This Cashew, Tofu, and Vegetable Stir Fry Could Not Be Easier to Make
I’ve always said that a stir-fry can be made of anything, even nuts. And if those nuts are cashews, even better. Roasted cashews provide just the right touch of flavor and texture in this cashew, tofu, carrots, and snow pea stir-fry recipe.
As you know, any ingredient can be made into a stir-fry.
3 Stir Frying Tips:
1. Coating the protein in corn starch
This extra step provides the protein with an extra layer of texture. The corn starch creates a crispy, golden outer layer for the tofu. It also helps the sauce adhere better to the tofu giving it plenty of flavor.
2. Adding ingredients in the right order
You want all the vegetables to finish cooking at the same time. Clearly, not all ingredients take the same amount of time to cook, so you’ll need to think about what will take longest and therefore need to go into the wok first. In the case of this recipe, it’s going to be onions > carrots > snow peas. Since snow peas will take almost no time to cook, you can take the wok off the heat almost immediately after they’re added. The heat from the rest of the ingredients will basically cook the snow peas.
3. Slice vegetables in a way so that they can cook quickly
In this recipe, carrots can take quite a bit to cook. My advice is to slice them as thinly as you can so they don’t hold up your dinner. Remember, stir-fries are great because they are supposed to be fast dinners.
If you follow all the above tips, I promise you, you’ll have a delicious, quick, healthy, nutty dinner.
Helpful tools: 1) Wok
Ingredients
- Garlic, minced - 1
- Onions, chopped – 1
- Carrots, thinly sliced – ½ lb
- Snow peas, ends trimmed – ½ lb
- Tofu, super-firm – 1 lb
- Corn starch - 1 tbs + 2 tsp
- Soy sauce - 2 tbs
- Rice vinegar - 1 tsp
- Brown sugar / sweetener - ½ tbs
- Tomato paste – ½ tbs
- Vegetable stock - ½ cup
- Grapeseed / canola oil - 2 tbs
- Lemon, juiced - ½
- Roasted cashews – ¼ cup
- Green onions, chopped – 1 bunch
Instructions
Prep
- Garlic / Onions / Carrots / Snow Peas – prep as directed
- Tofu – Chop into ½” cubes
Make
- Toss tofu with 1 tbs. of corn starch and season with salt & pepper
- Make sauce by mixing together soy sauce, vinegar, sweetener, 2 tsp. corn starch, tomato paste, and chicken stock
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbs. oil and then tofu to heated oil. Sauté tofu until outside is golden. The corn starch should also help it form a crispy crust. Remove from pan and set aside
- Return pan to medium-high heat, and add remaining oil. Add minced garlic and then chopped onions with a dash of salt. Sauté onions until softened, ~2 minutes
- Add carrots with a dash of salt. Stir-fry for 4 minutes and then add sliced snow peas, also with a dash of salt
- Add tofu back in shortly after the carrots. Push all ingredients to the side of the pan to form a donut in the middle. Give sauce mixture a stir in case corn starch has sunk to bottom. Pour into the center of the pan. Wait for mixture to darken and bubble a lot. Then toss to coat everything
- Cook for another minute and then remove from heat and add lemon juice and cashews. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Enjoy with chopped green onions and serve with rice!
