Even More Fruits ?n? Veggies ? and a Dream Curry

Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a great Tuesday! I loved hearing about all the favorite snacks that you Eat for Energy in my last post. I’m going to compile them in a list (giving credit to each of you, of course) and put them under the “Healthy Eats” tab at the top. I know I’ll be using it as a reference to break me out of my snack rut!

Pop quiz: do you know what these are?

If you said goji berries, you’re RIGHT! (If you said Red Hots, well, I can’t help you.) Sometimes, I buy dried goji berries in bulk from Whole Foods to add to oatmeal and baked goods (such as SAWICs). When I saw these in the freezer case last weekend, I knew I needed to give them a try:

That’s right, my friends – frozen goji berries. PERFECT for morning oatmeal.  I added them to my oatmeal thusly:

(I guess they kinda look like Red Hots.)

The frozen goji berries were pretty good, but they are blander than the dried variety (which is true for many fruits). They were fun to try once, but I think I’ll stick with my frozen blueberries.

Today, the other girls in my community nutrition group and I hauled on over to a Head Start preschool to teach the little ones about fruits and veggies. We split up and each one of us taught three groups of 18 preschoolers. LeQuan, you were right that I needed a lot of energy today – 3 and 4 year olds have more energy in their tiny pinkies than I have in my whole body! Even so, I love little kids, so this day was a blast

Story time:

“Do you like cherries? If you like cherries, jump up and down!”

During our break, we set up a nutrition and recipe table for the parents arriving to pick up and drop off their kids.

As you can probably guess, I picked out the whole grain cereal sample

We were really successful at handing out info and recipes today, probably because we’ve had a lot for practice at roping people to our table. Also, the little kids kept clamoring for the pens and fruit-shaped key chains we were handing out. All in all, a satisfying community nutrition day.

Back at home, I embarked on a simple new recipe to share with you all. I call it:

Green Curry

Is that name too boring? How about:

A Lightly-Spiced Dream Curry with Crisp Tofu Squares

Is that better? Great, let us push on!

Ingredients:

1 shallot, chopped

1 can light coconut milk (can use skim milk if you prefer a thinner sauce, or you just don’t like coconut)

1/2 cup Amoy curry paste (no, I’m not kidding)

1 14 oz. block tofu, sliced thinly

1 package noodles of choice

Cook noodles according to package directions. Prepare tofu by favorite method (I pan-fried the slices briefly, but baking would work better).

Saute the shallot in 1 tsp canola oil for 1 minute. Add coconut milk and warm through.

Now, if you are a cooking purist, you may want to avert your eyes from this next photo.

Yes, I used jarred curry paste. How very Sandra Lee of me … I can’t believe I just said that (ugh). But, you know what? I’m a busy girl, and this stuff is fantastic. Yes, I’m making excuses, but I’ll be going to bed early tonight instead of grinding spices. If you want to know what’s in this paste so you can make your own, here are the ingredients: curry powder, water, sunflower seed oil, salt, garlic, shallot, Thai spices (ambiguous, I know), and sugar.

However you obtain it, add curry paste to coconut milk and shallot. Mix until the sauce is a beautiful shade of green.

Toss with noodles and tofu, and enjoy!

We also decided to roast a few orange beets we found at the supermarket.

Wow. Dark.

As for the beet greens … don’t throw them out!

Sauteed in a little walnut oil as per this day, beet greens make a tasty and nutrient-packed veggie side.

All together on my new plate:

Not the nicest pictures, but you get the idea. The green curry dream curry was rich and smooth – delicious with the crispy tofu.

Before I go: as my prize for winning the Cook’s Mission contest (thanks to all of you who voted for me!), I get to choose next week’s ingredients! I haven’t quite decided which ingredients I will choose yet, but I’m excited to see what people will come up with. Thanks again, Mae!

I’m working late tomorrow, so to preserve my sanity … no post. Good eve, all!

Q: Do you like to cook from scratch, or do you use a little “help” in the kitchen?