Coconut Crusted Tofu in Thai Mango Sauce

I have seen a couple versions of this around the net lately and my sister made an attempt at this last week with chicken and said it was great. Here is my go - around.


Marinade

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 t sliced fresh ginger
• 1 t sliced fresh garlic
• 1 dash of salt

Tofu

• 1 package extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup soy flour
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• vegetable oil for frying

Sauce

• 1 cup frozen mango
• 1/4 cup frozen pineapple
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 4 T thai chili sauce
• 1 dash of salt

1. Dice tofu into cubes and pat dry
2. Soak in marinade for at least 1 hour
3. Combine items for sauce in blender until well mixed
4. Prepare first bowl with 1/4 cup flour
5. Prepare second bowl with 1/4 cup flour and enough water to make a thin paste
6. Prepare third bowl with coconut and breadcrumbs
7. Dip tofu piece from one bowl to the next until it is crumbed and set on plate to dry
8. When all pieces have been coated fill the bottom of a pan with oil and heat
9. Once water sparks out of it you can start frying the tofu
10. Turn over until all sides are browned and then place on paper towels to dry
11. Serve with a side of sauce (we served it over couscous and it was fantastic)

Hoisined Tofu

One of my recipes that is an old standby of mine is Hoisined Tofu. Very very simple but something so wonderful about it.

• tofu
• evoo
• hoisin sauce

1. Sautee tofu slices in a few tablespoons of evoo
2. Once tofu is browned serve with hoisin sauce lightly braised over the top
3. Enjoy

Curried Beef Thai Crockpot Bowl

So, my sweet boys love their meat. But their mommy/wifey is a vegetarian. To be honest I have been trying to get off the veggies this past year, but I have really struggled with that. The most I can force myself on is Tilapia and only if my husband blackens it and I eat it really fast without thinking. I cook meat for my family on occasion but they are sadly getting most of their protein from beans, tofu, and eating out. What I will often do is cook a version of something for me without me and one for them with meat, but honestly I am not doing this enough. So I figured that tonight (when I am drinking my meals) would be a good time to try something new and fun for them. So here goes...

• 1/2 bag egg noodles
• 1 lb ground round 
• 1/2 bag frozen japanese vegetables
• 1/2 vidalia onion sliced
• foo curry sauce

and then for the sauce

• 1T Hoisin Sauce
• 1/2t tumeric
• 1t Raw Agave Nectar
• 1t lemon juice
• 2T peanut butter
• 1T panang curry
• 1/2t coriander
• 1t curry
• 2C water

1. Pour noodles in crockpot
2. Pour 2C water over them
3. Place onions over noodles
4. Place Vegetables over onions
5. Place Meat over veggies
6. Make Sauce
1. put everything except for the water into a small bowl and blend until homogeneous
2. slowly mix in the water until it is a saucey/soupy consistency
7. Pour sauce over all in crockpot
8. Pour 2C more of water over mixture allowing sauce to creep down
9. Set on HIGH for 3-5 hours or until hot

Tofu in Peanut Sauce

So in hopes of finding something to cook on the healthier side I invented up this crockpot yummy. Feel free to modify to your taste! Regardless of how it looked it tasted soooooo good - now to perfect it by making it pretty :)

• Extra Firm Tofu
• Frozen Baby Carrots
• 0.5 sweet vidalia onion
• 0.5 package frozen greens
• veggie broth
• garlic
• lemon juice
• peanut butter
• soy sauce

1. Saute tofu in evoo or butterspray
2. Mix lemonjuice, peanut butter, and soy sauce in small bowl
3. Throw all ingredients in crockpot and spread sauce on top
4. Put on medium and mix ocassionally to spread the sauce across it
5. About 4-6 hours later take out and serve

Panang Foo Curry Tofu

I had been making my standard curry so often that Bryan and I were getting sick of it for sure. So I haven't mad it now in a pretty long time. Last night I wanted to get creative in the kitchen so I grabbed one of the Panang Curry packets that Anna had sent me down from Atlanta and started pulling ingredients out of cabinets for my creation. And here I will share it with you...

