Happy Valentine's Day! Recipe: Stir-Fried Red Cabbage and Winter Squash

PJ's stomach is still not completely healed so I'm trying to get creative to make stir-fried vegetables as exciting as I can.  This combination of red cabbage and bright orange butternut squash is so visually pleasing and really tasty, too.  Next time we have it I'm going to make it with chicken though since I make a similar cold red cabbage and chicken salad that is really good, and PJ still isn't crazy about tofu.  I found this recipe when I was going through the archives of the recipe section in the New York Times.  I realized that the same recipe was actually published twice under different names in 2008 and 2010.  I figure that if this is the recipe they republish when they are out of other good things to write about that it has to be pretty good!

Also, Happy Valentine's Day!  I know that orange and purple aren't quite Valentine's Day colors, but it's the closest I've got out of the recipes I've been meaning to blog about so it'll have to do.  We're going out for crepes tonight to celebrate our seventh (wow!) year of being each others Valentines, and our first year as husband and wife :)  Leave a comment if you care to share how you celebrate Valentine's Day!


Stir-Fried Red Cabbage and Winter Squash

Adapted from NY Times Recipes for Health 


INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or brown rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar or honey
• 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons canola oil or peanut oil
• 1 14 oz. package firm tofu, cut in 1- x 2-inch dominoes
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound butternut squash, cut in 1/2-inch dice
• Salt to taste
• 1 1/2 pounds red cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
• Brown rice for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, the rice wine vinegar, sugar or honey, and sesame oil. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the tofu, and stir-fry until lightly colored, about three minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add the remaining oil to the pan. When it is hot, add the butternut squash. Stir-fry until it begins to color, five to eight minutes. Add salt to taste, the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, and add the cabbage. Stir-fry until the squash is tender and the cabbage is crisp-tender, about six minutes, adding about 1/4 cup water to the pan from time to time if the vegetables begin to stick. If the vegetables are not getting tender quickly, try adding a little bit of water and putting the cover on for a few minutes with the heat on medium-high.  Return the tofu to the pan.
4. Stir the sweet and sour mixture, and add to the vegetables. Stir just for a few seconds until they are glazed. Remove from the heat and serve with rice.

Serves 4.  All ingredients can be prepped in advance and stir-fried just before eating.