This dish is the love child of my craving greens and wanting to clean out the fridge before going away for the weekend. I did not expect to enjoy it but I really did. I could also see a myriad of possibilities for personalization of this dish, based on what you happen to have hanging around in your fridge. For those of you naysayers who will tut tut at my having an exotic black bean sauce handy in my fridge, might I suggest that you look at the international food section of your local supermarket.
The Lee Kum Kee brand seems ubiquitous, at least in the United States. Please buy a jar at once. Once you try it, you will put it in everything you make from salad dressings and sauces to stir fries and burgers. In a pinch, you can even mix some with sour cream for an instant dip with chips...
2 cups greens or a mixture of chopped veggies and greens (for those who might wonder exactly what I used, I happen to have gone a little crazy at the salad and greens stall at the Farmer's market this week, so I was finishing up pea shoots, pink amaranth, baby chrysanthemum leaves and baby spinach).
1/2 package of silken tofu
2 tsps black bean sauce with garlic
1/2 tsp oil
1 Tbsp white wine, sake, sherry or vermouth
1/2 cup water or chicken stock
In a small saucepan, bring your stock or water to a rolling boil. Set aside.
Over low heat, heat the oil in a large skillet. As soon as it sizzles, add the black bean sauce and the white wine; stir to combine. Allow to boil just around the edges.
Add your vegetables and greens to the skillet with the black bean sauce and cook until veggies are cooked and greens are wilted (if using veggies, cook them until tender before adding the greens which need less time to cook).
As soon as the greens are cooked, add your tofu and heat through. This should take less than a minute, You can roughly chop your tofu or, as I do, crush it between your fingers while adding it to the pan. I like that method because I like the mouthfeel of the different sized pieces of tofu in the dish.
Tip your tofu-veggie mix into a soup bowl, pour over the stock and voilà, easy dinner for one. Come to think of it, if you were hungrier than I was, you could omit the stock and serve this over plain rice.