and flip the tofu slices over and move them to the new towels to dry a little more. This will help with achieving crispy tofu that is to die for!

While the tofu is drying, I make my brown rice. I just use instant rice so it only takes 5 minutes, but you want to let the rice cool completely before you toss it in the pan for fried rice. So just make it and set it aside.

Spray the bottom of the frying pan with some olive oil (highly recommend using something like a Misto so you don't have to use much). Heat the pan on medium-high heat and make sure it's very hot. You want the tofu to sizzle when it hits the pan! Put the tofu in the pan and and cook for about 8 minutes on the first side. Don't shake it and move it around. You oiled the pan so it shouldn't stick. : )

At this time you can season the tofu. I just put a little sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. When it was ready to be flipped, I added just a tad more olive oil and also added some lemon zest that I put aside from making my pitcher of water earlier. I also saved a piece of lemon and I squeezed the juice over the tofu... ah! My mouth waters just thinking about crispy tofu with some lemon!

The tofu only needs to cook 4-5 minutes on the other side. Remove it and set aside. Add about a teaspoon of olive oil back into the pan and coat to get ready for your rice. Add the cooled brown rice to the pan and shake it around so it all coats with the oil. Add a little soy sauce to taste. I also add just a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder because I think they should be in everything!

I think I'll just have to make this again next week so I can add the vegetables to it! It really was a delicious dish!


Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potato fries are so delicious and easy to make! Just wash your sweet potatoes and slice them up into fries. Heat the oven to 425 and arrange the fries on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Spray the top of the fries with olive oil (you really need a Misto or similar for this - drizzling olive oil won't do). I think they cook for about an hour, but make sure you keep an eye on them so you know when to flip them. I season them with some seasoning salt. This recipe came from my friend Nancy (including the Misto, which she bought me for my birthday!). I can already tell we'll be making sweet potato fries a lot next football season! They are awesome!