Sweet Chili Lime, um, Stuff

Okay, Okay - it's tofu but I thought I'd lose you if I told you in the title. It's delicious, really it is! I was actually embarrassed in the store today when Ron asked "What's for dinner tonight?" and I replied (in a whisper) "tofu". If I was grocery shopping and heard someone say that to their boyfriend I'd think "Oh that poor guy. His health nut girlfriend is feeding him tofu - someone get him a nice flank steak". But the strangest part was Ron's response "Oh good, I love that stuff!".

I'm just about as carnivorous as it gets but I'm attempting to become a more conscious eater and eat a little bit less meat. While searching for a vegetarian dinner I stumbled upon VeganYumYum and this delicious recipe. Thanks to Lolo and her blog I've found the easiest and healthiest way to make tofu not taste like mushy nothing. It's all about the dry fry. Yes, the dry-no-oil-needed-fry. Check out her step by step instructions - they're informative and beautiful!

I've made this twice so far - both times with brown rice. Last time I made bok choy as a side and this time I made green beans with enoki mushrooms.

I've never used enoki mushrooms before but if you can find them (I got mine at the local asian market) use them! They're sort of weirdly spaghetti like when you cook them up. I took pictures but my crappy camera doesn't like to take good pictures on the stove top but this is what they look like.

I followed the vegan yum yum recipe pretty closely. I did deveganize it by using 2Tbs of honey instead of 3Tbs of sugar. I like the taste of honey with soy and the heat of the chili flakes. I never ate honey as a kid, my mom is allergic, and I've only recently realized how awesome it is in cooking. Now I can't get enough - thanks Bobby Flay! For this recipe I had some great orange blossom honey that my friend Rochelle gave me, I finished the bottle on this meal! But if you're allergic or vegan go for the sugar - I bet this would be good with brown sugar too.

I added a touch of soy and lime to the brown rice to add some flavor. For the green beans and mushrooms I just steamed the beans for a few minutes, I like mine with some crunch left in them. I sauteed the mushrooms in a little oil, added the beans, soy, sesame oil, honey and red pepper flake. The whole thing was delicious even though I was multitasking in the kitchen trying to make pretzels at the same time as dinner - not the best idea! I'll post about them later.