There’s nothing quite like a girls catch-up dinner with no boys allowed. I was craving a curry the other night and some girl time and I convinced Fatman to let me experiment on her. But before we get to the curry, let’s talk a little bit about Fatman so you all don’t think I’m just a jerk. Fatman is one of my dearest friends who I’ve known since journalism school back in college. She’s one of those girls who you want to strangle – she eats meaty, cheesy, “manly” foods and somehow still manages to be teeny tiny. (I blame genes. I’ve seen her mother. Same body type. Arg!) In any event, her ability to eat pretty much everything and anything at any time of the day or night got her the name Fatman – like there’s a little fatman inside her stomach eating all this extra food. Sometimes fatman gets hungry and demands to be fed. So this is the inaugural post in my new “Fatman Approved” category. Maybe your little fatmans will like it too. (And it’s gluten-free!)

What you’ll need: 

• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 1 head broccoli
• 1/2 yellow pepper
• 1 package tofu – drained/pressed (for directions, see previous post)
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 2/3 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 TBS red curry paste (this makes the dish not all that hot – Fatman isn’t a huge fan of spice. If I was making just for me, I would have added another TBS)
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped/minced.
• 1/4 large red onion, chopped. (or more if you really like onion, I’m more onion-adverse)
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 lime juice
• 1 cup brown jasmine rice
• fresh cilantro for garnish

Start by cooking your rice – 1 cup of dry rice + 2 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is fully cooked. Rinse and press tofu – doing this at the beginning will ensure your tofu is firm by the time you want to add it to the pot. Cut the sweet potatoes and carrots into 1-inch sections. Cut the broccoli down into florets and chop the yellow pepper down as well.

Add chopped onion, garlic and olive oil to wok or skillet at medium heat. (R ordered this wok off of Amazon not to long ago and I absolutely love it!) Cook until onions are translucent then add all your veggies and cook for 5 minutes.

Add coconut milk, vegetable broth, lime juice, soy sauce and curry paste – stir well until the paste is dissolved into the liquid. Add tofu, lower heat and cover. Let the mixture simmer for about 15-20 minutes until your sweet potatoes and carrots are cooked.

Serve over rice with chopped fresh cilantro garnish and a glass of wine (optional – but we all know wine goes great with those girly conversations).

Luckily there was enough left over for two more servings because I was craving it again the next day – and I think it was even better after it sat in the fridge over night and all the flavors got to hang around longer.