Monday, September 1, 2008

Curry In a Hurry

Sorry for the long absence. I spent the weekend in Nashville and Clarksville, Tennessee with the boyfriend. We went to the Nashville Shores water park, ate at Mellow Mushroom, and took a much-needed trip to the massive Whole Foods. But before I left town, I fulfilled a coconut curry craving with Bare Bones Tofu Curry from Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison:

It's called "bare bones" because it's such a basic recipe: coconut milk, curry paste, plain tofu, seasonal veggies, and fresh basil. I was able to whip this dish up in a few minutes with some organic carrots and local yellow pepper and squash.

The real highlight was the tofu. I discovered this Asian brand of baked tofu at my neighborhood Asian market and it's amazingly firm (don't remember the name though ... sorry). Its more firm than White Wave or Westsoy (the two most firm brands sold around here) and more sturdy than any pre-baked tofu I've ever purchased.

Since the recipe calls for fried tofu, I tossed the cubes in some hot safflower oil for a few minutes and it even started to bubble on the outside, like the tofu served in Asian restaurants. Unfortunately, I was too hungry to wait for it to get totally fried on the outside, so it's not as pretty as it could be. But the texture was perfect!

11 comments:

VeganCowGirl said...

Hope your trip was just what you needed.

I really dig the bare bones concept. Sometimes I find myself adding this, and adding that to my recipes...in the hope of concocting something super. It is nice to just take it down a bit every once and a while and trust nature's good taste and simplicity. Looks great!

Anonymous said...

Lets hear it for the FIRM tofu! Hope you had a good time on your break.

Brad and Ahnah said...

hope you had fun on your trip. And that curry looks tasty.

I hope to make it Thursday for falafal!!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Oooh, curry!! Delightful.

Hope the trip went well!

Jen said...

hey, let me know if you figure out the brand name of that tofu! yea for curry!

jessy said...

what a pretty dish, Bianca! glad you guys had a nice, relaxing weekend - that's awesome! Mellow Mushroom?! mmmmmm! i haven't been to one in about 8 years - next time i see one in my travels i'm totally stopping in!

hooray for awesome tofu and curry in a hurry! :D

Anonymous said...

Simple curries are the best! Beautiful picture!

Katy said...

Mmmm, I love a good curry! Sounds like you scored big time with that tofu!

MeloMeals said...

Yum! I love a good tofu so much..

also, your cuppers look and sound amazing from last post..

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Curry in a hurry... yummy in the tummy!

It looks great! I want that super firm tofu!

Sheridan said...

I miss Mellow Mushroom! Makes me think of Charleston and Asheville. sigh. Your tofu dish looks excellent. I suck at the tofu cooking. I need a traning class, chef Bianca.