Ingredients:

• panang curry packet (or any curry paste)
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion
• 1 pkg firm tofu
• 2 T evoo
• 1 can artichokes
• 1 package ramen noodles (throw out spice pack)
• veggie broth
• 1 t peanut butter
• chopped peanuts
• red pepper spice

Steps

1. Chop onions and saute in evoo
2. Chop tofu into bite sized pieces and saute with onions 
3. Once the tofu starts to brown on the outside add in the artichokes
4. Coat with curry paste mixing around well 
5. add a teaspoon of peanut butter and some scoops of raw peanuts
6. Continue to sautee under all pieces are browning/cooked to your liking
7. Add 1 can of veggie broth and spice with splenda, pepper and anything within reach
8. Add broken up package of noodles and let the sauce come to a short boil 
9. Lower heat but continue stirring and heating
10. Once noodles are soft you are done
11. Serve

*Note: given my mouth of steel I like things hot - so if you have a more tender tongue you may want to lessen your spicing and paste

Spring Rolls

After my second experiment with spring rolls this week I feel as if i have it figured out enough to share now, especially from my mistakes I have learned from. So here we go.

1. Make your filling by sauteing tofu, onions, garlic, frozen veggies, brown rice and cabbage (you can put anything you want in your fillings - chicken/beef/shrimp/whatever)
2. I mixed this combination in a bowl with some crushed roasted peanuts, and spices 
3. Next I took a rice paper and soaked it in water for about 15-30 seconds 
1. the first time I made these I did not soak them long enough and they wouldnt stick.
2. you will want to soak it completely and when you move them in the water - if it wrinkles its ready, if its stiff its not yet
   
3. be careful here not to rip the wrapper or make it stick to itself too early
4. this is really the hardest part
4. Take the rice paper out of the water and spread it out on a clean surface like a cutting board 
5. Spoon a tablespoon or two of filling into the center of the wrapper 
6. Fold the top and sides in
    
7. Roll the spring roll until the bottom flap wraps around it 
8. Very carefully - pick it up with your hands and place it on an aluminum sheet 
9. Continue until you have wrapped as many as you like - make sure they arent touching on your aluminum sheet
10. At this point you can store them in the freezer/fridge or cook them. Let them dry a bit before you try to handle them.
11. They can be served cold but I recommend throwing them in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes (keep an eye on them and when they seem crunchy/brownish take em out)
12. Eat - serve with soy sauce, duck, or hoison sauce or whatever else you may like.

Oh-Ehm-Gee Curry Lentils

This is what I shall call this dish. OMG-curry lentils. I just had a bowl of it and I still want more.
Ever since Kim left back home, I've been craving Thai-Ethiopian food. I have 2 packets of curry paste - green and red. I was going to make some curry dishes for Kim, but never got around it, so I decided to use some of that curry and see waht I can make.

What came out was: OMG.

You will need:

- Lentils (some...lol!)
- Curry paste (I used the red. It looked less spicy by the ingredient list. I don't like spicy)
- Tomatoes
- Lime
- Cilantro
- Onions
- Salt
- Veg. oil

Boil "some" lentils. Until soft - just follow instructions. Once lentils are ready - drain them in a colander (I use the one with fine mesh to make sure all the water is out).
Heat up a flat skillet with some oil. Dice up onion and let it start cooking. Once the onions are almost done - throw on the lentils. Stir frequently, lower the heat - don't let the lentils burn.
Now the curry paste was tricky - it was very...pasty. I dropped just a half of teaspoon in there, and I could tell the taste is going to be phenomenal. I stirred and stirred until all of the paste got dispersed throughout the food.
Then I squeezed half-lime worth of lime juice. Threw some cilantro in and some salt.
Turn off the heat.
Dice up tomatoes, remove the mushy middles. Use roma tomatoes, or anything that's hard, basically. Dice up, and throw in. Let the tomatoes be cold, but the rest hot.



EAT!
I guarantee you will love it. Kim, let me know if you cannot find this kind of paste, and I will sent you some from here. Oh, and it does also taste a bit like Ethiopian food.

Ginger-Lime Shrimp

Was craving something "exotic" last night and made this concoction. Shrimp with , I guess, Bahama-Thai flavor?

