Please excuse the random noodle on the side of the plate. My food photography skills are a work in progress.

When it comes to cooking, I am very much my mother’s daughter. I constantly catch myself saying and doing the same things she does in the kitchen. It’s gotten to the point that my family calls me her Mini-Me when they see us in the kitchen together, bossing everyone around and instructing them on proper (in our opinion, anyway) culinary techniques. In spite of this, we are at odds regarding recipes. She firmly believes that they should be followed exactly, especially the first time they are made. On the other hand, it’s rare for me to make a recipe without tweaking it a little, even when I’m trying it for the first time. It’s generally something small – adding garlic or heat, or using brown instead of white sugar. But sometimes I get so far away from the recipe that the meal becomes my own creation. This is how Thai Tofu & Green Beans was born.

The night I made this meal, I had planned on making a great Thai Chicken & Green Beans recipe that I found online last spring and have made a couple times. That recipe has since disappeared into Cyberspace. So I found another, similar recipe. But then the husband suggested using tofu. I thought it needed peanuts. Pretty soon, I had completely abandoned the recipe and was making things up as I went. I flavored the rice noodles, made extra sauce, and decided the whole thing needed to be hotter. When this was done, it reminded me a little of Pad Thai. It’s an intricately-flavored, spicy meal that has made me a little more confident in my ability to make Asian-inspired foods without a recipe.  It occurred to me that maybe I should record the ingredients so I could repeat this dinner, and play with it, in the future.

Thai Tofu & Green Beans
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
6 tbsp. fresh Persian lime juice (approx. 3 limes)
6 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. corn starch
6 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. Thai chili sauce
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. minced garlic
12.3 oz. package firm tofu, drained
4 tbsp. fish sauce
1 12 oz. bag frozen green beans, thawed & drained
1/2 c. peanuts, crushed
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
12 oz. rice noodles, softened

Directions
1. Whisk together lime juice, brown sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet or wok, heat oil over medium heat. Once oil has heated, add chili sauce and stir to combine.
3. Stir fry onions and garlic until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
4. Add tofu and and fish sauce. Stir fry for an additional 3 minutes.
5. Add green beans, lime mixture, and 1/4 c. peanuts. Continue cooking until everything is heated and tofu begins to brown. Add vinegar and stir to combine.
6. Serve over rice noodles. Garnish with lime wedge and remaining peanuts. Enjoy.

My Thoughts & Suggestions:
This recipe has a lot of flavor. It’s hot and tangy. It would be fine served over plain rice noodles. But I find plain noodles a little bland. So after the noodles were softened, I tossed them with a little lime juice, Thai chili oil, turmeric, cilantro and kosher salt before topping them with the tofu and green bean mixture.

In my household, stir-fried dishes are a weeknight staple, due to their versatility and easy preparation. The most time-consuming step is cutting up the ingredients. To save time, I often use frozen vegetables, especially in the winter when there isn’t as much flavorful fresh produce available. But even when I do use fresh vegetables, it’s rare for a stir-fry to take more than half an hour to prepare and cook.

Prior to making this recipe, I had never made Indian food. In fact, I haven’t even eaten much of it since it wasn’t readily available until I moved to Columbus. I love the complex flavors and textures of the dishes. But, because of the unusual (to me) spices, the idea of cooking it at home intimidated me. Most of the spices and seasonings in my cabinet are standard American and Mexican ones. I have a good idea of how they go together. I know which flavor combinations are complimentary and which ones are not. Indian and Asian spices are much less familiar to me. Still, you never learn if you don’t try. A couple weeks ago, I decided to plunge in and play around with a Sweet Potato & Spinach curry recipe I found online. It turned out better than I expected and gave me the confidence to try more Indian recipes in the very near future.

Sweet Potato, Spinach & Tofu Curry
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1″ cubes
1 large eggplant, peeled & cut into 1″ cubes
1 bunch fresh spinach
12 oz. tofu, cut into 1″ cubes
2 tbsp. cumin
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. mustard seeds
2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 cup canola oil

Directions
1. In a large pot of salted water, boil spinach for 30 seconds. Drain, then dry with paper towels. Roughly chop the spinach.
2. Heat oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cook for 30 seconds. Add garlic and cumin and cook for an additional minute.
3. Add cubed sweet potato, stir well, cook for 8 minutes. Then add eggplant, spinach, tofu, salt, curry powder, and turmeric powder. Cook until eggplant is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat, and let curry rest in the pot for 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

My thoughts:
1. The original recipe called for much less spice and only contained vegetables. I added the tofu to give it some protein and doubled the spices since tofu tends to be bland, and since Jared and I tend to like heavily seasoned foods.
2. The instructions and comments about this recipe mentioned letting the curry rest. This is a very important step. The freshly made curry was good, but somewhat bland. It got more flavorful over the 20 minute rest period.
3. The next time I make this, I plan to bake some Naan to go with it. This time, I brushed some flatbreads with olive oil and garlic and toasted them in the oven for a few minutes.

Recipe Source: Inspired by Sweet Potato, Eggplant & Spinach Madras Curry at A Life (Time) of Cooking