Curry in a hurry

I had all these fabulous meals planned this week (thank you, Martha, for the lovely fall meal suggestions) but life happened, in the form of several fun evening outings, and the weather intervened as well, delivering 90 degree weather when all I want to think about is roasted veggies and scarves. Sigh.

What's a girl to do? Well, I made a 15 minute meal. I keep a little jar of red curry paste in the fridge at all times. As far as I know, the stuff lasts forever (if this isn't true, someone please let me know before I inadvertently poison someone) but I usually can't keep a jar around for more than a few months. Coconut milk is one of my random pantry staples, mostly for curry, but also for coconut rice pudding, which is to die for. You can use any protein you have on hand (or none at all) and I happened to have tofu. If D were home I probably would have opted for chicken, to be slightly more manly.

Coconut milk, red curry paste, basil and tofu

All you have to do is open the coconut milk, dump it into a pot over medium heat, stir in a generous amount of red curry paste and add whatever veggies (frozen, in my case) or protein you have on hand. Cook gently until the veggies are done to your liking. Serve it over rice, or eat it as a soup. I had fresh basil from my little plant, so I added it in. Curry is one of those weird foods that is good with either basil or cilantro, and I don't really understand how that's possible.

I used light coconut milk, but I think it would be vastly improved (although fattier) if I'd had real coconut milk in my pantry. I think this every time I use light coconut milk, but then I never follow through. Note to self: Buy real coconut milk.