ETL: Thai Curry for Beginners

If you like Thai food like me, you should try this recipe. The taste is 100% good and as close as it could be to the authentic version. I used all the vegetables, I found in my fridge, and a stick of rice noodles. Steamed white or brown rice works as well. Surprisingly, the dish holds well when reheated. I was concerned the rice noodles would get mushy, but they were just fine.

Ingredients:
Serves 6
Adapted from Basil and Wine

• 1 block firm tofu.  My tofu was already cubed, I just squeezed the cubes to take out the water.
• 2 large bell peppers, yellow and red for colors, cut in strips
• 3 carrots, cut
• 2 zucchini, cubed
• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 clove garlic, chopped or minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated
• 1 Thai chili, minced, I used jalapeno
• 4-5 basil leaves, preferably Thai
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 4 tbsp red curry paste
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• Zest and juice of 2 lime
• 4oz rice noodles 

First chop the onions, the garlic and the chili, Grate the ginger and the lime zest. Juice the limes.

Prepare your vegetables, washing and cutting them in equal sizes. 

Wash the rice noodles with cold water, or act according to package directions, and set them aside.

Dry fry the tofu in a non-stick skillet on medium/medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides. Set aside. 
For omnivores, you can use chicken instead of tofu. Just cube a chicken breast and saute the chicken in a tea spoon of coconut oil.

Add coconut oil to a large pan  on medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, chili and ginger and cook until translucent. Add the vegetables to the pan, starting with the vegetables that require the most time to cook, in this case, the carrots and potatoes, then the mushrooms, and the peppers and the zucchini at the end.

While vegetables cook, heat coconut milk in sauce pan. Stir the red curry paste into the coconut milk until dissolved, and the coconut milk is boiled. Add mixture to vegetables and stir to combine.

Add lime zest and juice, soy sauce, basil and tofu. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. During the last few minutes of cooking, add rice noodles. Stir to break them apart and coat them in the curry sauce. Plate with a garnish of lime and cilantro and enjoy!