Make-do mapo

Its name might not have the prettiest of origins, but mapo tofu is easy to make and delicious…as long as you're not a stickler for authenticity. I had a limited amount of ingredients to work with—basically a pack of tofu, a pack of ground turkey, and spicy bean paste—but I threw these all together in a pan and came up with a meat 'n' tofu dish close enough to call itself a variation of the classic. FeistyFoodie has thorough directions and ingredient measurements for a much more respectable mapo tofu—we use the same brand of hot bean sauce, and her addition of green peas sounds perfect even though not standard—so I urge you to go there if you want a precise recipe. But if you want the basics for a lazy, one-pan version:

Slice a few cloves of garlic into thin pieces and fry until golden in some oil. Add ground turkey (or whatever ground meat you prefer) and brown it in the pan; then add in several spoonfuls of spicy bean paste, some oyster sauce, a drizzle of sesame oil, a drizzle of soy sauce, and a bit of sugar. If you have scallions on hand, throw those in too (chopped). Then add the tofu cubes. Cook until everything's heated through and serve over rice.

I eat this with steamed bok choy on the side when I have some, but like I said—I had a limited options!