Veggie of the Week: Shiitake Mushrooms

Spicy Healthy Sautéed Tofu

This is a wonderful vegetarian-style addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating. One serving provides a very good source of many health-promoting nutrients such as calcium, manganese, iron, and vitamin K. Enjoy!

Prep and Cook Time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 1 TBS dried arame or hijiki sea vegetables* 12 oz firm tofu, cut into � inch cubes 3/4 cup chopped scallion 1 TBS minced fresh ginger 4 dried shiitake mushrooms 2 TBS tamari (soy sauce) 2 TBS mirin rice wine pinch of red chili flakes to taste salt and white pepper to taste *For more on the safety of sea vegetables, see this article

Directions:

1. Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in 1/2 cup water until soft (about 15 minutes). Slice, removing the stem. Retain mushroom soaking water.
2. Place tofu on paper towels to drain some of the moisture while you prepare the other ingredients.
3. Rinse and soak sea vegetables in warm water while preparing rest of ingredients. Squeeze out excess water before adding.
4. Add the mushroom water to a 10-inch stainless steel skillet and bring to a boil. Add ginger, sea vegetables, mushrooms, scallion, mirin, and tofu, and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add tamari, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Serves 4