I am a Stir-Fry Queen!

Why? Well, Hmmmmmm... The reason I can come up with isn't such a great one in my opinion. Because I am a vegetarian.

I like to cook, but I find it hard to cook tofu without putting it in a pan with veggies. It's not like I can really put a piece of tofu on a plate with a side of potatoes and a vegetable like a piece of chicken, or steak. Tofu is pretty bland on its own, not very appetizing. It takes on the flavor of that which you cook it with, and well, putting it in a pan with veggies and spices is the best way that I've found to infuse flavor into tofu. Plus, it's EASY to do, you can put ANYTHING random that you have in the pan, and you ALWAYS get something different. I rarely make the same thing twice unless it is super liked.

Not that tofu is the only thing I eat for protein. I eat a lot of beans, and I like those veggie crumbles. (Not because they taste like chop meat, but because they taste like veggie crumbles, and have their own pleasing flavor, and also because they are so versatile. Eggs, and dairy are fine with me, and I eat have those veggie slices things which I enjoy cut up in salads. Also, I will sometimes eat fish depending on the type of fish and my mood. My vegetarianism has little to do with animal rights, or feeling bad about eating animals or anything like that. It has to do partly with likes and dislikes, and mostly to do with sensation.

I don't eat meat because I don't like it, the same way I don't eat peas, or yams, or bananas because I don't like peas or yams or bananas. The sensation thing comes in because I find meat to be too tough, too heavy, too chewy, toooooo, meaty. It's just plain uncomfortable, the texture, the feel, it's not pleasing to me, and I never liked the way I felt it lay in my stomach. So with fish for example, I like salmon, or sole, or tuna salad, but I won't eat a tuna steak because it's too much like meat. Another example with sensation for me is I don't like it when textures don't match taste. I don't like sweet kugel because noodles are not supposed to be sweet. The taste and texture don't match in my head, so its undesirable for me. Yes, I know I'm strange. And once again, I digress from my initial conversation, stir-frys.

So when I cook, I make almost everything in a stir-fry. Tofu, crumbles, beans, veggies, starch, almost everything. It's quick and easy and always different. Today was no different. Roasted asparagus, tofu, pasta, garlic, onions, and spices with a little olive oil all went into my favorite dish, my stir-fry pan. YUMMY!!! A few days ago, it was peppers, tomatoes, onions, crumbles and tomato sauce served over whole wheat spaghetti. Before that it was black beans with rice, and onions and spices. Or how about tofu, rice, garlic, spinach, broccoli and teryiaki sauce. And I see you get the picture.

And while I love my stir-frys, I wonder if there's a vegetarian world out there that doesn't include the frying pan. If I can learn to make tofu, or beans, or anything really with a baking pan and an oven, or a pot of boiling water, or a stew, or a soup. (I do make a kick bootie veggie chili though!) I'm sure the recipe's are out there, I just don't know them.

Any suggestions? Any recipe's? I love my stir-frys, I love being a stir-fry queen, but I like variety, and I'm always looking for new stuff to try. Lemme know if you have a recipe. I'd love to try it out.