Another quick one... Tofu and veggies with curry sauce and rice

Today was my first day of school, and if you have ever spent even just a few hours with a 5 year old, you can begin to imagine how exhausted I am after 8 hours with 20 of them.  We had an awesome day, but seriously, I'm beat.  More than anything, my feet hurt and I didn't think I could stand (haha, stand) to be on my feet much longer.  So I went to my new favorite easy go-to meal.

So many of you may have gotten to the title of this blog entry and said, "Woa, tofu.  That's never gunna happen".  Well, I like it, and I could try and change your mind, but honestly, it's not worth the energy.  If you don't like it. Substitute chicken, or just eat the veggies!

 

 Alright, to get started, raid your fridge, freezer, and veggie bowl.  I found shredded carrots, parsley, frozen spinach, frozen peas, a pepper and a Roma tomato.  I've used many combinations of vegetables, just choose the ones you like, it's your dinner!

 I also grabbed my tofu, some box chicken stock, some frozen Trader Joes brown rice, and Trader Joes curry simmer sauce.  You may be starting to wonder if I'm working for TJs, but seriously, I'm not.  I just really like their prepared foods because they make my busy life easier.

Ok, get a medium skillet going over medium to medium high heat and add enough olive oil to go around the pan 2x.  While that is heating up, use a paper towel to absorb most of the water from the extra firm tofu brick,  then cube it into bite sized pieces.  Throw it in the oil and step back, the moisture may make it splatter. Season with salt and pepper, and if you like heat (I do) some red pepper flakes.  You can also microwave your rice now, three minutes and then it can just hang out and wait for the yummy goodness to join the party.

While the tofu cooks, chop any veggies that need chopping.  I did my pepper, tomato, and parsley.  Give your tofu a toss a few times every minute or so until it is golden brown in most sides.  Then add your vegetables.  Stir them around and give them a minute to warm up with their tofu friends.  Last, add half a jar of curry simmer sauce and about half a cup of stock to thin it out a bit.  I figured out today that if you are using the second half of the jar, add the chicken stock right in, fill it up, shake it and pour it into the pan.  Let it simmer until it reduces and gets thick.

While that's cooking, I love naan, so I take a piece and warm it in my toaster oven.  Most grocery stores have it packaged in the bakery section. 

Once the curry is nice and thick, but still saucy, stir in the parsley if you have some, and pour it over your rice.  (I added the picture of the rice because once you add all the good stuff, it's no longer visible, and I wanted to be sure that you knew it was under there!)  Add some naan and enjoy! 

This would feed two.  I thought I could eat it all, but barely ate half.  It's super filling and pretty healthy!  It's around 500 calories per serving, including the naan.