Why rice cookers are the greatest invention ever.

My parents have each given me a gift that I could not (relatively speaking) live without. When I left home for college, my father gave me a jump start kit that I've never yet had to use. I totally drive around on a 3/4 dead batter because heck, why not?

My mother gave me a stainless steel rice cooker when I left for college, and it has seen much more use. It comes in super handy for this dish I make all of the time (I plan to make it tonight).

Eating with allergies is difficult, and eating fried things with allergies is even harder. I love this meal because the tofu is a bit crunchy, but it still feels healthy to eat it- there are vegetables, right?

You'll need:

• 1 package of cubed firm or extra firm tofu, with a drained weight of about 8 oz. (I like the Nasoya brand- it's organic and not GMO)
• 4 tablespoons of rice or gluten free flour mix
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• olive oil for pan
• approx. 2 cups rice
• a vegetable. I like using asparagus or broccoli or green beans
• soy salt (I use gluten free tamari, but all of San-J's sauces are great)
• optional but awesome: Sesame seeds

Keep in mind that I've never once measured out spices when I make this.

First I put the rice on. I usually make about 1 1/2 cups of white rice for two people, or about 2 cups of brown. They expand differently. However much you want to make, in my rice cooker you can just double the water, push the button, and you're good to go. If you don't have a rice cooker, I'm sorry. There are other ways to make rice, I just don't bother with them.

Prep your veggies, and set aside. When the rice starts steaming I put them in the steaming tray and add to the cooker then. If you are using one of those steam-able bags, you'll want to wait until later.

Cut into the plastic top of the tofu container, and drain into the sink. When the water is gone, dump into your shaker vessel. You can either use a gallon zip lock bag, or lately I've been doing this in a largish leftovers container. Add gluten free flour, ginger, paprika and sesame seeds if you have them. Feel free to ad-lib here, if you like it spicy go crazy. Do a little dance and shake it!

I usually put enough olive oil in my big pan to cover the bottom, but not much more (trust me on this, use olive oil. Vegetable oil doesn't taste the same). Turn it up to about medium. Add the prepped tofu to hot oil, and cook until tofu crust is light brown and a little crusty.

If you timed it right, the rice and vegetable will be done pretty quickly after the tofu- if not, just turn the tofu down super low. It can take it.

Layer rice, vegetables, tofu and sauce on a plate. Consume.