Asparagus + tofu + brown rice

This recipe is once again adapted from my Martha Stewart Living cookbook. The asparagus and tofu is good on its own, but definitely needs more substance to make it a full meal. Today I tried brown rice on the side because I was feeling all healthy-like.

First I got some brown rice cooking. I always mess up rice, but I recently read/heard that you can cook the rice in excess liquid (so about 3x the volume of rice you're cooking) and then drain it off. It worked well for this.

Then I fried up some strips of tofu... wait, first I drained the tofu by wrapping the block in paper towel and letting it sit with something heavy on top. Then I cut it into about 1/2 inch strips and drizzled on some soy sauce, them dipped the whole thing in sesame seeds and then finally fried it up. Ok, it's not so hard. Once the tofu was brown on both sides (gotta resist the urge to flip it too often), I set it aside on some paper towels. I cut the tofu into smaller pieces when it was cooled.

Meanwhile, I rinsed and trimmed the asparagus and got a big pot of water boiling. I love parboiled asparagus, it's way better than steamed. So I did this in 2 batches, boiling the asparagus for just a few minutes and then scooping it out into an ice bath.

Then in a large bowl, I mixed up a dressing of about 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp mustard, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp rice vinegar (red wine vinegar is also good), and 1/2 tsp lemon juice. I combined the asparagus and tofu with the dressing, and added more of the previous ingredients to taste. I bet this would also be good with tahini, for a slightly richer dressing. It's also great with some freshly shaved ginger. Let the whole thing sit for about a half hour so that the asparagus can absorb the flavors.

The asparagus mixture plays well with the rice, so this would make a great boxed lunch.