By now you've already heard about the importance of including whole food plant based meals into your lifestyle. The studies on the benefits to our health, performance, and longevity are significant. The good news is that it doesn't take much to switch a few of your weekly meals to plant based in order to get some of the benefits.
With that being said, this week I'm sharing one of my favorite whole food plant based meals: Pineapple Fried Rice with Tofu. This is a complete meal as it contains protein and good carbs, and is very low in fat. It also includes pineapple, which is a great cooling fruit for the warm season. Enjoy!
Pineapple Fried Rice with Tofu
Prep Time: 30 mins Cook Time:20 mins Total Time: 50 mins
Servings: 6 people
Equipment needed:
Tofu Bud Press
Ingredients:
Baked Tofu:
1 14 oz box firm organic tofu drained
1/4 cup low-sodium tamari (like soy sauce)
2 Tbl maple syrup
2 Tbl ketchup
1 Tbl rice vinegar
1 dash hot sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Fried Rice:
3 cups cooked brown rice
3 Tbl low-sodium vegetable broth (or homemade)
1/2 yellow onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 medium carrots peeled and diced
1/4 cup peas fresh or frozen
1 cup pineapple cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup raw cashews toasted (or purchased already roasted)
1/4 cup currants or raisins
2 green onions sliced
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
soy sauce (extra for flavor)
Sauce (optional):
1/3 cup low-sodium tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)
2 Tbl rice vinegar
2 Tbl chili garlic sauce
1 Tbl date syrup or maple syrup
1 Tbl ginger minced
Instructions:
Baked Tofu:
Preheat over to 375°F. Lightly spray a non-stick baking sheet with oil.
Press the drained tofu using a tofu press or wrap in paper towels and newspaper with a large can of tomatoes (or whatever you have on hand). Then cut into 1" cubes.
In a bowl, stir together the soy sauce, maple syrup, ketchup, vinegar, hot sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper. Gently stir the tofu cubes into the sauce. Marinate for at least 10 minutes or longer.
Place tofu on the baking sheet in a single layover. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn tofu, and bake until it turn golden brown, around 15 minutes more.
Fried Rice:
Saute the onions, garlic, red pepper, carrots in the vegetable broth or water until soft-firm and
Add the cashews and continue to stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
Add the rice, break up any clumps and stir-fry for a few minutes.
Add the pineapple, peas and raisins and stir-fry to mix them in.
Stir in the baked tofu.
Remove from heat, add the sauce (optional) and serve garnished with chopped green onions and cilantro.
Enjoy! Let me know how you liked it.
To learn more about how eating whole food plant based diets can promote your health and performance, get my book, The Short Fight, on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0948LNX5M
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Until next time, Stay Healthy!
Lawrence Castanon