Hi again everyone! This is my healthy take on panda express orange chicken. I could have used a mock meat substitute like “gardein” or “beyond meat” but sometimes I like to just have tofu in order to cut out a little of the processed food. Plus if I am being honest, you could put this sauce on cardboard and I would probably still eat it, it’s that good! In my original recipe I only used tofu, broccoli, and rice; however I wish I would have added cashews for a little extra crunch so I am going to include that in this recipe although they wont be in the pictures. Hope you enjoy as much as I did 🙂
Ingredients/ shopping list:
- 1 block extra firm tofu ( I swear by the Trader Joe’s organic “super firm” tofu. It comes bagged and almost dry rather than soaked in water which makes it hold way better than any other tofu when using it as a meat substitute)
- 1 bottle of the “panda express orange sauce”
- Corn starch (1/2 cup)
- Panko bread crumbs ( 1/3 cup)
- Olive oil (1/4 cup and a little extra to drizzle in the pan)
- One bag of broccoli or about two heads
- Cashews (1/2 cup)
- Rice of your choosing
Cooking Instructions:
Make sure you have two pans and burners ready for this dish as well as anything you need for the rice you are cooking. The tofu will be in one pan, the broccoli and cashews in another and then you can mix them all before serving.
Step 1.
Chop up your tofu into squares as pictured below. Then either in a large bowl or tupperware add the olive oil, cornstarch, and panko bread crumbs. I love using tupperware as you can just put the lid on and shake up all the ingredients. The goal here is to coat the tofu in the cornstarch. If your panko crumbs are not sticking very well thats ok! They will still fry up with the tofu in the pan and add a nice crunch.
Step 2.
Once your tofu mixture is ready go ahead and heat up your first pan and drizzle with a little oil. Add the tofu mixture and occasionally flip or stir tofu until it begins to turn yellowish brown and crispy. While you are waiting for the tofu to crisp up, heat up your other pan and drizzle with oil to get ready for the broccoli and cashews. Add the cashews at the bottom of the pan with the olive oil as to get nice and crispy, then add your broccoli on top. Stir this occasionally until the broccoli is soft enough to piece easily with a fork. ( If you are new to cooking I would recommend doing to the tofu first then the broccoli and cashews so you don’t become overwhelmed and either over or under cook something. There is no shame in dinner taking a bit longer if the final result turns out better.)
Step 3.
Once everything is cooked, add the broccoli and cashews to your tofu pan and add in the orange sauce (there is no measurment for this because everyone has a different preference in sauce amounts). Leave the burner on while you add your sauce and for about 5-8 minutes after so the sauce can thicken a bit.
Step 4.
Serve with a scoop or two of rice and enjoy!
Wrap Up:
The “tofu” alone provides 42 grams of protein with only 390 calories not to mention the fact that one bag of broccoli has 12 grams of protein and only 100 calories.
Again, wrapping up, not only will this dinner provide you with a healthy and quick mid week meal (which also re-heats just as delicious for leftovers), but by swapping tofu for regular chicken you are saving innocent lives like those of Gerald and all the other lucky chickens that get to live out their lives here at Farm Animal Refuge. Give this recipe a try and share your results with me on instagram by tagging me! @carlye_lavonne_14
