I was looking through my YouTube account, gathering recipes to try, and ran across a recipe from Bon Appetit for Spicy Mushroom Larb. I clicked on it because I was curious. I had never heard of Larb. Come to find out it is the unofficial national dish of Laos. It’s also eaten all over Thailand. The ingredients are pretty simple. I looked all over the web to see what you could use to make larb you could use meat or mushrooms. Bon Appetit used just mushrooms. Right off the bat I see there will not be enough protein for us. However, I think I can make a simple change to add more protein and stay true to the dish. I am also going to ditch the cabbage leaves for scooping. The only reason is because it doesn’t freeze well. To keep this vegetarian, I will be using tofu as my main protein source. Here are the original stats:

The calories are a bit high for what you get.  The sodium is really high and the vitamin A and protein are low.  Here’s what I changed:

• I deleted the cabbage because it doesn’t freeze well.
• I lowered the amount of oil to reduce the calories.
• I deleted the added salt to lower the sodium.
• I added a block of extra firm tofu to increase the protein.
• I reduced the amount of mushrooms to add room for the tofu.
• I added in butternut squash for flavor and vitamin A.
• I added in red bell pepper for vitamin C.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Mushroom and Tofu Larb

Serves 6

• ¼ cup roasted, skinless peanuts
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
• 10 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, quartered
• 36 oz extra firm tofu
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 1″ piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
• 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced into rings, rinsed, drained
• 1 red chile, such as Holland, Fresno, or Thai, thinly sliced
• 6 oz. Red Bell Pepper, chopped
• 8 oz. Butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup mint leaves, torn if large
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• Lime wedges (for serving)