If you like Chinese food (the American abomination of Chinese food, that is), this recipe is for you. And if you need to keep your blood sugar down ‘cuz, you know, goddam diabetes, then this recipe is really for you.
I’m not exactly a chef or a foodie, so this recipe will be a lot less precise than most recipes tend to be. Also, I just made it up, and I didn’t really keep track of how long to do this or how many cups you need of that.
But it’s super, super easy. Here it is in a nutshell:
- Cut up vegetables and tofu.
- Cook vegetables and tofu.
- Pour some oyster sauce and chili paste on it.
- Mix it up and eat it.
Oh, you want more than that? Groan. Fine.
Ingredients
- 1 brick of tofu, probably about 1 lb. (450g) or so
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 onion
- 6-8 bok choy … things (sprigs? sprouts? florets?)
- Some cooking oil, probably doesn’t matter what kind (I used canola oil, but who cares)
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- Chinese chili bean sauce to taste
Preparation (5-10 minutes)
- First, start a pot of boiling water for the bok choy. While that’s heating up, move on to Step 2 below.
- Cut the tofu into cubes.
- Cut the bell peppers and onion into squares or triangles or whatever shape best fits in your mouth.
Cooking (15-20 minutes)
Boil the bok choy until it starts to look droopy. Set it aside.
Cook the bell peppers in oil over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes.
Add the onions to the bell peppers. Cook for another 3-5 minutes until the onions start to get a little soft. Set the bell peppers and onions aside.
Cook the tofu. You want the tofu to be firm but not rubbery. It should start to turn yellowish-brown.
Add the bok choy, bell peppers, and onion to the tofu. Add oyster sauce and Chinese chili bean sauce to taste. I wrote 1/4 cup of oyster sauce because I don’t think you’ll need more than that, but I’m not you, so who knows.
This refrigerates and reheats well, so don’t be afraid to make a ton of it all at once like I did.
Blood sugar before and after!
Blood sugar reading #1 before eating: 94
This was on my lunch break during the workday, so it had been a few hours since my customary morning vegetables.
Blood sugar reading #1 after eating: 141
This reading was about an hour after I finished eating my bowl of tofu stir-fry. I also ate a little tuna salad with lettuce (no bread) to round it out.
So, 94 → 141. I can totally live with that! I was expecting the blood sugar increase to be small since this dish is literally just tofu and vegetables. You might have concerns about the oyster sauce and chili bean paste, but if you didn’t go crazy with that stuff then I would think it’s not a big concern.
So anyway, since I made so much of this stir-fry, I had the opportunity to test the blood sugar again.
Blood sugar reading #2 before eating: 102
This reading was after work. so I hadn’t eaten anything but sugar-free breath mints in the preceding hours.
Blood sugar reading #2 after eating: 133
This time I didn’t eat any tuna, but it was more stir-fry than the first blood sugar test. Again, the increase was pretty small.
I think it’s fair to say that this particular Chinese-like food is safe for diabetics.
Recent Comments