Grilled Stir Fry

This is a recipe I am really excited to share for a couple of reasons. First it is super yummy and secondly it gives me an excuse to tell you about one of my very favorite grill accessories, my grill wok. I have also seen them referred to as a grill skillet. I purchased mine several years ago and I use it all summer long. I love grilled veggies and this is the perfect pan to use for them. I remember I debated for weeks as to whether or not to buy mine. I am so glad I did. Basically this is a skillet to be used on the grill but instead of being a solid pan it has holes all over it. The smoke and all the grilling goodness get into the food so well. You do have to be careful what size things you put in it, anything small or liquid will run right out.

The dish I made for you this week is basically a stir fry like combination that is cooked on the grill. I made mine vegetarian this time (possibly vegan, not sure if the sauce I used is vegan) but it is equally good with chicken. Of course you can change out the veggies I used for your favorites but I do love this combination.

To make this really easy I use a bottled stir-fry sauce, most grocery stores should have at least one brand on the aisle with the Asian foods.

Easy Vegetable Grill-fry

⅔ cup plain long grain rice

1 ⅓ cup water

7 oz Extra Firm Tofu (my store carries tofu in 14 oz packages)

¼ cup purchased stir-fry sauce (divided)

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups fresh broccoli florets

2 green onions, cut in 2” pieces

1 cup baby carrots, quartered lengthwise

1 cup quartered mushrooms

½ cup snow peas (strings removed)

1 Tablespoon water

Cook the rice in the water using your favorite method (I usually use my rice cooker)

Drain the tofu, gently press between layers of paper towels to remove as much of the liquid as you can. Be careful so you don't break the tofu up but you do want to remove as much water as possible. Then cut the tofu into ¾” cubes.

Heat the grill.

In a large bowl combine 3 Tablespoons of the stir fry sauce with the oil and mix it really well. Add the tofu cubes and gently toss to coat. Add all the veggies and again gently toss to coat everything evenly.

Spray or lightly oil your grill wok.

Place the grill wok over medium high coals on the grill and carefully add the veggie/tofu mixture.

Cook for 10-15 minutes (or until veggies are all cooked, they should be crisp-tender)

Toss the mixture around in the pan occasionally so everything cooks evenly.

In a small bowl combine the remaining Tablespoon of stir fry sauce with the Tablespoon of water, mixing well. Add the cooked veggie mixture and toss to coat evenly.

Serve over rice and enjoy.

This makes 2 nice sized servings

Pesto Potato Salad

I was craving potato salad the other day so I decided to make a batch. I had every intention of just using my normal recipe but then when I opened my fridge I realized there was a partial tub of pesto sauce still sitting in there just begging to be used up. So on an impulse I decided to change up the recipe to make something a bit more interesting. 

 

My potato salad recipe makes about 3 servings, so enough for dinner one night for a couple and then some for lunch for one. (you'll have to work out who gets the leftovers)

Pesto Potato Salad

1 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed

¾ cup mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons Basil Pesto

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

¼ teaspoon lemon juice

¼ cup diced red bell pepper

2 Tablespoons chopped onion

1 hard boiled egg, chopped

Cook the cubed potatoes in just enough water to cover just until fork tender. *about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on cube size) Drain, rinse with cold water, drain well and cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl combine the mayonnaise, pesto, salt, pepper and lemon juice and mix well with a wire whisk. Be sure to taste this mixture and adjust the seasonngs to suit your pallet. You may want a touch more salt and pepper or maybe you will want it a bit spicy....

When the dressing is seasoned to your liking add the rest of the ingredients and carefully mix with a wooden spoon.

Transfer the potato salad to a small serving bowl, cover with plastic and chill for at least a couple of hours before serving.

Missing in Action

I know I have been absent for a while again. I had some stuff going on in my life and took some time off from all my blogs and youtube for a while. Oh, in case you didn't realize I have multiple blogs and Youtube channels. The links for all my blogs are at the top of this blog so if you are interested you can go check out the rest if you haven't before. Anyway, I had taken some time off them started posting on most of them again. I had been writing and filming for all the blogs/channels then my computer crashed. I had somewhere between 10 and 15 blog posts/videos in process. Since I normally don't backup posts or videos until they are complete I lost all of the ones I was working on along with all the photos to go with them. YIKES!!

I am still without my main computer. My son, Erik, (my IT guy) says he is fairly sure he can get my files off my old hard drive later. In the meantime he is working on putting together a new system for me. But because he is working full time and trying to keep the price as low as he can it will take a while. Currently I am using my old (previously) retired laptop, it is really slow and not terribly reliable (it tends to shut off randomly)

I am doing my best to get back up to where I can post on all my blogs and channels but it might take a while yet before I get back on any kind of “normal” schedule. Please be patient I should be back soon. In the meantime I will be posting when I can with what I can.