Green Thai Coconut Curry with Tofu and Brown Rice

What’s better than spending a morning with a friend makin’ delicious Green Thai Coconut Curry with Tofu? We created a plant-based meal to share for lunch. My friend and hairdresser, Melody, came to my house for a lesson in making tofu, and I made sure she had plenty to take home for dinner with her husband, too.

For her lesson, we made these Baked Tofu bites marinated and baked in the oven. I also showed her how to dry “fry” them, browning each side in a dry frying pan and adding a little low-sodium tamari or soy sauce for flavor.

We pressed the tofu using a tofu press or by wrapping it in paper towels and placing it on a plate with another plate on top. Put something heavy on top. Press for around 15 minutes while you prepare the other veggies.

Here’s a link to one of my favorite tofu presses, the TofuBud.

Once you have the tofu prepared, you can start cooking the vegetables. I split them into two pans so that they would cook faster. These were cooked without any added oil but with about 1/4 cup of water until crisp-tender. What beautiful colors!

If you’d like to try a curry made with beans, you must try this Butter Bean Curry from Whole Food Soul Food Kitchen. Butter beans are becoming more popular, and this recipe is easy to make with canned beans.

When the vegetables are at this stage, you’re ready to add the garlic, the Green Thai Curry Paste, which is thinned with a little water or vegetable broth, and the light coconut milk. Here’s Melody helping. We later added the tofu. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of that.

In this last photo below, you may notice that it looks a little redder. That’s because after sending home all of the Green Thai Curry with Melody, that night, I made myself a batch using the store-bought Red Thai Curry paste, which I had bought instead of the green by mistake. The red Thai curry is just as tasty and delicious as the green served over brown rice.

It’s fun to spend time cooking with friends.

I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Green Thai Coconut Curry recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!

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Green Thai Coconut Curry with Brown Rice

This Thai Green Coconut Curry is an easy one-pot meal. Mix it up with different vegetables of your choice like carrots, green beans, bell pepper, broccoli or cauliflower. Use store-bought green or red Thai curry paste.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

1/21x2x3x

Equipment

• TofuBud Press
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Stainless Steel Pot Set
• Wooden Spoon
• Ladle

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 large red onion (about 2 cups) chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger minced
• 1 4-ounce jar Thai Green curry paste (start with 1 tablespoon or 2 to see if it's hot enough)
• 1 14 oz can light canned coconut milk
• 4 cups broccoli large chop
• 4 large carrots large chop
• 1 red bell pepper large chop
• 1 14 oz block firm tofu drained, pressed and cubed
• 1/2 cup fresh basil packed
• salt and black pepper to taste

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• To cook the rice, first rinse under running water and bring 3 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Add the rinsed rice and boil for 30 minutes, reducing heat as necessary to prevent overflow. Remove from heat, drain the rice and return the rice to the pot. Cover and let the rice rest for 10 minutes or longer, until you’re ready to serve.
• Press the tofu using a

  tofu press or by wrapping in paper towels and placing it on a plate with another plate on top. Put something heavy on top. Press for around 15 minutes while you prepare the other veggies. When the tofu is pressed, cut it into 1" cubes.
• Dry-fry the tofu in a skillet over medium heat until browned on one side or see the notes for other suggestions. Flip and brown on the other side. Remove from heat until ready to use.
• Warm a large pot with deep sides over medium heat. Add about 1/3 cup of water or vegetable broth. Add the onion, bell pepper, broccoli, and carrots and sauté until they start to soften. To speed cooking, you can separate them into two pans.
• Add the garlic, green curry paste with a little water or vegetable broth and the light coconut milk. Cook, stirring often, for a few minutes until the vegetables are softened but still firm.
• Add the tofu cubes and let them cook for a couple of minutes.
• Then turn off the heat and add in the fresh basil and stir in until the basil is just wilted.
• Add salt and black pepper to taste.
• Serve with brown rice and topped with some fresh basil leaves.

Notes

To pan-fry without oil, try my "dry-fry" method in the video in the article.

If you eat a little oil, add about 1 tsp vegetable oil in a pan, add the tofu and brown on one side. Flip and continue to brown on 3 sides. Then add about 1/2 of a tablespoon of light soy sauce or tamari for flavor and continue to brown.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Green Thai Coconut Curry with Brown Rice

Amount per Serving

Calories

457

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

15.4

g

24

%

Saturated Fat

 

7.7

g

48

%

Cholesterol

 

0

mg

0

%

Sodium

 

274

mg

12

%

Carbohydrates

 

64

g

21

%

Fiber

 

11

g

46

%

Sugar

 

15.5

g

17

%

Protein

 

18.3

g

37

%

Vitamin A

 

2600

IU

52

%

Vitamin C

 

194.7

mg

236

%

Calcium

 

180

mg

18

%

Iron

 

3.8

mg

21

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

The nutrition information is a rough estimate. Values will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it’s recommended that you calculate your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.

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