Stir-fry vegetables and tofu recipe

V has been into stir-fries recently, so when I saw this recipe in the NY Times, it made me miss him even more as he is traveling this week.

It was late in the evening, however on an impulse, I decided to give the recipe a try, of course with variations of my own. I went to the local Korean & Japanese grocery store to pick up the necessary produce. I love exploring the local Korean grocery stores. There are three of them within 3-4 miles of where we live. The produce is excellent and they have unique teas, spices and sauces that we love to browse. We also pick up "Pearl Barley" which we use in lieu of rice for Indian/Asian meals. Barley has lower glycemic index than rice. I sometimes mix barley and brown rice and cook them together.

Here's the recipe for my version of the colorful stir-fry:

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2 carrots diced
1 onion diced
1 package firm tofu squeezed out and diced
4-5 sprigs of scallion (spring/green onion)
4-5 pods garlic - minced
1 inch piece ginger - grated
few dried red chilies, broken
2-3 Tbsps vegetable oil
2-3 Tbsps soy sauce
2-3 Tbsps white vinegar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Method:

• Separate the green portion and white portion of the scallions, to add them at different times during the cooking. Dice.
  
• Heat oil in a wok, and add the dried red chilies
• Add the diced onions, red and bell peppers. When soft add the white portion of the scallions, garlic and ginger and stir
  
• After a few minutes add the diced carrots.
  
• Add soy sauce and vinegar. Close the lid and let the carrots soften a bit
• Add the tofu and stir for a few minutes and then add the green portion of the scallions
• Switch off the heat and finish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

As I mentioned in an earlier write-up, we bought a cast-iron Lodge pan since we are worried about using non-stick pans. It is heavy but is awesome to prepare stir-fries because the pan gets so wonderfully hot in just a few minutes! I am in love with it now!

Here's the delicious meal, waiting for V when he gets back.

P.S.
The only spice used in this recipe is "red chilies". Hence I submit this recipe to the "Think Red Chilies" event at the Think Spice blog. Enjoy!