Ingredients
Main
- 3oz. dry rice noodles
- 1-12oz pack of organic extra-firm tofu
- 1 head butter lettuce
- 1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup maitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Ground pepper (to taste)
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3-4 Tbsp avocado oil (high-heat oil)
Garnish Options
- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- Green onions, sliced
- 1/3 cup chopped roasted cashews or peanuts
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- Sriracha sauce (optional)
Peanut Sauce
- 1/3 cup unsweetened creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup tamari sauce
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp minced ginger
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic 1 tsp Sriracha sauce or chili flakes (optional)
Instructions
Rice Noodles
- Cook rice noodles according to package. Set aside in a bowl of room temperature water.
Tofu Prep
- To get liquid out of the tofu, stand the tofu block up on its long side and cut into two slabs. Put a kitchen towel onto a baking sheet and place the slabs close together on the towel. Fold the sides of the towel on top of them and put something heavy like a cast iron pan or Dutch oven on top of the towel. Let this sit for about 15-20 minutes to get all the liquid out of the tofu.
Peanut Sauce
- While the tofu is sitting, use a fork to whisk the peanut sauce ingredients in a small bowl: peanut butter, water, sesame oil, lime juice, ginger, garlic, maple syrup, tamari sauce, rice vinegar and hot sauce or chili flakes (optional). Set aside.
Tofu
- Once the water is drained out, stack the tofu slabs and cut lengthwise then cross-wise, then cut the tofu into cubes.
- Heat a nonstick pan, then add the high-heat oil. Once the oil is warm, add the cubed tofu to the pan. Cook on medium heat for approximately 5-8 minutes, until golden on all sides.
- Turn the heat down to low and add about two-thirds of the peanut sauce to the pan (reserving some for drizzling over plated cups). Make sure to coat all pieces of tofu, gently moving tofu often to prevent burning, until pieces are sticky and crispy (about 3-4 minutes). Set aside.
Mushrooms & Onions
- Heat a small pan, add 1 Tbsp of oil. When the oil is warm, add sliced mushrooms, red onion, sea salt and pepper. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, mixing often. Set aside.
Plating
- Drain the rice noodles and shake until as much of the water has come off.
- Place two lettuce leaves on each plate per person. If you get to the smaller leaves inside the head of lettuce, or a leaf that is not as crispy, you can double them up for each cup so they are sturdier.
- Add a small amount of rice noodles to the center of each leaf. Add 6-8 cubes of tofu and a large spoonful of the mushroom and onion mix on top of that. Drizzle the peanut sauce on top.
- You can either add the toppings during plating (green onions, cilantro, nuts, hot sauce, sesame seeds), or put them on the table for people to add themselves per preference.
Notes
- Recipe makes about 8-9 lettuce cups. If you don’t use all the cooked ingredients, you can store them in the fridge for a few days. Tip: unused cooked rice noodles can be tossed with a bit of oil then kept in a container in the fridge. Give them a boost back to life by warming them up in a pan with veggie broth.
- This recipe is gluten-free. If that isn’t a concern for you, you can substitute the tamari sauce with soy sauce—whichever you have on hand.
Nutritional Facts & Fun!
Shitake & Maitake Mushrooms
These two mushrooms are packed with so many magical health benefits that I eat them daily! Aside from the wonderful meaty and robust flavor of the shitake and aromatic flavor of the maitake, these superstars are full of selenium (an essential mineral full of antioxidants), iron, fiber and vitamin C. They also have an abundance of polysaccharides, a complex carb that regulates digestion and gives a huge boost to the immune system and have anticancer properties!