Friday, June 11, 2010

Thai Red Curry with Tofu

I love curry. A whole lot. And I love the variety in curry, indian, thai, chinese, etc. Each one is so different, and yet so divine. Yes, I said divine. Sometimes I cheat and buy Trader Joe's bottled versions, the yellow is my favorite, with green following in a close second. I bought a thai basil seedling this year to try as I often come across recipes calling for it, but never find it in the store. It is beautiful, dark green and purple, with lovely buds. It has grown so well in the past few weeks.

This night I decided to use the bok choy, scallions, and cilantro from my farm box. I borrowed this recipe and changed it up a bit from Vegetarian Times. 1 pkg tofu, drained 2 T oil (veggie is nice for its higher temp capability) 1 can light coconut milk 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 T ginger, minced 1 T curry paste (or more if you love spice- I used 1 1/2 T) 2 T brown sugar 1 T low-sodium soy sauce 8 oz baby bella mushrooms 1 can water chestnuts 1/2 head of large bok choy, sliced 1 c peas 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced into 1" pieces 1/2 c sliced thai basil (or sweet basil) 2 tsp lime juice 4 T cilantro 3 green onions, sliced In a wok over high heat, pan fry tofu and oil until tofu is brown on outsides. I throw in 1/2 T of curry paste here to help the tofu flavor along. Once cooked, remove from pan and store in a bowl for later. In wok, add 3-4 T of coconut milk to pan. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste, stir-fry for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and bok choy, stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Add remaining coconut milk, brown sugar, soy sauce, and lemongrass. Add peas and water chesnuts, lower to medium heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Stir in basil, cilantro, lime juice, and green onions. Serve. This had a great, well-rounded flavor. Please remember not to eat the lemongrass.

Pitch for the farm: The hubs and I could not get over how amazingly sweet the peas were, they brought me back to my grandfathers garden, picking the peas off the vine and eating them right there ;)

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