Date Night Dinner-A Taste for Thai

Thai food has to be one of my most loved cuisines. Just the thought of creamy coconut, fresh basil, a kick of chilis in a rich sauce over rice or noodles warms my heart (and tummy) instantly. So, when David and I were planning this week’s Date Night Dinner I immediately said, “Thai.”

This meal came together pretty quickly and we used what ingredients we had around. You could easily make this with only one veggie as long as the sauce rocks, but try combos of various produce, fresh or frozen, and create something magical.

To make this easier for David, the evening’s chef, I prepped everything ahead of time. When I had this meal’s cast assembled and ready to go he jumped right in.

He started by sauté-ing the onions.

Then he added the garlic.

Next came a few dollops of Roasted….sweet but spicy.

Mix well.

Yes, I happened to have some lemongrass, so we added some big chunks to the pot.

We didn’t have any but I did have a lime, so we zest it into the pot, added some diced ginger and a few dashes of hot cayenne sauce.

Next we added the diagonally sliced carrots.

Then came the zucchini and potatoes. Usually I wouldn’t add potatoes to a Thai dish, but like I said, try various combos of produce for different textures and flavors.

Add the coconut milk.

And then brown sugar.

Then add some water.

And then some Tamari or soy sauce. You can even use Braggs if you like.

As the Squirrel Nut Zippers say ‘Put A Lid On It’ and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Remove the lid and poke a potato with your knife to see if it is tender.

Now add in your green beans.

Simmer it again for another 5 minutes until the green beans are heated through.

Now remove the lemon grass stalks.

Now take a taste to see if it needs any salt or pepper. It most likely will.

…and ours did.

We served this meal with some steamed brown rice and a wonderful Pinot Noir.
I plated it with some of the last of our summer gardens basil. Try this one out…it’s simply delish!

Thai Tofu & Peanut Pizza

This is the 2nd time we’ve made this recipe. The first time we used chicken (like the recipe originally called for), but this time decided tofu worked better. Even my tofu-hating sister ate it and didn’t complain! Must have been some pretty good tofu!

Thai Tofu & Peanut Pizza

Recipe from Rachel Ray, with adjustments. Makes 2-4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb pizza dough
1/2 cup Chinese duck sauce or plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 block firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 cup bean sprouts, a couple of handfuls
fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll the pizza dough on a pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top it with duck or plum sauce, spreading it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some red pepper flakes, then top it with the bell peppers. Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 to 17 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the vegetable oil, soy sauce, and peanut butter with the hot sauce. Use the microwave to loosen up the peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce; 10 seconds ought to do it. Coat the tofu cubes evenly with the mixture and let it stand for 10 minutes. Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the tofu for 2 to 5 minutes on each side, or until browned.

While the tofu cooks, mix the honey and vinegar in a medium bowl. Add the cucumber and turn to coat in the dressing.

When the pizza comes out of the oven, top it with the chicken, scallions, sprouts, and cilantro. Drain the cucumbers and scatter them over the pizza. Garnish the pizza with peanuts, cut it into 8 wedges, and serve

Salmon with Thai Red Curry and Bok Choy

Have I mentioned that Taylor is a curry addict? Needless to say he was really excited when I found this recipe, as I don’t really like or ever want to cook curry. It’s usually too coconut-y and/or spicy for me, but this was pretty darn good! Not to mention easy.

Salmon with Thai Red Curry and Bok Choy

Makes 4 servings (or 2 if one of them is Taylor). Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
8 whole baby bok choy
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon Thai red curry paste*
1 13 1/2- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk*
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh lemongrass or 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla*)
4 6-ounce salmon fillets

*Thai red curry paste and fish sauce (nam pla) are both available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets nationwide.
**Canned unsweetened coconut milk is available at Indian markets, Southeast Asian markets, Latin American markets and many supermarkets.

DIRECTIONS
Cook bok choy in pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Set aside. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add curry paste and stir 30 seconds. Add coconut milk, chopped lemongrass and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Boil until mixture is slightly thickened and reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 1/2 tablespoons lime juice and 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Set curry sauce aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Cook salmon 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven. Bake salmon until opaque in center, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bok choy and sauté until beginning to brown in spots, about 4 minutes. Drizzle bok choy with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Bring curry sauce to simmer and ladle onto 4 plates.

