September 09, 2008

Tofu squash curry with swiss chard


My son and daughter-in-law have a large garden in their back yard and one of their most successful crops is swiss chard. You know, anyone who plants swiss chard in their garden is bound to have success. It's hard to fail with this prolific leafy green. Growing it is good for your gardening self-esteem, but when you have a lot of it, you should eat it. Swiss chard has been off my list of favorite vegetables for a long time — maybe this has something to do with my past success at growing it, and eating it and eating it and eating it...But after having this fabulous curry, I'm thinking of growing it again. My kids all tend to cook "free-hand," but I've been forcing them to pay attention to ingredients and quantities so they can share their creations with me, and I can post them on this blog. My son made this dish, and he said in the summer he uses summer squash and zucchini, but his favorite way to prepare it is with winter squash. He said he peels and bakes butternut squash in the oven until it's soft, and then uses it in this recipe. We used to have a Thai food cart on campus that used both summer and winter squash in their squash curry all year. I like the idea of cooking with the seasons, so this recipe will be presented with summer squash.


Tofu squash curry
  • 1 pound block extra firm tofu, cut into 1" cubes
  • oil for browning tofu
  • tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • small can bamboo shoots, cut into strips
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (Thai Kitchen is a good one)
  • 1 tablespoon Sucanot or similar organic unprocessed sugar
  • 1/4 cup basil (Thai basil if you can get it)
  • 3 small summer squash, cut into chunks (or 1 butternut squash peeled and baked until soft)
  • large bunch of swiss chard, washed well and roughly chopped, tough stems removed
  • cooked (brown) rice
  1. Lightly brown the tofu in a small amount of oil in a dutch oven. Sprinkle it with tamari as it cooks. (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) Remove tofu to a bowl.
  2. Dissolve the curry paste in 1/3 of the coconut milk. (Curry paste varies in spiciness and some are really hot. Use more or less depending on how hot you want the dish to be. Use caution if you are unfamiliar with red curry paste.) Place in the dutch oven and simmer for five minutes.
  3. Add sugar, tofu, squash and remaining coconut milk. Cook until squash is almost done.
  4. Add chard and cover. Steam for several minutes. Remove lid and mix.
  5. Add basil and cook a couple of minutes longer until flavors are blended and vegetables are cooked.
  6. Serve over rice.

12 comments:

  1. This is the type of dish I love (and I love chard, too). I've bookmarked this and can't wait to try it. I'm thinking I should try growing swiss chard next summer, too. . . !

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ouch! I've had two failed Swiss Chard crops in a row. But I'll go buy some and try this wonderful recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry, anonymous, I didn't mean to imply anything...If it makes you feel any better, though everyone else makes jokes about an excess of zucchini, I finally gave up even trying. My squash plantings have always been failures!

    Ricki and anonymous, thanks for your comments. And do try this, even if you have to buy the Swiss chard!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Andrea, I am wondering if you have a Pinterest page or allow 'pins'..I dont see a "pin it" button to pin to my board and share your page with my other friends. If you get one, please let me know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have a pinterest page but you can pin things from the blog if it links back to my post. Thanks for asking!

      Delete
  5. Hi Andrea,

    This dish looks delicious...I am anxious to try it! I too cannot grow zucchini to save my life...lol

    I was wondering if you have a pinterest board or allow 'pinnining' of your pages to share with others? I didnt see a 'pin it' button by the share buttons. If you get one, please let me know so I can save it for later as well as share with all my friends!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have a Pinterest board but you can pin photos as long as you link back here. Thanks for visiting.

      Delete
  6. Thank you for this fantastic recipe! I made it tonight and put pictures on my website: http://christianebailey.com/vegan/curry-a-la-courge-butternut-tofu-et-bette-a-carde/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe! Your photos are much better than mine! :)

      Delete
  7. Thankyou Andrea so much for posting this blog. I am newly Vegan and you have given me so many wonderful ideas I really appreciate as I was getting tired of eating hummus every day. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome Kassie, and thanks for your comment. I'm so happy you found the blog useful. Be sure to check out some of the other blogs on my sidebar — there's just no end to the wonderful vegan meals you can make!

      Delete
  8. Hi Andrea,
    I only have green curry at home because I am very sensitive to spicy food (can't tolerate it). Would it be ok to use green curry instead? I'm unaware of the differences.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting Andrea's easy vegan cooking. I love, and read, all of your comments! Please share your thoughts.

There are a few Amazon links in the posts. Thanks in advance if you click on one.

Note: ALL THE IMAGES FROM THIS BLOG WERE ACCIDENTALLY DELETED ON 1-21-12. I'M RESTORING THEM, POST BY POST, BUT IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME. Recipe pages you visit may be missing photos, but all the text in intact. If you find a post without images, let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!