Tofu Curry

This is a recipe I got from Tasty Kitchen. My family loved it!

6 whole scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
2 Tbls. olive oil
5 tsp. curry powder
1 Tbls. butter
28 oz coconut milk
juice of 1 whole lemon
sea salt to taste
2-3 tsp. sesame oil
15 oz Extra Firm Tofu, patted dry and cut into 1 inch cubes

Heat olive oil over med/low heat in pan. Add curry and scallions, when they are slightly translucent add butter. When bubbling add coconut milk and bring to boil, simmer for 2 mins. Stir in lemon juice and season with salt. (The sauce was not thick enough for me so I brought it back to a boil and added a little corn starch mixed with water.) Stir in cilantro.
In a skillet over med/high heat the sesame oil. When it's really hot add the tofu. Let it brown and then toss to continue browning on all sides.
Serve tofu over rice topped with sauce.

Cyndi's Curried Coconut Chicken (or tofu)

I made this tonight for dinner and substituted tofu for the chicken. I cubed the tofu and then cooked the tofu in some canola oil to brown it up a little bit. From there, I followed the same directions in the recipe. You just have to stir a little more gently. I have come to really love the combination of coconut milk and curry. It was pretty easy to throw together, but it just needs to simmer for 30 minutes. Very good and my kids even liked it!

Cyndi's Curried Coconut Chicken

(or tofu)
"100 Meals for $5 or Less"

(I found it in the Deseret News)

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups diced cooked chicken1
12-ounce can light coconut milk
1 14 1/2-ounce can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2-3 cups cooked brown or white rice

Directions
Heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Stir in onions and garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 7-10 minutes. Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt and pepper into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 minutes. Serve over rice. Serves 4.

Tofu Stroganoff

1 (16 ounce) package uncooked egg noodles
2 (12 ounce) packages extra-firm tofu, drained and diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
1 (12 ounce) container cottage cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 sprig fresh dill weed, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place egg noodles in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the tofu 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Set aside. Place the onions in the skillet, and cook until tender. Mix in mushrooms, garlic, and soy sauce, and cook until heated through.
3. In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, sour cream, and dill. Stir into the skillet. Return tofu to skillet, and continue cooking just until heated through. Serve over the cooked noodles.

Found this on allrecipes.com

Jambalaya Pasta with Chicken (or tofu)

Tonight I made Jambalaya. It has always been one of my favorite dishes to order at restaurants. I have had a recipe for it for a few years, but due to the overwhelming list of ingredients and steps, I had never tried it before. So, several weeks ago, I finally tried it for the first time. It was sooo good. It was a little spicy, but I like it that way. So, I made it again tonight, but without the meat. I added firm tofu for the chicken and skipped the sausage all together. I also replaced the butter with olive oil (not eating dairy for the time being) and it was very tasty anyway. I used mostly whole wheat noodles (about 12 oz.) with the other 4 oz. just regular pasta. Delish. So, here is the recipe. It is pretty long and the first time I made it, it took me longer than an hour (closer to 1 1/2), but this time, I did it under an hour, very worth the time. (Sorry no picture) Another substituion for the pasta is rice. We ate it that way the first time we made it and it was very good too.

Jambalaya Pasta with Chicken
Recipe from The California Pizza Kitchen

Grilled Garlic Chicken

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 teaspoons Minced Garlic

1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

½ teaspoon Salt

Two 5-ounce Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Jambalaya Sauce
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ pound Andouille sausage cut into 3/8-inch- thick slices
1 medium onion, cut into ¼ inch dice
1 medium green bell pepper cut into ¼ inch dice (I don't love green, so I used another color)
1 cup diced celery (1/4 inch dice)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 ½ cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes in puree
3 ounces canned tomato paste (half of a small can)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon dried rubbed sage
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 bay leaf

Caribbean Peppers and Onions
¼ cup bottled sweet chili sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1 small red onion, cut into 1-inch squares

For the Pasta
1 pound dry linguine (or two pounds fresh)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

To Make the Grilled Garlic Chicken:
In a mixing bowl, stir together the olive oil, garlic, soy sauce and salt. Turn the chicken breasts in this mixture and leave them to marinate at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat a stovetop grill or the broiler. Grill or broil the chicken breasts until cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, and then cut into ¾ inch cubes. Cover and refrigerate. (with the tofu, I cubed it and then just cooked it in the oil mixture, gently turning it until it was browned).

To Make the Jambalaya Sauce:
In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the sliced andouille sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, stir well to blend and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

To Make the Caribbean Peppers and Onions:
In a mixing bowl, stir together the chili sauce, soy sauce and olive oil until thoroughly blended. Preheat a stovetop grill or the broiler. Toss the pepper and onion squares with the chili sauce marinade to coat thoroughly. Grill or broil the coated vegetables in a single layer, using a spatula or tongs to turn them occasionally, until evenly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

To Prepare the Pasta:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 5 to 6 minutes for dry pasta or about 3 minutes for fresh pasta.

