Cauliflower-Green Bean Tofu Curry

Almond pieces toasting up in a dry pan.

I needed a recipe to use up the head of cauliflower I had impulsively bought at the grocery store.  I posed several cauliflower dish options to Husband Jeff and he picked this curry recipe.

Inspiration

Laaloosh Cauliflower and Cashew Curry

I also had some green beans I bought without having a recipe in mind.  They were on sale and I figured that since we eat green beans that I'd figure out something to do with them. Into the curry they go!

I also made substitutions based on what we had in the house.  I used almonds instead of cashews, regular peanut butter instead of reduced-fat (and used less of it), and a sprinkle of lemon juice from a bottle instead of lime juice.

Ingredients

An army of cauliflower florets.

• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 3/4 pound green beans,  snapped
• 1 15oz can light coconut milk
• 1 tbsp curry powder (or more if you like it spicy)
• 1 tbsp sriracha hot chili sauce
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 T tbsp peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Some key players

Instructions

Toast the almond pieces over medium-high heat in a deep pot until they lightly brown.  I used a tall skillet but maybe next time will go even taller with a stockpot since the long green beans like to flip all over.  I had several traitorous beans "abandon ship" that had to be pulled back in to teach the others a lesson.

Green beans, cauliflower, coconut milk, and spices

Add the cauliflower, green beans, coconut milk, curry powder, sriracha, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to medium and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.  I put a lid on while it cooked to ensure the vegetables softened and the sauce didn't evaporate away.

While the curry was cooking, I dry-fried tofu to add to the dish at the end for some protein. 

When the vegetables are to your liking, add the peanut butter and lemon juice and cook a few more minutes until the sauce warms back up.

At this point I added the tofu and stirred everything around to get it coated with sauce.

I served this on top of brown jasmine rice with bacon ranch slaw on the side.

Halfway cooked.

Verdict

Slightly spicy, rich and creamy curry.

Added tofu at the end.

I thought this curry recipe was simpler to make than the one I normally use.   Not that the other one is really complicated, but this was more of a dump-and-stir recipe without a lot of chopping or prep.  If I had a bag of frozen cauliflower and frozen green beans, it would have been even quicker. 

I loved how the coconut milk thickened down to a really luscious, thick creamy sauce. The peanut butter seemed like a strange ingredient, I always think of that as an ingredient for Asian dishes but rarely do I use it for other cultures.  It probably contributed to the thick richness of the sauce. 

Husband Jeff seemed to like it a little more than my regular curry recipe, so this one will probably be my new go-to curry recipe.  Sonny D dug right in when I placed his bowl in front of him, but I don't think he was expecting it to be spicy (wasn't too spicy for him though) so he didn't eat any more of it.  I dumped everything out of his bowl and started over with plain rice and added soy sauce.  He liked that much better and ate three bowls of rice.