Tofu & Vegetable Coconut Curry

I'm generally not a big fan of tofu but this recipe is really yummy. Whenever I make a new recipe I ask Greg if it's a keeper or not and he said he would definitely eat this again.

I have recently learned a trick to make the texture and taste of tofu better which I will share later because you don't need to do it for this recipe.

Tofu and Vegetable Coconut Curry

Ingredients

• 400ml coconut cream
  
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Thai curry paste
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
• Sprinkle of chili powder
  
• 400g tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Thai basil
• 1 bunch bok choy, rinsed and chopped

Directions

1. In a wok or large frypan mix the coconut cream, soy sauce, brown sugar, curry paste, ginger, and chilli. Bring to a boil.
2. Add the tofu, tomatoes, capsicum, and shallots into the wok. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Mix in basil and bok choy. Taste and add more chilli or soy sauce if desired. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp.
4. Serve over rice if desired.
   

Notes

I got this recipe (and picture) from allrecipes.com.au and you can find the original recipe here as the recipe above includes some minor changes I made. One change I made and didn't note above was to use a generous sprinkle of dry basil instead of the Thai basil but this was only because when I went to the shop they were out of fresh Thai basil. Next time I hope to use fresh Thai basil which is why I left it in.

The Vegetarian Experiment

The Goal: To become a vegetarian for 2010.

I have always planned on making at least half of my dinners vegetarian but it is so easy to cook meals with meat and they seem to dominate. Because of this, I need to be more proactive in my eating and I have decided to become a vegetarian...for all of 2010 - then I'll re-evaluate and decide what I want to do after that. I won't be a true vegetarian because I'm still going to eat fish up to once a week, but I'm still calling myself vegetarian because it's easier to say than I'm-a-vegetarian-except-I-occasionally-eat-fish. I'm also going to limit the fish I eat to certain kinds, but more on that in future blogs!

The Purpose: Health, primarily, but I also love the lesser environmental impact involved with eating a plant-based diet.

The Collaborator: Tara. We will be doing this blog together.

The Supporter: Josh. It's true. He won't be joining me on my vegetarian journey - I told him I'll still cook meat for him (a few times a week). It's more of a challenge for me but it means more harmony at the dinner table. I'm hoping to find meals that can be simply altered for a meat and veg version.

The Blog: the purpose of this blog is to share vegetarian recipes and health/nutiriotion information that we hope will be helpful to others who are looking for vegetarian meal alternatives. If you have a good recipe email it to me to try and if I like it I'll post it on the blog! I welcome recipes! Friday is the first day of 2010 and I don't know what I'm going to cook yet!