Serves 4.
From Deborah Madison, This Can’t Be Tofu! New York: Broadway Books, 2000.
Sauce
2 heaping tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons molasses or brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamari or regular soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 cup red wine
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup water
Tofu and Vegetables
One carton regular or firm tofu, drained
5 teaspoons peanut oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, diced into 1/2-inch squares
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into large, irregular pieces
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
12 ounces mushrooms (mixed brown, white, and shiitake are good)
2 Roma tomatoes, peeled and diced (canned will do in a pinch)
2 cups broccoli florets or other vegetable
1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2. Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes. Heat a nonstick skillet and brush with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the tofu and cook over medium-high heat until golden-brown on the bottom. Turn and cook until the other surfaces are golden as well. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Add the remaining oil to a wide pot, such as a Dutch oven. Turn the heat to high, add the onion, bell peppers, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown in places and a film appears on the bottom of the pot, after several minutes. Be sure to let the ingredients cook without stirring for 1/2-minute intervals so that they’ll brown. You can use this time to quarter the mushrooms and prepare the broccoli.
4. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking, again stirring occasionally, until they are seared in places. Add 1 teaspoon salt and grind in plenty of black pepper. Once a number of the mushrooms have gained some color, stir in the sauce, scraping up the goodies from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, lay the tofu over the vegetables, and cover the pot. Cook for 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes add the tomatoes.
5. Blanch the snow peas or broccoli florets in boiling salted water.
6. Stir in the parsley and spoon the vegetables and their sauce over rice or noodles, adding the broccoli last.