Garden Fresh Stir Fry

Just as we're getting ready to leave town, our garden is starting to get into full swing. We already nearly missed the window on our bok choy, and the spinach is about to go to flower. I just barely caught most of the broccoli before the florets opened into flowers, and the cilantro is in full coriander seed mode.

To get the most out of this early harvest before we're gone, tonight we made a stir fry of veggies and tofu. It included broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, and coriander from the garden, plus tofu, red bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms from the store. I started by pressing the moisture out of the tofu by wrapping it in a towel and putting a block on top of it. Then I cut it into small pieces, and fried them in a little oil on one side, then the other, getting them golden brown before removing them from the heat. Then I fried up the onions and red peppers, just until they had softened, and removed them from the heat. Finally, I cooked down the spinach, kale, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, and coriander, until the greens were bright green and the cauliflower had a little brown on it... and removed that from the heat. Then I cooked down a little oyster sauce, soy sauce, sherry, and sesame oil until it was thickened, and tossed everything back in the pan, tossing to coat. This method of cooking each item until it was ready seemed to work much better than my usual throw everything in method, which ends up overcooking some items, undercooking others, and allowing the moisture from greens to make other things soggy.