Stems & Leaves Stir-Fry
Stems and Leaves from Red & Yellow Chard
Friends leave town – they’re on vacation. They gift you their box full of CSA greens. You want to make them proud.
This was absolutely delish! The coconut milk and curry simply add a delicate flavor without any hostile take-overs.
Stems & Leaves Stir-fry
8 oz. Thai-spiced tofu, drained but not pressed
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Red Chard
1 bunch Yellow Chard
1 Bok Choy
1 Baby Bok Choy
2-3 celery stalks
1 Tbsp. canola oil (optional)
2/3 can (or 10 oz.) coconut milk
2-3 Tbsp. Red Curry paste
For all three chards, remove leaves from stalks. Cut stalks into pieces and set aside. Place leaves in a separate area/pile. For both bok choys, separate stalks from base, then cut stalks into pieces up to leafy part. Place stalks in stalk pile and leaves in leaf pile. Cut celery into pieces and place with other stalks.
If using oil, heat in wok over medium heat. Otherwise, heat wok without oil on medium heat for a minute until hot. Add tofu and cook for 1-2 minutes until warmed through. Add stems and cook for 2-3 minutes or until brightly colored. Add leaves and cover. Allow to steam until just wilted. Add coconut milk and curry paste, stir until curry paste is mixed and dissolved completely.
Serve over rice.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
This looks like a great recipe to address those “what do I do with this?” questions that come up when you subscribe to a garden or organic produce delivery or whatever. I’ve hesitated to join one myself because I’m scared of getting something like beets for several weeks in a row. I just don’t consider myself a confident enough cook to innovate like this!
But I have to think that the coconut milk and curry paste combination would be great for a lot of stir-fry dishes.
Re: the tofu you used: was that a “baked” tofu? My Whole Foods recently switched brands, but there’s almost always an option called “Thai spice” or something like that.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
The tofu was a Trader Joe’s version, which I’ve found to be the best-tasting of the Thai-spiced I’ve tried. I think it’s a baked tofu.
You’re right about the “what do I do with this?”, which is exactly what I thought when I opened the box. Funny, there was one beet in there!
A different friend of mine shares a share and she said that she used to have anxiety over what to do until she realized that she could do one of three things: soup, curry, or stir-fry. Maybe salad?
This dinner resulted from the “what do I do with this?” box, but also from the “what else do I have around this house?” category. It ended up really, really tasty and really simple/quick.