From black pepper tofu to Brussels sprout pasta, here’s five things to cook this week

Emily Weinstein discovers her new favourite way with tofu in this week’s meal plan

This fast, one-pan stir-fry dinner combines vibrant spring vegetables with hearty tofu in a rich and spicy black-pepper sauce (Getty/iStock)

There are very few people in this world who can make tofu as exciting a topic as Samin Nosrat. I felt that keenly this week when I got to chat about vegetarian cooking with Samin and Tejal Rao at a virtual cooking event, in which tofu was a very hot topic.

Samin described one of her favourite tofu-cooking methods, in which medium-firm tofu is doused in liquid aminos (a seasoning that is soy sauce-adjacent) and pan-fried in coconut oil, in such evocative, mouthwatering terms that I wanted to run downstairs and make it for lunch.

The next day, I made Kay Chun’s latest tofu recipe, which is my new favourite, a stir-fry tossed in a rich, gingery black pepper sauce and jumbled with spring vegetables. That and four other recipes for the week are below.

Black pepper stir-fried tofu and asparagus

This fast, one-pan stir-fry dinner combines vibrant spring vegetables with hearty tofu in a rich and spicy black-pepper sauce (use freshly ground pepper, if possible, for the ideal combination of flavour and heat). The tofu is simmered in the fragrant sauce, which is spiked with aromatic garlic and ginger until it has absorbed all of the flavours and is nicely glazed. This recipe is perfect for using up that pencil-thin asparagus, which cooks quickly and toes the line between crisp and tender, while sweet snap peas balance out the assertive sauce. The dish can be served over baby spinach or in lettuce cups instead of with rice for a satisfying salad.

By: Kay Chun

Serves: 4

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

6 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp turbinado or light brown sugar

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce or a vegan alternative

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

450g firm tofu, cut into 1½cm cubes

Salt

2 tbsp neutral oil, such as safflower or canola

1 large shallot, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp minced peeled ginger

450g pencil-thin asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into thirds

115g snap peas, thinly sliced on the diagonal

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

Handful coarsely chopped coriander

Steamed short-grain brown or white rice, for serving

Method:

1. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon black pepper and 2 tablespoons of water. In a large nonstick frying pan, combine tofu and half of the black pepper sauce, and season with salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened and nicely coats the tofu, about 5 minutes. Slide glazed tofu and any sauce out onto a rimmed plate.

2. Wipe or rinse out the pan and heat oil over medium. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add asparagus and snap peas, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add spring onions, the remaining black pepper sauce and the tofu, and cook, stirring, until vegetables are evenly coated in the sauce. Stir in coriander, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Divide tofu and vegetables among plates and spoon over any remaining pan sauce. Serve with rice.

Traybake chicken with rhubarb and red onion

This easy yet robust dish celebrates rhubarb’s savoury side. Here, a bit of honey, some sliced sweet red onion and the rich juices of roasted chicken thighs and drumsticks temper its tartness. Serve this dish with a crackly baguette or some rice to catch the tangy sauce at the bottom of the pan. It’s the best part.

By: Melissa Clark

Serves: 3 to 4

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

800g bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks (see tip)

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt, plus more as needed

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed

1 large red onion, cut into 1½cm-thick wedges

5 thyme sprigs

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

225g rhubarb stalks, sliced into 1½cm pieces

3 tbsp honey, plus more to taste

Handful coriander or mint leaves and tender stems, torn

Method:

1. Heat oven to 220C and line baking tray with parchment paper. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season all over with coriander, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

2. Place onion wedges on the prepared sheet pan and lightly season with more salt and pepper. Add chicken and thyme sprigs to the pan and drizzle 3 tablespoons oil over everything. Toss until well coated, then spread chicken and onions in a single layer. Roast for 10 minutes.

3. While the chicken is in the oven, combine rhubarb and 3 tablespoons honey in a medium bowl. Lightly drizzle with oil, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss until rhubarb is well coated.

4. Remove chicken from oven and carefully spoon rhubarb onto the hot pan around the onions and chicken. Continue roasting until the chicken is cooked through, and the rhubarb and onion are tender and caramelized, 25 to 35 minutes longer, tossing the rhubarb and onions (not the chicken) once about halfway through.

5. Stir the rhubarb and onions very well, making sure to incorporate all the browned bits and chicken juices from the bottom of the pan (this is the tastiest part). Then sample a piece of rhubarb. If it’s very tart, drizzle with a little more honey, tossing well. Serve chicken with rhubarb-onion mixture garnished with herbs.

Tip: You can substitute bone-in, skin on-breasts for the thighs and drumsticks. Just start checking 10 minutes earlier since white meat takes less time to cook than dark meat.

Mattar paneer (peas and paneer in spiced tomato gravy)

There’s a quick hack in this version of mattar paneer (Getty/iStock)

Traditionally, roasted and crushed cashews are puréed with cooked onions and tomatoes to make the base for this comforting vegetarian dish. This version skips the hassle of puréeing and instead uses a hefty amount of cashew butter for the same nutty flavour and creamy texture. Red chilli powder, ginger and garlic provide the perfect backbone for the sauce. Substitute tofu for paneer if you like; the mildness of either lends itself well to this unexpectedly luxurious dish that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

By: Zainab Shah

Serves: 2 to 4

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

60ml ghee or neutral oil

225g paneer or extra firm tofu cut into 2½cm cubes and patted very dry

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

½ tsp ginger paste or freshly grated ginger

½ tsp garlic paste or freshly grated garlic

¾ tsp kashmiri or other red chile powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp turmeric powder

3 medium plum tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tsp fine sea salt

2 tbsp cashew butter

225g frozen (no need to thaw) or fresh green peas

3 tbsp heavy cream or cashew cream (optional)

½ tsp garam masala

Rice or roti, for serving

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a large frying pan or medium wok on high for 30 seconds, or until it is melted. Lower heat to medium and lightly fry paneer or tofu cubes, turning frequently, until they are golden on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside on a plate lined with a paper towel.