Arrange 1 salmon fillet and 2 pieces of bok choy atop curry sauce on each plate and serve.

Thai Red Curry with Green Beans and Tofu

Taylor loves his curry. It seems like it’s a complicated thing to make, but really, it’s one of the simplest things we cook. Just be sure to taste as you go… depending on what brand of curry paste you get, it can either be mild or very spicy. Add as much or as little as your mouth can take. The curry paste we used was super spicy, we left out the thai chilies altogether (actually that was because we couldn’t find them), but the curry was almost too spicy as is.

Also, Kaffir lime leaves aren’t something we’ve found at any normal grocery store, or anywhere for that matter (short of buying a Kaffir lime tree!). We just used the juice of one lime.

Thai Red Curry with Green Beans and Tofu

Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from this book.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1-2 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons palm sugar or light brown sugar
3 1/4 cups button mushrooms
1 cup green beans, trimmed
6 ounces firm tofu, rinsed,drained,and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
2-4 fresh hot red chilies or Thai chiles, chopped (amount to taste)
fresh cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS
If you like softer green beans, steam them in the microwave for 2-4 minutes, more if you like them really soft. They don’t cook much at all in the curry itself, so I’d highly recommend pre-cooking them for a bit.

Heat approximately 1/3 of the coconut milk in a large pan. When it starts to separate (an oily sheen will appear on the surface), add the curry paste, fish sauce, and sugar and stir to mix well. Add the cleaned mushrooms and cook 1 minute.

Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the green beans and tofu, then reduce heat, and simmer gently for about 4-5 minutes. Add the kaffir lime leaves and hot chillies. Garnish with cilantro before serving. Serve with hot cooked rice, if desired.

Spicy Thai Tofu with Red Bell Peppers and Peanuts

Sometimes I’m at a loss for words. Maybe that’s why all my other attempts at blogging quickly fall into a pattern (or lack thereof) of a post a month. This blog, however, is immune from writers block – as we have to eat every night, and even if it wasn’t very good or I don’t have any quip or anecdote to say about that particular meal, as long as I’ve got a picture and a recipe, I’ve got a post.

So hear you go. A picture and a recipe. And actually something worth trying, it was pretty good and a quick meal. Surprisingly (since we rarely repeat things), we’ll probably make this one again.

We don’t have a wok, and actually baked this tofu rather than frying it, which we’ve recently discovered gives it a very nice color without the need for oil. Simply drain your tofu, marinate it in some soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, and hot sauce (the longer the better), then pop it in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until it’s nice and golden.

Hey look, my lack of words has suddenly turned into 3 surprisingly thoughtful paragraphs!

Spicy Thai Tofu with Red Bell Peppers and Peanuts

Recipe from Bon Appetit. Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large red bell peppers, seeded, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 14-to 16-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained well, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 green onions, thinly sliced on diagonal
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup lightly salted roasted peanuts

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add bell peppers, ginger, and garlic; sauté until peppers just begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add tofu and green onions; toss 2 minutes. Add next 3 ingredients. Toss to blend, about 1 minute. Add spinach in 3 additions, tossing until beginning to wilt, about 1 minute for each addition. Mix in basil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle peanuts over.

Thai Green Tofu Curry

We love Thai curries – but have become a bit tired of the standard red curry we’ve made quite often. Green curry (that actually comes out looking more putrid-yellow rather than green), is a nice change of pace. A bit less spicy than red curry, we found we wanted more flavor after the first time making this recipe. So we nearly tripled the curry paste the recipe calls for. Since it is not as spicy, you get plenty more flavor while not setting your mouth on fire. Always a good thing. :)

The recipe originally called for chicken breast meat, but we subbed in tofu instead. We also added some fresh green bean pieces and some shiitake mushrooms, which do wonderful things for the overall flavor.

It’s a quick meal too, which is never a bad thing.

Thai Green Tofu Curry

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup sliced shallots (about 5 large)
1-2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
2 teaspoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 container firm tofu, drained well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and quartered
1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil plus sprigs for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice plus wedges for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Pre-cook the green beans until bright green and still very crispy.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and curry paste; stir until shallots soften, about 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar; bring to boil. Add tofu, green beans, mushrooms, and bell pepper; stir until heated through. Stir in chopped basil and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide curry among bowls or serve over jasmine rice. Garnish with basil sprigs and lime wedges.