Delicious curry flavor with the sweetness of orange, this Eastern-influenced dish will have your taste buds going wild with delight!
The pattern of thoughts that led me to this dish were pretty complex. It’s almost as if my brain was playing a game of telephone and what I ended up with was completely different than the original story. I think the only item which remained in my thoughts throughout the entire process was the curry. But regardless of how I got here, I’m incredibly happy that I did, because this dish ended up being a major win!
I guess I’m on a curry kick lately, because this is the third time I’ve had a curry dish over the last week! I mean, don’t get me wrong, curry is a normal flavor to my diet, but three times in one week is a little excessive! There’s still no way I am at all complaining about this, like not even a little bit. Even though they all had curry, that doesn’t at all mean they were the same! Curry has many faces, and I’m quite proud to say I conquered this one pretty darn well!
Whenever using tofu, my first step is to always get it pressing. I have a Tofu Press that makes this easy, but if you are without, just lay the tofu out on a clean towel or paper towels and with another towel on top, cover with a baking sheet topped with something heavy, like canned goods. This will press the excess moisture out of the tofu, getting it ready to use. As needed, make sure to change towels out for dry ones. Once I had my tofu pressing I chopped all my veggies and then started my sauce.
For the sauce, I first melted some coconut oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Once melted, I added onion, bell pepper, and minced garlic. When the onions were translucent I stirred in some salt, pepper, and curry powder.
After all my veggies were coated with the spices, I added the juice of three large naval oranges, along with fresh parsley, mint, maple syrup, and a small amount of chili flakes to add a little spice. I let this cook for 2-3 minutes, turning down the heat just a little to prevent it from boiling.
Finally, I sifted in some cornstarch, turned the heat down a bit more, and kept it at a low simmer a couple of more minutes, until the sauce was thickened. I now put a lid on my sauce, turned off the heat while I got back to the tofu.
I removed my tofu from the Tofu Press and cut my block into bite-sized squares. Next, to a medium mixing bowl, I added cornstarch, powdered ginger, salt, pepper, and just a pinch of cayenne. I now tossed my tofu in this until each piece was coated. After that, I heated up a cast-iron skillet, over medium-high heated, and then coated it with oil. Once the oil was hot, I added my tofu pieces and cooked them about 2 to 4 minutes on each side. As soon as I had them nice and brown, I turned off the heat.
Now that my tofu was cooked, I turned the heat back up on my sauce to get it warm again. I brought it to a low simmer and added cauliflower florets. After two minutes, I added some green beans. It took about 6 more minutes until my veggies were at my desired tenderness. Then I stirred in the tofu, and once it was warm I turned off the heat and my dish was ready to serve!
I was so happy the flavors in this turned out exactly as I was hoping! I’m thinking it’s going to be a regular in our house from now on. Let me know you’ve enjoyed this too by leaving a comment below, and be sure to take a picture and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis!
Orange Curry Tofu
Ingredients
For the sauce...
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion. sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3 large oranges (I used naval oranges)
- 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley (curly), chopped
- 1 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp red chili flakes, or to taste (optional)
- 2 Tbsp corn starch for grain-free substitute tapioca starch or arrowroot powder
For the tofu...
- 12 oz extra firm tofu (1 block), drained and pressed (If needed, read above for instructions on how to press tofu)
- 2 Tbsp corn starch for grain-free substitute tapioca starch or arrowroot powder
- 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- pinch cayenne (optional)
- oil of choice, for cooking
Everything else...
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 1 cup green beans, stems removed and cut in half
- 2 servings cooked basmati rice, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Start by making your sauce. Squeeze the juice from all three oranges and set aside.
- In a deep skillet, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Sauté until onion is translucent.
- Add curry powder, salt, and pepper. Stir until the veggies are coated with the spices.
- Add the orange juice, mint, parsley, maple syrup, and chili flakes if using. If needed, turn down heat to prevent boiling. Let simmer about 3 minutes.
- While whisking, sift in the corn starch. Turn heat down more to keep sauce at a low simmer. Once sauce has thickened (just a couple minutes), turn off heat and cover the skillet with a lid.
- Take your pressed tofu and cut it into about 20 equal sized squares.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add corn starch, powdered ginger, salt, pepper, and cayenne if using. Stir to combine, then add tofu and carefully toss making sure to coat each piece with corn starch mixture.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium high-heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu. Cook tofu about 2 - 4 minutes on each side, or until desired brownness. Once done, turn off heat and lay tofu on paper towels (or a clean kitchen towel), to absorb any excess oil.
- Remove the lid from the sauce and turn the heat back up. Once hot, add cauliflower. Cover skillet with lid and turn heat down to medium-low to maintain a light simmer for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, add the green beans and return the lid to the skillet. Let simmer about 6 more minutes, or until veggies have reached your desired tenderness.
- Remove lid. Stir in tofu and cook in sauce until hot, turning heat up if needed. Eat as is, or serve over or along side basmati rice. Enjoy!