2. In the same frying pan or wok add onion, ginger and garlic, and cook on medium, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes or until onions are translucent.

3. Add chilli powder, cumin seeds and turmeric, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in tomatoes and salt. Add 180ml water. Simmer on medium until the mixture thickens slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Lower the heat to medium-low, and stir in cashew butter. Add peas and paneer. Stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes or until it reaches your desired thickness. Top with heavy cream in a swirl, if you like. Sprinkle with garam masala. Serve with rice or roti.

Penne with Brussels sprouts, chilli and pancetta

Pasta and Brussels sprouts make a good pair (Getty/iStock)

Pasta and sliced Brussels sprouts make a good pair, the softened green shreds commingling with the chewy noodles in the sauce. Here that sauce is a simple one with big flavours: pancetta, rosemary, garlic and chilli. The raw Brussels are then added to the pan. A splash of lemon juice at the end is a bright touch. Within 30 minutes, dinner is ready. Vary this recipe at will – use regular bacon instead of pancetta, or skip the meat altogether and use extra cheese to make a satisfying vegetarian main course. Use a knife or a food processor (fitted with the slicing blade) to cut the Brussels. A mandoline works too but isn’t necessary, because the Brussels don’t need to be paper thin, or uniform in size. These are unfussy slices you can do by hand.

By: Melissa Clark

Serves: 2 servings

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Sea salt

225g penne

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

85g pancetta, diced

1 large rosemary sprig

6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 jalapeño or Serrano chilli, thinly sliced (or substitute 1 large pinch crushed red pepper flakes)

Freshly ground black pepper

225g Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

2 tsp butter

Fresh lemon juice, for serving

Freshly grated pecorino cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Bring large pot heavily salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook until pasta is just al dente (do not overcook).

2. Meanwhile, heat large sauté pan over high heat and add the olive oil. When oil is hot, add the pancetta and rosemary, and sauté until the fat on the pancetta starts to turn translucent and very lightly brown, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, chilli and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and sauté until garlic and pancetta turn richly brown, about 3 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts, a large pinch of salt and a splash of water to pan, and sauté until sprouts just start to soften, about 2 minutes. Spread sprouts mixture in pan and press down to flatten. Let it sear for a minute, then stir it up and repeat. This helps brown the sprouts. Add the butter, and sauté for another minute.

3. Drain penne and add it to pan with Brussels sprouts mixture. Cook, tossing, until everything is well mixed. Spoon into pasta bowls and top with a drizzle of oil and lemon juice, and a little cheese if you like.

Prawn fried rice

This quick fried-rice dish is a veritable comfort (Getty/iStock)

Inspired by the fire-kissed flavour of Japanese steakhouse and hibachi fare, especially at the Kani House restaurants in Georgia, this quick fried-rice dish is a veritable comfort. Frying the prawns first in oil, just until they’re cooked, and reserving them to add back at the end means they stay tender. Plus, you’re left with the most aromatic prawn oil in which to fry the rice and vegetables. The shortcut of bagged frozen mixed vegetables comes in handy here, not least because they need only to be thawed by the pan’s high heat. The yum yum sauce, a mayo-ketchup dipping sauce that is ordinarily reserved for grilled hibachi meats, tastes fabulous splattered over the finished rice – not unlike how artist Jackson Pollock flung paint on canvas.

By: Eric Kim

Serves: 4 to 6

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

60ml olive oil, plus more as needed

450g peeled and deveined medium prawns, thawed if frozen

Salt

½ tsp garlic powder

1 medium onion, diced

200g frozen mixed vegetables (any mix of carrots, peas, corn and green beans)

1kg cooked jasmine or other long-grain white rice, preferably cold and day-old

60ml soy sauce, or to taste

2 tbsp unsalted butter

4 large eggs

Yum yum sauce, for serving

Method:

1. Heat a very large nonstick or cast-iron frying pan over high. Add the olive oil and prawns, and sprinkle with salt and the garlic powder. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp is no longer translucent and begins to turn golden at the edges, 2 to 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the prawns to a plate and set aside.

2. Add the onion and mixed vegetables to the prawny oil and cook, stirring occasionally, just until the onion loses its raw edge but is still crunchy, and the vegetables are mostly thawed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice and soy sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until well combined and the rice begins to crisp underneath where it meets the pan, 5 to 7 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more soy sauce as needed.

3. Scooch the rice to one side of the pan, lower the heat to medium and melt the butter on the empty side of the pan. Crack the eggs into the melted butter, break the yolks and stir vigorously to scramble the eggs, cooking just until they have set but are still tender, about 1 minute. Stir the soft scrambled eggs into the rice, add the reserved prawns and any accumulated juices, then remove the pan from the heat.

4. Let the fried rice sit for a few minutes so that it can continue to crisp in the pan’s residual heat (if you haven’t already made the yum yum sauce, this is the perfect time to do it).

5. Drizzle most of the yum yum sauce over the fried rice in the skillet, leaving some back, if desired, to serve in a small dish on the side for dipping the prawns.

© The New York Times