Yellow Curry Tofu With Potatoes, Carrots, and Spinach

This one is for my homey Arnold, king of J! I went to Humboldt State University and lived on campus, leaving me with dorm cafeteria food. I was very lucky to be at the campus with one of the most veggie friendly dining halls in the country. Although some days the veggie dishes didn't appeal to me, that was okay because there was a huge salad bar with tons of fresh veggies, tofu, beans, etc. and there was always rice. So if all else failed, you could make yourself a stir fry. That's pretty unique.

Look here and see how some other college stack up.

When I was eating at the J, Humboldt's dining hall, one of my favorite dishes that I always loved was a yellow curry sauce with big cubes of tofu and spinach. The sauce was a mild curry with a creamy coconut base. I have thought about it for years, but never before attempted to recreate it. I used to eat it over rice, but I had rice last night, so I "beefed" it up with potatoes and carrots.

Yellow Curry Tofu With Potatoes, Carrots and Spinach




Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola or light olive oil
1/2 yellow onion chopped
2 medium sized red or yellow potatoes cubed
1 large carrot cut lengthwise and then in inch long slices
1/2 package of tofu cut into 1/2 inch cubes or larger
1-3 tsps yellow curry powder (I only used 1 tsp, but I shared with a 7 month old)
Small can of coconut milk
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tsp tamarind powder (I know this is a hard one to find, so you could sub fresh lime juice instead)
1 cup fresh spinach
salt to taste

In large nonstick pan or wok, heat your oil at medium high. Add the onions first, then stir in the potatoes, carrots and tofu. Toss frequently and cook for about 5 minutes. The goal is not to brown, just to get it started. Add the curry powder by sprinkling over everything so that it coats your cubes with a light yellow. Add the coconut and vegetable broth and let it come to a boil. Add the tamarind powder or lime juice lower the heat to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes until your potatoes are soft. Turn the heat off and stir in the spinach so it cooks through but doesn't turn to mush.

Not only did I LOVE this dinner, my little munchkin finished her bowl and ate another (her bowl is about 1/8 of a cup, but still).