Thai Green Curry with Mint

With all of the family stuff I had to do the last couple of weeks and Halloween, I have been remiss in my regular cooking habits. But, I'm back today. The night before Super Tuesday is a chilly one in Los Angeles and it inspired me to make some warm yummy curry. All you need here are a few ingredients to get you going.

Ingredients:
10 Baby Carrots, sliced
5-8 Mint Leaves, chopped
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, sliced
1/2 of a Ginger, minced
1 Tbs of Canola Oil
1 Package of Thai Baked Tofu from Trader Joe's, sliced
1 Jar of Green Thai Curry Sauce from Trader Joe's
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Black Pepper
Dash of Garlic Powder
Rice

If you want to serve your dish over rice you can save time by cooking it before you start preparing the ingredients. When you're ready, place the sliced carrots in a pan with some water. Boiling the carrots first will soften them enough to be able to sauté them with the peppers. Poke the carrots with a fork to make sure they are soft enough. You want your carrots to still be a bit crunchy so don't boil them for too long. Next heat a pan with oil. In the meantime, drain your carrots. Throw in the salt, pepper, ginger, garlic powder, peppers, mint and carrots into the pan. Stir. Keep cooking for a few minutes until the peppers soften a little. Now you can put the tofu in. Stir. If the ingredients start to dry out stir in a little curry sauce. Keep stirring. Once the mint looks a little cooked. Pour in the rest of the sauce to finish. Place lid over pan to let the steam heat the sauce and cook the vegetables a little more.

The sauce from Trader Joe's is a bit tangy so it's perfect over rice!

Thai Peppers & Tofu

If you like Thai food and you shop at Trader Joe's, you should definitely try this super simple recipe I made up yesterday. Even my picky non-vegetarian boyfriend loved it.

Ingredients:
Trader Joe's Brand Organic Baked Thai Tofu - cut into cubes
Trader Joe's Brand Thai Yellow Curry Sauce
1/4 sliced Yellow Onion
3 sliced Green Peppers (for variation use 1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 green pepper)
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Sea Salt (or regular salt)
1 Tbsp Canola Oil

Optional:
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper if you like it a little spicy
1 cup cooked basmati rice to serve with

First, prepare your pan with 1 Tbsp canola oil, 2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp of cayenne, and 2 tsp of garlic powder over high heat. Throw in sliced onion. Cook while stirring occasionally. When onion softens throw in the sliced green peppers. Keep stirring. Cook until the peppers start to soften. Throw in thai tofu. Stir. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Take the thai curry sauce and pour about 3-4 Tbsp in. Depending on how you want your dish to taste, I would recommend putting the initial amount in and then tasting it. Pour additional amount in to your liking. Cook for a final few minutes until peppers are softer. Be careful not to overcook them. Peppers should be softer, but not mushy.

Serve over bed of rice!