thai veggie curry

i am cooking up a lot of this lately. pretty easy. loaded with vegetables, sometimes 10 different vegetables in one dish. (take that dietary guidelines.) i use store bought curry paste, only because i found one i love by thai taste. i use their red curry paste. it is head and shoulders above any other thai curry paste i've tried. it is all natural, good stuff. the result is very soothing and warming on a cold december evening, served with some fluffy thai jasmine rice.

thai veggie curry

serves 4

2 TBSP thai red curry paste

2 cans organic coconut milk

6 cloves of garlic, chopped or smashed

2 shallots, chopped

2 TBSP cilantro stems, cleaned carefully, minced

2 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp tumeric (optional)

2 TBSP fish sauce (optional)

1 TBSP brown sugar (optional)

16 oz tofu, sliced into 1/2 x 1 inch cubes

4 to 6 cups assorted mixed vegetables

such as:

1 large sweet potato, diced

1 or 2 carrots, chopped

2 small zucchini, chopped

1 small skinny eggplant, japanese or italian, chopped

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 red pepper, sliced

1 cup snow peas

1 cup green beans

1 cup okra

1 small head napa or savoy cabbage, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

2 limes

first, get the rice started. then start chopping whatever veggies you have on hand. including the shallots and garlic and cilantro stems. all done? now you are ready to cook. heat up a wok on high heat. when hot, add the olive oil, shallots, garlic and cilantro stems, stir for 30 seconds, add the curry paste, stir for 1 minute, add the tumeric, fish sauce and sugar, if using. taste to check seasoning. adjust sweet/salt balance if necessary. add the two cans of cocunut milk. and the longest cooking veg. i start the sweet potato, or carrots right away. bring to a fast simmer. cover with lid. steam for 10 minutes. add broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, eggplant. cover for 3 minutes. add green beans, snow peas, okra. cover for 3 minutes. add red pepper and chopped tofu. cover for 3 minutes. add cabbage (napa cooks faster than savoy, so add savoy with the tofu/red pepper). steam for 3 final minutes. give it a good stir. add cilantro leaves. squeeze in a little lime juice and serve the remaining lime as table garnish. then serve with that fluffy jasmine rice. warms me up just thinking about it.