Thai Quinoa Tofu Bowl

We are on a bit of a time crunch here at Bistro 164. The Chef and the sous chef will be officially "merging forces" (i.e. gettin hitched) on September 30th of this year. We've been planning it for awhile, although we really haven't done much in the way of ironing out the details. We figured that we were doing really really well by just deciding on the date and the venue. What? You say that we have to decide on what food to serve and how many guest to invite and if they are all going to fit into this small space of ours and do we have enough seating for them and do we have a back up plan if it should rain and we have vows to decide upon etc etc etc??? Sweet baby jesus no wonder people elope! Anywho it's not really that bad, we are just really good at procrastinating. REALLY good. One of the main things that we have been procrastinating on is getting back into shape. We may have "let ourselves go a tad" once the sous chef signed on to Bistro 164. Far too common and so easy to do when everything is all Sunshine and Rainbows at the beginning of a new relationship. We got fat. We knew it. And we didn't care quite honestly. But now this deadline is quickly approaching and we have to look good in our outfits...and feel comfortable. We can't afford to buy new clothes and all of our old clothes are far too tight (it's not a good sign when your scrub pants at work are straining at the seams!)....it's time to get down to business. It's not all about looks either: The sous chef and I are not spring chickens anymore and we need to get serious about our health. Ha! Nice try, who are we kidding, it's mainly about fitting back into our clothes and feeling good about ourselves again. Fortunately now we are back on track running, cycling, and boxing like we did before. And we have become much more mindful of what food we are shoving into our faces (I know being "mindful" is almost cliche now but it works) - keeping track of what we are eating as well as the caloric content has been very eye opening...scary...and eye opening. Thank you MyFitnessPal. We did get a little sidetracked last week when we had to taste test cupcakes flavours but that was a necessary evil... a delicious one. Mmmmm cupcakes. So far the sous chef is down 20 lbs (he likes to point out that he's lost a whole small child), and I'm down 10 lbs. Definitely heading in the right direction. Slow and steady wins the race as I like to say (my mantra when I'm running races and everyone is passing me.)

So in keeping with being healthy, happy, and mindful of what we are eating, I found this delicious Thai Quinoa Bowl recipe and prepared it for our Friday night dinner. Wow! This healthy eating thing is a piece of cake! (I seriously need to stop thinking about cake.) The sous chef gave it a two thumbs up and suggested that I make this again anytime. I'm thinking that means he likes it. I did play around with the recipe just a little. The recipe calls for tofu but I thought it could also be made with chicken or maybe even shrimp if you are looking for a carnivore option. I went with the tofu for now. I am fresh out of edamame (gasp! I know!) so I threw in some mushrooms that I had. You can serve this either warm or cold but I prefer warm for dinner: I sautéed up the mushrooms and the red cabbage, and then I threw in the already prepared quinoa and tofu to warm it up as well as the carrots etc. So colourful! A feast for both your eyes and your belly. And I have some leftovers for lunch next week which gives me something to look forward to at work (small rewards, which I need.) 

Happy Healthy Eating at Bistro 164!

Thai Quinoa Tofu Bowl

from Chatelaine Magazine

Ingredients

1/2 of a 350 g package of extra firm tofu, cut into 3/4" cubes

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp natural peanut butter

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp tamari sauce

2 tsp honey

2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp hot red chili flakes

2 carrots coarsely grated

1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage

1 cup frozen edamame, thawed

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

4 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with oil. Toss the tofu on and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.

Rinse the quinoa and cook according to package instructions (usually about 15 minutes.) Remove from heat, place into a bowl and let cool.

Whisk together the lime juice, tamari, chili flakes, peanut butter, honey, water and ginger. Set aside.

Stir in the the carrots, quinoa, tofu, red cabbage, cilantro, green onion, edamame, sesame seeds and toss together with the sauce. As I mentioned in the blog, I preferred to warm mine up so I tossed everything together in the fry pan and gently heated. If you are in to more of a crunchy dinner, then try it cold. It's tasty either way you do it!