Spicy Thai Curry Peanut Bowl

Thai curry bowl with veggies and tofu, in a spicy red curry peanut sauce, over brown jasmine rice.  I adapted this recipe from these two: EatingWell.com’s Three-Pea, Cashew & Tofu Stir-Fry and LuminousVegans.com’s Thai Curry Burrito Bowl.

To healthify this meal, I used fat free Half and Half instead of coconut milk (which probably sounds awful to some of you), in hopes of maintaining a certain creamy consistency for the sauce, without the one billion grams of saturated fat.  Granted, it’s lacking the coconut flavor that compliments a Thai dish so well, but I made it extraaa spicy (Thai peppers, nom!), so it was still flavorful.

Most recipes call for 2-3 tablespoons of curry paste, but I used the whole container…it seemed to get lost in the peanut butter.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of extra firm tofu
• 1 1/2 cups brown jasmine rice (and fresh, minced ginger for the rice cooker, if you’re feelin’ fancy!)
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1 cup or so of snow peas
• 1 can of baby corn
• Thai curry paste
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 lime
• 3/4 a container of half and half (fat free works) or one 13.5 can coconut milk
• Soy sauce (for coating the tofu before baking)
• Oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Fresh Thai chilli peppers (I used about 10)
• Peanuts
• Red pepper flakes

1) Rinse the rice and cook it  in a rice cooker, tossing in freshly minced ginger if desired

2) Make the sauce, combining the milk with curry paste and peanut butter, simmering in a pot over medium heat (about 10 minutes)

3) Blot tofu with a towel, cut into cubes, coat with soy sauce, and either brown on the skillet with oil of choice or bake in the oven (recipes listed above cover both ways)

4) Saute the garlic, onion, Thai chili peppers, snap peas, baby peas, and baby corn, adding the tofu back into the skillet (or adding it for the first time, if baked in the oven)

5) Pour the sauce mixture over the skillet contents and mix

6) Serve tofu-veggie mixture over a bowl of rice, sprinkle with red pepper flakes and chopped peanuts