You just need:

Some shrimp (Yep, I don't measure things)
Butter/Margerine
Garlic/Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Lime (or lemon)
Fresh ginger root
Green onions
Green peppers
Regular onions (I like sweet vidalia)


Start with heating up butter. While that's doing it's thing - dice up green pepers and onions small. Toss them on and let them cook up a bit. Then toss shrimp. Cut lime up in halves, and squeeze a bit, but not too much. Then cut the 1/2 lime into quarters and toss into the mix.
Add your garlic, salt (tiny amount), pepper. Then add a TINY bit of ginger. I pretty much just scrape a bit off the root (remive the skin!)and just toss it in the mix for the smell, mostly.

The green onions go last. Sometimes I'll add some cilantro leaves as well. This dish tastes really fresh and delicious.

Tofu Curry

So my favorite restaurant would be Bangkok Thai restaurant in Sarasota, Fl. Hands down! There have been weeks where they saw me in there three times in the same week! Those were good weeks for me. Or maybe they were bad ones that people were using that to cheer me up. Either way its my favorite.

Now I have been going there around 8/9 years and I have always ordered the same thing. Tofu pad thai medium/hot (depending on my mood) without the eggs. It is amazing. Now Ive swapped appetizers. Sometimes I get sumtum cucumber salad. Sometimes crunchy tofu. Sometimes Tofu Satay. But always the pad thai.

So recently I went and decided after 8 years of the same thing I was going to try something else on the menu. It was very courageous of me, because as my fiance pointed out, if I didn't like what I ended up with - then I would have wasted a trip to Bangkok.

But I took another step into the world of thai food and ordered the Green Curry with Tofu. Man was it good! Now I have gone back three times since and only order the tofu green curry. Being on the South Beach diet, and also trying to not spend too much money eating out, I decided to try this at home, south beach style.

It took two tries to get all the ingredients perfect, but now it is south beach friendly (i never gain weight on the days I eat it and often lose), vegetarian (for me), and also just as yummy as the ones my friends at Bangkok make. So here is the recipe to share with you!

Ingredients

• evoo
• red bell pepper
• green bell pepper
• vidalia onion
• cubed tofu
• mushrooms
• green peas
• green curry paste
• splenda
• light peanut butter (the one with splenda is best cause its sbfriendly)
• light soy sauce
• two cans of lite coconut milk
• crushed red pepper
• salt
• pepper
• whole grain brown rice 

Steps

1. cook brown rice, while it is simmering -> continue
2. saute in some evoo: red bell pepper, green bell pepper, vidalia onion, tofu cubed (cook the tofu until its brown on the sides a little), shitake mushrooms, anything else you want to saute
3. add green curry paste (you can get this in the Asian dept at Publix you can also use yellow or red curry paste to change flavor)
4. mush it all together and let it cook like this a little bit
5. once cooked enough pour in two small cans of light coconut milk (also in Asian dept at Publix)
6. add in a bit of splenda, lt peanut butter, and lt soy sauce to taste
7. Add green peas, any other green vegetable that doesnt need to be sauted
8. Add a bit of crushed red pepper, salt pepper, anything else you want to spice it with - determine your level of spice with the crushed red pepper or even hot sauce if you like
9. Let it boil, then cook under low for 10 minutes
10. Serve over cooked brown whole grain rice

it should be like a soup with chunks of veggies and tofu in it. obviously you can trade out the veggies and tofu for chicken if you want to change the flavor. it was soooo yummy i cant wait to have it again.

Tofu Pad Thai

who knew pad thai was so quick and easy?

Ingredients

• pad thai noodles
• handful of plain raw peanuts
• 1/2 vidalia onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• sesame oil
• firm tofu
• green onions
• hoison sauce
• splash of soy sauce
• splash of hot sauce
• pinch of splenda
• smidge of peanut butter
• lemon

Steps

1. prepare thai noodles according to package (boil only for a moment)
2. chop peanuts
3. pour a couple drops of sesame oil on frying pan
4. after heating to medium/low pour in chopped peanuts (keep close eye so it doesnt burn)
5. saute garlic, onions, and tofu in another pan in sesame oil
6. place noodles into sauteed veggies and tofu
7. in a small bowl wisk hoison sauce, soy, hot, splenda, pbutter, and a couple squeezes of a lemon
8. pour sauce over noodle mixture in pan
9. cook for a few moments
10. top with peanuts, chives, and a couple squirts of lemon juice to taste