I had been hearing amazing things about a beautiful cookbook called, Afro Vegan. It has an interesting collection of recipes with wonderful ingredients from African, Caribbean, and Southern backgrounds. The first recipe I made was Bryant Terry’s Tofu Curry. I made several alterations but used it as my inspirational base.
Often times my kids say “tofu, ugh”. After eating this dish one night for dinner, it became a family favorite, and will definitely work its way into the repertoire. The healing aromas of ginger and garlic, come together with the colors of turmeric, greens and carrots in this beautiful meal. There are amazing flavors in this dish. We make sure to always add the ginger and garlic right at the very end of our cooking to maximize their nutritional and antioxidant benefits. We do the same with greens in our dishes. The longer these ingredients cook, the more you’re cooking out of them. Adding the greens at the end also help to keep the rich colors of the greens-you’re mamma would be proud you were eating your colors! This mamma is!
Be sure to choose greens that are organic-better yet, grow them yourself! Greens are SOOOOO easy to grow, especially swiss chard, that starts in the spring and can go strong until it snows.
The key in making the tofu more textured in this recipe is to roast it in the oven. If you just placed the tofu into the stew, it would fall apart. Use this technique to make various flavors of roasted tofu. It’s great on its own as a snack on top of a salad.
Ingredients:
- 2-14 oz packs of extra firm or firm tofu, cut into 1/2″ cubes
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 cups of chopped onions
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cardamon
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 28 oz canned tomatoes in juice (we used a quart of home-canned tomatoes)
- 2 heaping tbsp organic chunky peanut butter
- 2 cups of vegetable stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup of low fat coconut milk
- 1 green & 1 red pepper, totally 3 cups, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots (we don’t peel)
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic (4 cloves)
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 3/4 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 9 cups mixed greens, we used kale, swiss chard, and beet greens
- 1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley or cilantro (we have cilantro haters in our house, but I dream of using it)
- Possible additions: 1 tbsp of peanuts per bowl and Siracha for topping
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Place tofu in a bowl and drizzle oil (amount can be reduced, you decide what it looks like, but helps prevent sticking while roasting) and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt and ground ginger over. Toss to coat and season with some freshly ground pepper.
- Place on baking sheet (we use a stoneware pan)
- Roast for about 20 -25 mins, until tofu is firm, tossing half way through
- While tofu is cooking, add mustard seeds to pan and dry saute for about 2 minutes.
- Add onions & 2 tbsp water until they’ve softened, adding more water if necessary. Add in peppers and carrots, peanut butter, tomatoes, stock, coconut milk, and reamining seasonings except ginger, garlic, greens, and fresh herbs. Simmer until carrots have softened about 15 minutes.
- Add in tofu, garlic, ginger, and greens. You will have to stir greens in in batches. Stir until wilted.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro, peanuts, and Siracha if desired, serve over brown rice or on it’s own 🙂
Nutritional Benefits:
- Tofu: high in protein, calcium; great for repairing/rebuilding tissues, calcium; strengthen bones, plant-based form is better absorbed by body
- Peppers: High in Vitamin C; boosts immunity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
- Tomatoes: high in Vitamin A; antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, helps boost bone/dental, skin & eye health, lower blood pressure
- Ginger:helps to reduce inflammation, improve circulation, used as anti-nausea treatment, improves digestion
- Garlic:helps to reduce inflammation, fight infection, boost immunity, improve circulation
- Turmeric: reduces inflammation, been shown to help fight infection, used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease
- Greens: high in calcium (bone strength), protein (building tissues), fiber
- Good source of fiber: great at regulating blood sugar, improving digestive health, lowering blood pressure, helps heart disease and diabetes
- Packed with Vitamin C; 136%, Vitamin A; 188%, Potassium; 534 mg, Calcium; 20%, and iron 16% in each serving!
- Low in calories; only 178 calories per serving (without added peanuts)
- Gluten Free
- Plant-based/vegan: great for heart disease, diabetes, reducing inflammation
- 2-14 oz packs of extra firm or firm tofu, cut into ½" cubes
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
- ¾ tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 2 cups of chopped onions
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cardamon
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 28 oz canned tomatoes in juice
- 2 heaping tbsp organic chunky peanut butter
- 2 cups of vegetable stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup of low fat coconut milk
- 1 green & 1 red pepper, totally 3 cups, chopped
- 1½ cups of chopped carrots (we don't peel)
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic (4 cloves)
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- ¾ tsp chili garlic sauce
- 9 cups mixed greens, we used kale, swiss chard, and beet greens
- ¼ cup of fresh chopped parsley or cilantro (we have cilantro haters in our house, but I dream of using it)
- Possible additions: 1 tbsp of peanuts per bowl and Siracha for topping
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Place tofu in a bowl and drizzle oil (amount can be reduced, you decide what it looks like, but helps prevent sticking while roasting) and sprinkle ½ tsp of salt and ground ginger over. Toss to coat
- Place on baking sheet (we use a stoneware pan)
- Roast for about 20 -25 mins, until tofu is firm, tossing half way through
- While tofu is cooking, add mustard seeds to pan and dry saute for about 2 minutes.
- Add onions & 2 tbsp water until they've softened, adding more water if necessary. Add in peppers and carrots, peanut butter, tomatoes, stock, coconut milk, and reamining seasonings except ginger, garlic, greens, and fresh herbs. Simmer until carrots have softened about 15 minutes.
- Add in tofu, garlic, ginger, and greens. You will have to stir greens in in batches. Stir until wilted.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro, peanuts, and Siracha if desired
