Vegan Tuesday: Stir-Fried Chinese Long Beans w/ Peanuts and Tofu

The challenge I've set for myself in the kitchen these past few weeks is to use as many on-hand ingredients as possible. Since I work at home I love the social aspect of making daily trips to Good Life, my neighborhood grocery store. It's a chance to pick up the odds and ends I need for each night's dinner but it's also a nice opportunity to bump into neighbors. While these trips are good for my spirit, they're not always, unfortunately, good for my wallet. 

So as I looked at the beautiful Chinese Long Beans we'd procured during the weekend trip to the farmer's market, I hoped I'd be able to prepare them with ingredients I already had in the fridge and on my shelves. 

I successfully met my self-imposed guidelines and I managed to make a quick and flavorful dinner for this week's Vegan Tuesday in the process! The meal also gave me a chance to break in my new wok. (It's no longer that beautiful metallic blue color, so this pic was definitely snapped "before" I broke it in.) One of these days I'm going to listen to Tehn at The Wok Shop in Chinatown and graduate to the hand-hammered woks she has in her store.

Well, without any further yammering from me, here's the recipe - I'd also challenged myself to make this post as quick as this dish's preparation!

Stir-Fried Chinese Long Beans w/ Peanuts and Tofu 

1/2 lb Chinese Long Beans (or green beans)

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, coarsely ground 

1 cup dry roasted peanuts (do not grind or chop these)

1 TBS grated, fresh ginger root

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh lime zest (or more to taste)

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 

8 oz extra firm tofu, sliced into cubes 

1 TBS vegetable oil (I used canola)

Lime wedges

1. Put a medium-sized pot, large enough to hold the beans, on to boil. As water heats, clean long beans and snip off any knobby tips. When water boils, dunk beans into pot and allow to cook for approximately 2 minutes. Plunge the beans into an ice bath or run under cold water to help keep them crisp and also to stop the cooking process. When they've cooled to the touch, cut them into pieces about two and a half inches in length. 

2. Heat wok, then add oil. As wok is heating, quickly mix the ground peanuts, ginger, garlic, lime zest, salt, coriander and pepper flakes in a small bowl. 

3. When oil is hot add the peanuts and spice mix to walk and stir-fry rapidly. Make sure your kitchen is well-ventilated and don't put your face directly over the wok! The fumes from this mixture are going to have a sting to them! When the bits of garlic and ginger look like they've begun to brown, scoop the mix out of the wok. 

4. Add more oil to wok if needed. Make sure excess water is shaken off of the long beans, then add to wok and stir-fry. When the beans begin to get black on the ridges, add remaining 1 cup of peanuts. Stir to heat through. Add the peanut and spice mix back to the wok, and toss over heat to mix well. Add the cubes of tofu to the beans, peanuts and spice mix and quickly stir-fry. Extra firm tofu will stand up well to this kind of heat, and handling, but I would only cook for about a minute or two, just enough to heat. Remove wok from heat source. Serve with lime wedges over rice or noodles or simply eat as is!

NOTES: If you can't find Chinese Long Beans, green beans will work just as well. If you do opt to substitute them, I would advise blanching and stir-frying them a little longer since they're thicker than the long beans I used. I keep an extra coffee bean grinder in my kitchen for grinding dried chili peppers, nuts, that sort of thing. You could also use a small food processor to grind the peanuts, or you could chop finely if you're that skilled with a knife. (I am not!) Also, I love lime juice and lime zest, so if you want to add more lime zest go right ahead. I love its clean, bright flavor. I used canola oil for the stir-fry but I gave some thought to using the sesame oil on my shelf. I decided that I didn't want that heavy flavor so I opted for the canola. 

Whipped Cauliflower (with Roasted Garlic and Chives)

I wanted to post "Whipped Cauliflower... with Pleasure" but that just sounded too lewd.

But they were indeed very good, and ridiculously easy to make. Lon brought home two gigantic heads of cauliflower from the farmer's market last weekend, and I while I don't know the exact weight of each - for the purpose of the recipe - I would say each one was just slightly smaller than a volleyball.

They were easy and quick to make. Sorry I didn't take a pic. They looked like mashed, or whipped, potatoes. Because we didn't add any dairy, the result was a nice vegan side dish. 

The same can't be said for the rest of our menu, though. For our main we had chicken with a quick pesto. The sides included wilted rainbow chard (also from the farmer's market) and the cauliflower prepared as follows. 

Whipped Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives
5 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1/4 olive oil (remember, this is for two heads of cauliflower so you might want to add more)
1 lemon, zested, juice reserved
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Cut florets off main stalk of the cauliflower, and rinse off any grit or dirt. When water comes to a boil, drop the florets in and allow to cook until easily pierced by a fork - approximately 20 minutes. While you're waiting for the water to boil, though, wrap the cloves of garlic in foil and toss in your oven at 400. Or you can do them on top of the stove in a pan, as well. If you're heating the oven for cooking a main dish, I'd simply throw the garlic in the vault, that way you don't have to worry about constantly turning it if it's in a pan over a burner.

2. When the cauliflower is soft, turn off burner, drain into a colander and shake off any excess moisture. I was surprised by how much water they retained in those little branches, so be mindful of this. Take the garlic out of the oven and set aside so it can cool enough to touch.

3. Place the cauliflower, several florets at a time, in a large food processor and, working in batches, whip the florets so that they're reduced to the consistency of mashed potatoes. There might be a few lumps. With the food processor on pulse, drizzle in the olive oil. Add the juice of half of the lemon, add the zest, and taste. Continue blending and add the chives and garlic. Taste to see if it needs more olive oil, more lemon juice, or both. Adjust to your preference with salt and pepper.

NOTE: We found that the brightness of the lemon played off the inherent pithiness of the cauliflower so if you're a citrus fan don't hold back. It also kicked up the bite of chives nicely. The mellowness of the roasted garlic really rounded out the flavors. Serve immediately!