eclaire (what’s in a) name?

after a fun and food filled weekend, mike and i decided to make a hearty, healthy, vegetable-laden dinner to start out our week and counterbalance the weekend’s excesses.

we made this recipe for the first time a couple weeks ago (it was in last month’s vegetarian times), and it was printed as a two part recipe – the first being a mango teriyaki sauce on grilled tofu and the second part brown rice. the mango sauce, which is salty and sweet and very bright tasting (unlike the bottled stuff), is the most amazing part of the recipe, and i think it would lend itself well as a topping on all sorts of other concoctions. we LOVED this sauce and its juxtaposition with the aromatic and nutty flavored rice so much that we decided we had to make the whole dish again, but this time add lots of vegetables and make it a stir fry instead of grilled tofu over rice.

so the recipe i’m giving you has three components – rice, sauce, and veggie/tofu stir fry. while typing out the recipe, i became a little worried that you, dear readers, might think that it’s a little daunting. but i assure you, we completed the whole meal in less then 30 minutes of hands on time (we started the brown rice in my trusty rice cooker before heading down the hill to new leaf), and while there are a lot of components, each is pretty simple.

mango teriyaki tofu and veggies with brown rice (a 3 component recipe)

adapted from vegetarian times
yields 5 servings

• brown rice
• 1¼c brown rice (we love lundberg’s golden rose brown rice
• 3/4t salt
• 1/2c chopped green onions
• 2t sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
• 2t toasted sesame oil

• mango-teriyaki sauce
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and pitted
• 3 large slices ginger
• 3T rice vinegar
• 2T soy sauce
• 2T sake
• 2T brown sugar

• tofu and veggies
• 14 oz firm tofu, diced
• fresh, seasonal vegetables – we used mayan squash, carrots, and bok choy
• olive oil
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1. for brown rice: combine rice, salt, and 2c water in saucepan or rice cooker
2. bring to a simmer if using a saucepan, and cook until tender
3. stir 1/3c green onions, sesame seeds, and sesame oil into rice
4. for mango-teriyaki sauce: in a food processor (or blender), combine mango and ginger until a smooth mixture is created
5. place mango-ginger puree into a small saucepan with vinegar, soy sauce, sake, and brown sugar
6. whisk together over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer, then turn off
7. for tofu and veggies: drizzle olive oil into a big saucepan and saute veggies until almost tender
8. put tofu into mango teriyaki sauce, then add the tofu and sauce to the veggie saute pan until tofu is warm and veggies are coated in sauce
9. pile rice onto plate or bowl, top with vegetable-tofu-mango-sauce, and sprinkle with remaining green onions and sesame seeds.