February is Heart Month!
Most people have become increasingly aware that reducing your intake of saturated fat and trans fat is a good step towards reducing your risk for heart disease – but did you know that that’s only part of the heart health equation? Achieving a diet rich in soluble and insoluble dietary fibre (and small amounts of heart friendly unsaturated fat) is equally important.
Think healthy eating equals ‘bland’? Not so sold on soy? Dare to give this plant protein-packed dish a try. You just might have a change of heart!
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 block (approximately 454g) firm tofu
- 2 cups diced onion ( about two medium)
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 Tbsp fresh ginger root, finely minced
- 2 cups diced tomatoes (about two medium)
- 4 cups frozen edamame (soy beans)
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth ( or substitute with chicken broth, if desired)
- 1 stick cinnamon, about 1-inch (or substitute ½ tsp ground cinnamon)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Chop tofu into small, ½- inch cubes, and pat dry with paper towel.
- Drizzle tofu with 1-2 tsp of the canola oil, and arrange in an even layer on a cookie sheet. Bake until just lightly golden brown, or about 15 minutes.
- While tofu is browning, get chopping! Dice onions, and mince garlic cloves and ginger. Place in a bowl and set aside. Chopped tomatoes and cilantro, and set aside in separate bowls.
- Remove tofu from oven when it has browned, and set aside.
- Heat the remaining canola oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add broken cinnamon stick, bay leaves and cumin seeds. Fry until just browned (about 5-10 seconds!)
- Add turmeric, coriander, ground cumin, along with chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook until light brown or tender (about 6-8 minutes).
- Reduce your heat to medium. Add tomatoes, cayenne pepper, edamame, vegetable broth, and tofu cubes.
- Cook for 8-10 minutes, allowing curry to reduce and thicken (and the tofu to absorb all of that flavour!
- When curry is at your preferred consistency, mix in chopped cilantro, and serve with a ½ cup of brown basmati rice, bulgur, or your favourite whole grain!
Each curry serving delivers nearly 12 grams dietary fibre, 30 grams protein, nearly a full day’s worth of vitamin E and over 100% of your daily folic acid requirement- all for less than 60 mg sodium, and only 1.5 g saturated fat!
Time-saving tips: Don’t have enough time to make a curry from scratch?
- Tofu can be browned ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 24 hours or in the freezer for up to a month – or skip the browning step all together if you would prefer a softer consistency.
- Freshly toasted spices, fresh garlic and fresh ginger make all of the flavour difference! However, ground ginger and garlic can be substituted in a pinch (4 cloves garlic = ½ tsp garlic powder; 2 Tbsp fresh ginger = ½-1tsp ground ginger).
