Saltado de Vegetales

My husband introduced me to a lot of different types of foods when we first dated.  It was a match made in foodie heaven.  On our fourth date, Jase took me to a Peruvian restaurant named El Rocoto and the flavors were orgasmic!  I never knew that a fusion of Latin and Asian flavors would taste so good!  The hubs certainly missed eating Peruvian food on a weekly basis since he used to have it at least once a week before we met.  So I decided to recreate the Saltado de Vegetales dish.  The saltado is usually served with meat and french fries but I decided to substitute it with tofu and sweet potato fries.  The Peruvian chili pepper, Aji Amarillo tastes like it's got 10 times the spice of a yellow or red bell pepper.  It's got great flavor and the pepper or paste tastes awful good in stir fries.  We found the aji amarillo paste at the local Latin American market.

Saltado de Vegetales

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 10 ounces of whole wheat pasta, brown rice or tofu noodles
• 6 ounces of sweet potatoes fries (I use Trader Joes frozen sweet potato fries and bake them until crisp)
• 16 ounces of fried tofu (cut into thin one inch pieces and fry in oil until golden brown)
• 4 tomatoes cut into quarters
• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 1 Spanish onion cut into strips
• 5 ounces of sliced crimini mushrooms
• 2 stalks of chopped green onions
• 1 handful of chopped cilantro
• 3 tablespoons of aji amarillo paste
• 2 tablespoons of vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoon of shoyu
• 2 teaspoons of maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice

1. Prepare noodles or rice and set aside but keep warm
2. Fry the tofu in oil until light golden brown and set aside
3. Fry or bake sweet potato fries until they are crisp and set aside
4. Turn stove on high.  In a hot wok or pan, add one teaspoon of oil, minced garlic and onions.  Stir for one minute.
5. Add musrooms, tomatoes, tofu and stir for about 3 minutes.
6. Add aji amarillo paste, vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce, shoyu, maple syrup, lime juice, green onions, cilantro and stir for 2 minutes.
7. Turn off heat from stove and gently fold in sweet potato fries.
8. Serve over rice or noodles.