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!