BBQ Baked Tofu and Bok Choy

Sometimes I have a clear idea of what I will be cooking for dinner, other days I'll resort to searching through blogs, cookbooks or my pile of "recipes to cook" that is always growing looking for some inspiration. Some days when I hunt around a recipe will jump out pretty quickly and then there are those days when it's too hard to make a decision because so much is appealing. Today was one of those days...

After going back and forth and changing my mind a million times I decided to ask my son what he would like for dinner. I was planning to show him a couple of recipes however he was sold on the first - BBQ Baked Tofu from Veganomicon. It wasn't that surprising given he loves BBQ sauce with anything and he also loves happens to love tofu. The next question posed to him was "What should we have with it?" After a very short pause he came back with Bok Choy. A quick scan of the Veganomicon index and Baby Bok Choy with crispy shallots and sesame seeds was deemed to be the pairing dish as well as some steamed rice.

The BBQ Baked Tofu was made almost to the recipe apart from a minor reading mishap with the sauce ingredients. Only 2 teaspoons of sugar was added instead of the specified 2 tablespoons. It didn't seem to matter as the flavour of the sauce tasted pretty nice anyway so I left it. Other meals featuring BBQ sauce will have to be on the menu in the near future as I probably used about 1/4 of the sauce on the tofu. I have never been a fan of commercial BBQ sauces before however this one was surprisingly tasty.      

The Baby Bok Choy with crispy shallots and sesame seeds was modified slightly and also simplified by using pre-fried shallots purchased from the Asian grocer. Baby bok choy was unavailable at the shops so I used normal bok choy and also decided to add some shitake mushrooms into the mix. This turned out to be a very tasty side dish, the addition of the fried shallots and toasted sesame seeds took those simple greens to another level.

Bok choy with crispy shallots and sesame seeds (Adapted from Veganomicon)

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 inch piece ginger, chopped finely
1 bunch bok choy, washed
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
15g dried shitake mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes
Some fried shallots
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Chop the bok choy stems into bite site pieces and place in a bowl. Roughly chop the green tops of the bok choy and place in another bowl.

Heat the peanut oil in a large saucepan or wok, add the ginger and fry for 15 seconds. Add the bok choy stems and stir fry for 2-3 minutes and mix through the mirin, soy sauce, boy choy greens and shitake mushrooms. Stir fry for another minute or two until the greens have wilted. 

Transfer to serving plates and top with fried shallots and toasted sesame seeds.