Meanwhile, in a covered medium-size saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the Caribbean Peppers and Onions, Grilled Garlic Chicken cubes and Jambalaya Sauce (remove the bay leaf). Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing or serving bowl.

Drain the linguine thoroughly, add it to the sauce and toss well. Serve family-style or in individual serving bowls, garnished with chopped parsley.

(I added the sauces to the pasta, tossed well and then added the tofu, gently tossing again)

VARIATION: With Shrimp: For the chicken, substitute 20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined. Toss them with the same marinade ingredients, but cook them for only 2 to 3 minutes, until they turn bright pink. Leave them while when combining with the other ingredients.

New Cookbook and Stir-Fried Tofu

For Christmas this year, my good friend Emily gave me a new cookbook:

I love it! I especially love it even more now that I don't have to borrow her copy anymore.

I have been trying new recipes all month (from this and other cookbooks). So far, we have liked every dinner from this book. It is a must have cookbook (thanks again Emily!).

I have always wanted to try tofu, but I just wasn't sure what to make and I really wanted my kids to like it. So, I tried stir fry recipe in the book. It was very good and my kids loved it (they also thought it was chicken, but I still consider it a win). I will definitely be trying more recipes with tofu now. Sorry I don't have any pictures of any of the dinners. I have been out of blogging mode lately and just too hungry and excited to try the food. The food is good, just trust me.

Stir-Fried Tofu & Vegetable Teriyaki

serves 4

2 T. canola oil

1 lb. extra firm tofu (cut into 1/2" thick pieces)

3 scallions, minced

2 c. small broccoli florets

1 c. thinly sliced carrots

1/2 c. fresh or frozen red bell pepper strips

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 orange)

1/4 c. tamari (soy sauce)

2 T. toasted sesame oil

1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 T. light brown sugar

salt & freshly ground black pepper

Heat 1 T. of the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove the tofu from the skillet and set aside on a plate.

Heat the remaining 1 T. of oil in the same skillet over medium high heat. Add the scallions, broccoli, carrots, and bell pepper strips, and stir fry until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the tofu back into the skillet and set aside while you prepare the sauce.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, orange juice, tamari, sesame oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, and salt & pepper to taste. Blend well. Reheat the skillet over medium high heat. Pour the sauce over the tofu and vegetables and cook, stirring gently, until the tofu and vegetables are hot and well coated with the sauce, about 5 minutes.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

I was craving lettuce wraps yesterday and looked online and found several recipes for using tofu.  I made a version that sounded fabulous, but though they were good, they weren't wow.  So I need suggestions.  I think the sauce could have used some thickening and I think I should have first baked  or really fried the tofu to give it a bit of a denser texture and crispiness (is that how you do it????).  

Here was what I used, all diced up into little chunks or matchsticks:

Carrots

mushrooms

firm tofu (extra firm would probably be better)

plenty of garlic

shallots and onions (if I would have had more shallots I would have used just them)

scallions

water chestnuts

ginger (fresh)

bean sprouts

First I stir fried the garlic/onion/ginger, then added the tofu, then the veggies and sauce.

for the sauce:

4 TBS lime juice

4 TBS Thai fish sauce

4 TBS tamarin sauce

2 TBS vegetarian version of oyster sauce

2 TBS rice vinegar

1 TBS honey

dash of cayenne (It needed more kick and some cornstarch or something to thicken it)

Toppings:

chopped peanuts

fresh Thai Basil

Sweet Chili Sauce

 

So what do you think would make it more wow?  Any suggestions?

Update:  These were pretty wow reheated for lunch the next day.  Maybe just giving the tofu time to fully absorb the flavor of the sauce is all it takes.

Pad Thai Noodles

I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious.  It serves about 8.

13 oz. bag rice stick noodles

6 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup minced cilantro

6 scallions chopped about 1 inch lengths

3 Tbs fish sauce

2 Tbs tamarind sauce (or ketchup)

2 tsp sweetner like sugar, honey, or agave nectar

1 cup bean sprouts rinsed

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

2 Thai chilies chopped ( I used a much less spicy Anaheim and it worked fine)

1 pack of firm tofu diced into squares

4 beaten eggs cooked crepe-like (so you have a round egg pancake), rolled, then sliced thin into strips

1. Put noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water, let soak until ready (about 15 mns), then drain (let them soak while you do the next couple of steps.  You don't want them to sit undrained or they will stick together and be gross).

2. In hot frying pan pour a neutral flavored oil (like corn or grapeseed, not olive oil) and fry up the garlic, tofu, scallions, and half of the bean sprouts for about 3-5 minutes.  Remove from pan wth slotted spoon and set aside.

3. Put noodles, eggs, fish sauce, tamarind, and sweetner in frying pan and mix and fry for about 1-2 minutes.  

4. Mix noodle mixture with tofu mixture, top with peanuts, chilies, cilantro, and remaining bean sprouts.  Serve with lime wedges.  (You could also garnish with fresh sliced cucumbers)

YUM!