5 Ingredient Green Curry

Hopefully you have noticed that we here at Bistro 164 try to balance the number of omnivore/carnivore dishes on our blog with that of the vegetarian/vegan variety. We know that nowadays a lot of health conscious people are looking for ways to eat better, live longer, feel better, and leave less of a carbon foot print on the world. And why do we know this? Because that's us too!

Not so long ago it was difficult to search out so called "ethical" dishes. If we happened to have a guest over with dietary restrictions or preferences it was full blown panic on how to handle the situation. Case in point: a few years ago we invited a gluten-intolerant friend over for dinner and we (meaning me) had a total melt down in the grocery store trying to figure out what to feed her. Suffice to say we bought the over-priced package of rice that proclaimed to be "Gluten-Free".... and then realized later that ALL rice is Gluten-Free. #Sucker #yupweactuallyfellforit #andwethoughtweweresoclever. Sigh.

But the times they are a changin (yes I quoted Bob Dylan there for all you young folk. ) Now I own two (yes two) Vegan cookbooks and I LOVE them! We eat so many beans and lentils that it's almost obscene (and sometimes a wee bit taxing on the old GI system...need we say more.) We actually crave delicious fresh green salads (total weirdos I know!) I had to explain TVP to a co-worker recently and I shockingly sounded like an expert on the subject (WTF!!!)

So yes, now eating vegetarian or vegan meals through the course of a day, and even for a whole week, is not unusual for us. Do we still love our meat? You betcha. It's not something I feel I can or want to totally give up. I crave protein. I crave animal protein. There I said it. If that makes me a bad person then whatever. But we resolve to eat as mindfully as possible. Yes we sometimes cave for the cheaper, quicker options when money is tight...but we aim to do our best.

To quote one of my favourite food authors, Michael Pollan: "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." So with that in mind, here is one of my new favourite recipes from one of my favourite food bloggers. Super quick, easy, flavourful, and healthy for the middle of a busy work week. You won't miss the animal protein at all so you can save your cravings for the weekend and go whole-hog...so to speak.

Eat your vegetables. They're good for you. Love Bistro 164.

5 Ingredient Green Curry

from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

12 oz package of firm tofu

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

a couple of tbsps of olive oil

salt to taste

4 tbsps green curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste)

3 of the 14 oz cans of coconut milk

3- 4 cups of broccoli florets

a dollop of fish sauce for extra flavour if you have it

serve with rice and a big ole spoonful of mango chutney

Instructions

Squeeze the moisture out of the brick of tofu with paper towels. Dice the tofu into cubes. Add your olive oil to a pan and heat to medium-high heat.  Add the tofu, sprinkle with some salt, and pan fry it all until it's nice and brown and crispy (should take about 10-15 minutes or so.) Remove the tofu and set aside.

Add the coconut milk, curry paste and sweet potatoes to your pot and simmer for about 10 minutes or so, until the potatoes are fork tender. Add in the broccoli and the tofu. Simmer for another 5 minutes until the broccoli is a lovely green colour and still slightly crisp in texture (be careful not to overdo it, nothing worse than mushy broccoli in my opinion.) Throw in a dollop or two of fish sauce if you have it. If not, it will still taste yummy so no worries.  The original author of the recipe also recommends tossing in some raisins at this point...raisins and I don't see eye to eye (blech) so I omitted them...but go ahead and try them if you like them to add some extra sweetness to your dish.

Serve over rice and a top with a huge delicious spoonful of mango chutney. If you have any cilantro, chop some of that up and throw on top as well.  Mmmmmm cilantro.