One can of coconut milk = TWO delicious dinners: coconut curry poached cod, AND crispy tofu in silky green curry sauce

PLUS, Katie's new pretzel addiction

There’s nothing more satisfying than using one’s leftovers effectively. That feeling of a clean fridge at the end of the week? Chef’s kiss.

These two meals are the perfect example: coconut curry poached cod one night easily becomes crispy tofu with silky green curry sauce the next. Both recipes look higher-effort than they really are, but they do require you to use your intuition and senses a little bit. If you’re unsure about how to taste as you go, these recipes offer a great opportunity to practice — I promise they’re hard to ruin. The first recipe does require making the coconut curry from scratch — but then you plop in the cod, and it cooks quickly, and always ends up tender. Since the second recipe uses the leftover coconut curry as its base, it takes very little focus to put the rest together.

Coconut Curry Poached Cod

Ingredients:

4 cod fillets or other flaky white fish

1 can full fat coconut milk

1 tbsp coconut oil

1-2 cups of bone broth (or hot water mixed with 2 tbsp miso paste for vegetarian version)

1 large shallot

2 cloves of garlic

1 Serrano pepper

1 2-inch piece of ginger

1 tbsp ground curry powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Kosher salt

Black pepper

1 tsp Turbinado sugar

Bunch of Thai basil (can sub with Italian basil)

1 piece of lemongrass (optional)

1 bunch of cilantro

1 bunch of kale (optional)

Greek yogurt (optional garnish)

Chili oil (optional garnish)

1 lime (plus more for garnish)

1. Remove fish from fridge. Pat dry and generously salting with Kosher salt. Leave on the counter to come up to room temp while you prep your sauce.

2. Prep your veggies. Finely chop shallot and Serrano pepper. Grate garlic and ginger. Smash the lemongrass (if using). Wash and dry kale (if using). Chop cilantro leaves and stems.

3. Heat high-sided skillet or dutch oven over med/high on the stove. Add coconut oil. Add chopped shallot, Serrano pepper, and a pinch of Kosher salt and cook until it starts to get translucent. Add grated ginger and garlic.

4. Once fragrant, add curry powder and turmeric, stirring to coat all the ingredients. After about 30-45 seconds, deglaze pan with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, stirring and scraping up all the bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.

5. Add can of coconut milk and bone broth, stirring everything to incorporate. Bring to a simmer and add smashed lemongrass and Thai basil.

6. After it has simmered for a couple of minutes, taste for seasonings. Add Kosher salt and 1 tsp Turbinado sugar if needed. Add juice of half of a lime. Add chopped kale to the pan if using.

7. Pat dry your fish with a paper towel and season with a little more salt and black pepper. Add to your pan. Turn the heat to low and cook partially covered until just opaque, typically 6-8 minutes.

8. Remove fish from pan. Plate with kale and rice. Spoon sauce all over. Garnish with a dollop of greek yogurt, chili oil, and cilantro.

Note: make sure to strain leftover curry before storing in the fridge

Crispy Tofu w/ Silky Green Curry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 block of extra-firm tofu

Leftover coconut curry

Avocado oil or other high-heat oil

Cornstarch

Kosher salt

Pepper

Smoked paprika

Bunch of fresh spinach

1. Press your tofu. I personally don’t use a tofu press, and I’m not precious about it at all. Get a clean dishcloth (or a paper towel), fold it in half. Wrap it around your tofu. Put a sheet pan on top of wrapped tofu and place a couple heavy books on the sheet pan. Done. Prep large bowl of ice water.

2. Bring pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Blanch spinach in batches, 30 seconds or so at a time and transfer to bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

3. Squeeze water out of blanched spinach and add to blender with leftover coconut curry. Blend until smooth. Strain spinach curry mixture into saucepan. Heat on low (goal is simply to heat through so that it is ready to pour over tofu).

4. Tear tofu into large chunks. Pat dry with paper towels. Place in a large bowl. Generously cover with cornstarch, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, and a big pinch of Kosher salt. Toss to ensure each chunk of tofu is covered with dry mixture.

5. Heat a cast iron skillet or dutch oven over med/high with about an inch of oil. You’ll probably have a small crumb of tofu that has broken off—toss that in the oil to tell if it is hot enough. You’ll know it’s ready if it bubbles vigorously.

6. Proceed with frying the tofu in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan. Place tofu on paper-towel lined pan when done and sprinkle with kosher salt.

7. Serve over leftover rice (or farro or any other grain) and pour silky green curry sauce over top.

(I’m handing the computer over to Katie for this part — I’m not really a ‘snack’ girlie, but she is, and I thought it might be fun to highlight select store-bought items when they deserve it. And these pretzels do.)

Okay, it’s Mary again! If you happen to buy the pretzels, please let Katie know. It will make her day.

Happy Eating!

xx,

Mary