The sun is shining and the sliding glass door is open to let in some of the first fresh air of the season. The fuzzy slippers are finally off!!

I’m in the mood for curry, but not just any curry. I want to make tofu something I can incorporate into my routine. It’s not an easy transition. Not because I don’t like it, but because I am sooooo trained to cook one certain way, from four decades of meat, cheese, butter, and gravy, well, it’s a new day, a new dawn, half my life is over and it’s time for a change.

Cheery.

A few days ago I drained and froze some organic extra firm tofu. When it was re-draining/thawing I dribbled it with some Worcestershire sauce. Mine isn’t vegetarian, so I used what I had on hand. After that I cut it into about 1 inch squares and proceeded to make some of my favorite food..curry curry curry.

Ingredients (I have no idea why I have the apple in the picture, I guess he was just lonely.):

• 1 package extra firm tofu
• Worcestershire sauce (not pictured)
• 1 onion
• 1 T finely chopped garlic (fresh or like mine in jar)
• 1 T finely chopped fresh ginger root
• 1 T finely chopped red chili pepper
• 2 T Patak’s curry paste
• 1 cup cauliflower florets, bitesize
• 1 finely chopped carrot
• 2 cans of stewed tomatoes (not pictured)
• olive oil (not pictured)
• 1 can of water (not pictured)

Directions:

I heated a couple tablespoons of oil in a skillet to cook the onion, green pepper, carrot, ginger, and garlic on low heat for 5-7 minutes, just until the onions got slightly browned. You can do what the experts say and do the onions and peppers first, and then add the garlic and ginger later so they don’t burn. I just cooked it low and slow to get all those smells going in the kitchen, right or wrong, it turned out great as long as that heat was on low low low.

I added in the tofu an cooked it for several minutes. I turned up the heat a bit, just enough to brown everything ever so slightly. If you are not into the whole browning thing, keep it on low until the tofu gets heated through.

Then I added in the Patak’s. It’s best to stir it in, cook it for about 3 minutes or so, to losen it up before adding anything the tomatoes…which came next. I just dumped in the whole can, added a can of water, and turned up the heat to bring it to a boil fpr about, well, maybe 10 minutes at the most. I wasn’t really paying attention, but it wasn’t longer than that:)

Next came the cauliflower and I turned down the heat to just a barely simmering pot. After about 10 more minutes it thickened up and the cauliflower was cooked just right (I like it kind of crunchy. If you like mushy, keep on cooking.) This all would depend on a lot of things I’m sure. The kind of stove, pan, etc., so you might have to cook it longer or less to get the right consistency. I like it kind of saucey, not soupy and not dry. Right at the end I cut up the chili pepper in very very tiny bits, and then stir it in after I turn the heat off, but it’s still hot enough to get them cooked in and still tasty.

We always have rice with our curry. Make it how you like it, and serve the curry goodness on top.

Seriously, I’ve never been a tofu fan, but this turned me around! The freezing and thawing, and then browning it slighly with the onions and other flavorful ingredients really made it something I will want again and again. I might cut it into smaller pieces next time, or drizzle something else on top to marinade it, but this was an success story just the way it was!! OH, and we had Malasian Parantha to go with it…ohhhh perfect combination.