This is a sweet fried rice with a pleasing bite of ginger. Before you begin to stir-fry, cook rice if you don’t have any left over, and have everything prepped and close at hand.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　1/2 cake firm tofu (about 8 ounces)

　　1/3 cup soy sauce

　　1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

　　3 tablespoons vegetable oil

　　3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

　　1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger root

　　1/2 teaspoon Chinese chili paste (optional)

　　1 red or orange bell pepper, diced

　　1 stalk celery, diced

　　2 scallions, minced

　　1 20-ounce can of unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained, or 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

　　4 cups cooked jasmine, sushi, or brown rice

　　Toasted cashews

　　

Step 1

Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and place them in a bowl. Pour the soy sauce and sesame oil over the cubes and stir gently. Set aside.

　　

Step 2

In a wok or large skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the garlic, ginger, and chili paste and stir-fry on medium heat for a minute. Add the peppers, celery, scallions, and the tofu with the marinade, and continue to stir-fry until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the pineapple and rice and stir-fry until the rice is hot, about 3 minutes. Serve topped with toasted cashews.

　　

Serving & menu ideas

Step 3

This spicy-sweet fried rice is enough, but if you want a side dish, choose Sesame Broccoli (page 193). Pass a plate of Butterscotch Icebox Cookies (page 279) for dessert.

　　From Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table. Copyright © 2017 by Moosewood Collective. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Buy the full book from ThriftBooks or Amazon.