A Tasty, Healthful Recipe Using Snow Peas

This dish features what I consider to be an essential vegetable in Chinese cookery, snow peas. This legume is entirely edible, including the pod. Snow peas are similar to fresh green peas, but much more delicate. They are available year-round, and are at their peak in the spring and fall.

A truly wonderful vegetable if fresh, its bright green pod is thin, crisp and almost translucent, and the tiny seeds inside are tender and sweet. Frozen snow peas simply do not have all the qualities of fresh snow peas. Pinch the tips before using, and cook for no more than a minute. The larger snow peas might need to have strings removed; however, these usually pull off when you remove the ends.

Tofu and Snow Peas

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetarian chicken broth
1/3 cup tamari
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
one 19-ounce package very firm Chinese-style tofu (packed in water)
1 tsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp. dried minced garlic
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger root
1 cup thinly sliced red onion (quarter and slice into strips)
2 slices vegetarian Canadian bacon, cut into thin strips
one 8-ounce package button mushrooms, sliced
12 ounces fresh snow peas, rinsed and trimmed
3 cups cooked short grain brown rice

Preparation:

Combine the marinade ingredients in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Rinse tofu and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place in a medium nonreactive bowl (glass or ceramic), add marinade, cover and refrigerate for a few hours or, optimally, overnight.

Heat the oil, crushed pepper, garlic and ginger over medium-high heat, about two minutes. Add onions and vegetarian bacon; saute for two minutes. Add slightly drained tofu and mushrooms, and discard marinade. Cook five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the snow peas, and cook mixture just until peas are heated through. Remove the pan from heat and serve immediately with steamed baby carrots and brown rice.

6 servings

Marie Oser is a cookbook author and chef.