'Honey' soy tofu wraps

We all know how to stir fry and sometimes it is nice to stir fry with lots of fragrant, fresh, aromatic ingredients. Grated ginger. Lemongrass. Fresh chillies. You know the drill.

Today's recipe is for the other times. The nights you get home, haven't stocked up on south-east Asian ingredients, and don't fancy grating ginger, seeking out lemongrass or chopping chillies. The nights you want something fresh and tasty, but also easy. Minimal ingredients and minimal chopping.

These honey soy tofu wraps are the answer. The marinade features nothing more than your honey equivalent and soy sauce. The vegetables will need chopping, but that's as complicated as it gets. You don't even need to cook rice (although you could) - just tear open a pack of wraps and pile the filling in.

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Satay sweet potato noodles

Do you read Gena's beautiful blog Choosing Raw? If you do, you may have spotted her curried peanut sweet potato noodles last month. Gena's noodles were beautifully photographed and looked delicious. My version is not as well photographed but I promise was still delicious!

I was actually unsure about these noodles on the first night I had them. However, the leftovers I took to work the next day were great. I think the overnight sitting time allowed the noodles to soak up more flavours and soften a little. You could achieve the same result by making more sauce (which Gena actually did) and allowing the noodles to stand a bit before serving. I have updated my recipe to incorporate these changes.

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Hot and sour stir fry with sweet potato

This recipe is a shameless retake on my sweet and sour tofu from March 2014. Like that earlier recipe, pineapple and sriracha play key roles. Unlike the previous version, kale is not such a star player (I still love it, but it wasn't in the kitchen when I made this). I've also increased the spice component and sweet potato provides an accompaniment instead of rice or noodles.

Meals like this are a staple of my mid-week meals and I'll readily confess that most don't make it to the blog. This one was particularly good, I found time to take some photos, and I wanted to remind myself of the ingredient mix for future reference. I hope it can provide some of you with ideas and inspiration too!

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Orange-mustard stir fry with tofu and Asian greens, and a new blog header

First, thanks so much for your enthusiasm regarding my marathon plans! It is lovely to have encouragement from around the globe and I look forward to sharing progress as April draws nearer. I managed to trip over and fall flat on the concrete on this morning's run (fortunately no major injuries) so I am hoping that gets my uncoordinated streak out of the way...

On other topics, you may have noticed a new header on my blog this week. I seem to change my headers around this time of year, and whilst I wasn't really tired of the old one yet, I thought a fresh image would be nice. I hope you like it (if you don't, feedback is always welcome). The new one ties in with my Facebook page header without being exactly the same.

Bite-sized thoughts over the years (2011 and 2012 along the top, and 2013 and 2014 along the bottom)

In terms of today's recipe, I have been on a bit of an orange kick lately - something that is reflected in this post coming straight after my orange coconut ice. I actually have a few other orange recipes too, but I won't bring them all out at once. Keep an eye out over coming months, as I'll share them in spaced out doses!

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Vegemite stir fry

I suspect a lot of Australian (and overseas Australian) bloggers have tried Vegemite with tofu at some stage. There are a few recipes around, but it's the kind of dish that doesn't necessarily require a recipe. There seem to be some Vegemite chicken recipes out there too, and I imagine Vegemite has been paired with all sorts of other ingredients that I've never thought of.

Vegemite stir fry may not be a new concept, but I thought I'd post this version for my own reference, and perhaps to inspire those of you who haven't come across this use for the ingredient. If you're from the UK, Marmite would work equally well, and Promite would give a milder but still similar result. If you're from the US, I'm not sure if you have an equivalent product, but you can probably get hold of Vegemite, Marmite or Promite if you're really keen! (I summarised the differences between the three here.)

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Vegetable stirfry for health

Sadly, I think I was a little over-optimistic in my last post. I'm not quite better. My voice has also decided to depart, so conversation is a little challenging.

Fortunately, I have progressed from the fruit / English muffins / soup phase that saw me consume a packet of English muffins in a few days and eat no vegetables outside of soup form. I know, not exactly food for healing.

This stirfry, on the other hand, is.

Vegetable Stirfry for Health

As with most stirfrys, a recipe is almost redundant here. You could throw in any combination of vegetables and flavours you have to hand, and it would probably turn out just as well.


However, I enjoyed it  so much I'm documenting the 'recipe' for posterity.

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 - 3 if you eat bowlfuls on their own.

1 large onion, diced

2 medium carrots, sliced

1 large capsicum, chopped

Small head of brocolli, cut into florets

3 large mushrooms

1 tin of Asian-style vegetables (baby corn, water chestnuts, bean sprouts)

~1tbsp fresh coriander, chopped (or equivalent dried)

~2tbsp soy sauce

~2tbsp sweet chilli sauce

(I would have included ginger but had run out)

• Saute onion until slightly golden, then add carrot and capsicum and 1tbsp each of soy & sweet chilli sauce.

• When carrot is starting to soften, add the brocolli and mushroom.

• After a few minutes, add the tinned Asian vegetables, the remaining soy & sweet chilli sauce, and the coriander.

• Cook over medium heat for an additional few minutes, and serve.

Extremely easy, and extremely delicious. Of course, if you were feeling less cold-filled and more motivated, this pairs well with meat or meat alternatives, and rice and/or noodles. We did have it with noodles on the night I made it, but I then ate a bowl plain the next day.

I only wish I'd made more!

Are you a stir fry fan? What's your standard flavour combination?

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