Clear Out Ratatouille and My Thai Curry

I often run out of just about everything and am left with just a few random vegetables. Yesterday those turned out to be: a bit of an onion, half a corgette (zucchini), some tomatoes, 2 carrots and some spinach. At this stage I decided the best and most obvious thing to do was to throw it all in a pot and spice it up with some paprika, oregano, garlic power, mild chilli powder, and salt and pepper. Easy peasy... simple, pretty, yummy food. I served it with with couscous and half a baked sweet potato... delish!
note: if you eat cheese, this would have been even better with feta.

I also made my Thai Curry last night sans red peppers as I forgot to get some. This was a recipe I came up with after falling insanely in love with a vegetarian coconut curry I got from a takeaway while at work. I made it up using ingredients that are easily found, and it ended up tasting well nigh exactly the same! Sooo good.

Thai Coconut Curry with Tofu and Mushrooms

250g Firm tofu cut into cubes (1 packet)

1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 1/2 Tbsp minced ginger

1-2 Tsp hot curry powder (depending on how hot you like it)

Salt and Pepper to season

1 small onion roughly chopped

20 fresh dwarf green beans - ends taken off and cut in half

Half a red pepper, cut into strips

1 small corgette (zucchini) – cut into large chunks

10 button mushrooms (or whatever kind you like) cut in halves or quarters

350ml vegetable stock

½ can coconut milk

4 Tbsp Fresh basil chopped + ½ Tbsp to garnish

2 1/2 Tbsp Fresh Coriander + ¼ Tbsp to garnish

Zest of one lemon

Fry the tofu cubes in a little olive oil on 2 sides, remove from pan and put to one side. In the same pan, fry the garlic, ginger, onions, green beans, and red pepper until the onions become somewhat flaccid. Add the Corgettes (Zucchini), the curry powder, and the salt and pepper, and fry for another minute. Add the mushrooms and fry another 30 seconds or so.

Now add the vegetable stock, followed by the coconut milk. Stir through and allow it to simmer. Add the Basil, coriander and lemon zest and the pre-fried tofu and continue simmering for another 5 minutes or so.

If the sauce is not thick enough for your liking, you can add teaspoon or two of corn flour (mixed with water to avoid any lumps).

Serve with Rice or noodles garnished with the left-over herbs and a bit more lemon zest.
I like to toss some cooked and drained white rice with 1/4 of a can of coconut milk and some chopped coriander.

Serves 3-4