Stir-Fried Vegetables in a Peanut Butter Sauce with Curried Tofu

I am poor college student who has a gourmet palate that primarily cooks for one (sometimes four when I cook for my housemates or 20 when I go to potlucks).  As a result, I have a fridge full of half cut up veggies and a very full spice rack.  This past sunday I noticed that in my fridge I had the following ingredients that needed to be used up ASAP: Half a white onion, some spinach, some baby carrots, some extra firm tofu that was teetering on its expiration date, a huge bag of limes, and the last bit of a jar or natural peanut butter.  And, of course, over the weekend I picked up a fresh jar of hot curry powder.  What's a girl to do?  Pseudo stir fry of course!  This meal is incredibly filling and easy to make for one (and easy to double or triple).  Sadly, I did have some tofu left over that I just had to throw out (a cardinal sin for college students, I know) because I knew I would never eat it.  And again, please excuse me for the poor photography.  I have florescent lights in my kitchen and i was eating at about 8 at night… not really the best time to capture an award winning image.  Hopefully my light box will be up and running soon and I won't have to worry about my shady florescent lights anymore!

(PS - proud to say this recipe is 100% my own)

Ingredients:

• Extra Firm Tofu, cut into half-inch cubes
• A few shakes of Hot Curry Powder (I'll estimate a tablespoon or so)
• 1 tsp Yellow Mustard Seed
• Canola Oil
• Fresh (or frozen is fine) spinach
• Baby carrots, cut into long strips
• White onion, cut into rings, then cut in half

For the Sauce:

• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 2 TBSP Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter (leaving it out on the counter it warm up real helps)
• The juice and zest from one lime
• Yellow Mustard Seed (a pinch or two)
• Red Chile Pepper Flakes
• A few dashes of the hot curry powder
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. For the Sauce, mash all the ingredients together with a fork and set aside.
2. Heat up a wok (or a large skillet) with some canola oil and sprinkle with a little salt.  Once the wok is hot, slowly add in the tofu, sprinkle on the mustard seed and curry powder, combine well, and stir-fry until the outside of the tofu has formed a crispy shell.  Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat up a small amount it canola oil and saute the onions until partially cooked, then add in the baby carrots.  Once the onions and carrots are soft, add in the spinach.  Once the spinach has cooked down, add in the pre-cooked tofu and combine with the stir-fried veggies.
4. Invigorate the sauce with the fork and pour over veggie/tofu mixture on the pan.  Cook for another minute or two.  Remove from heat, transfer to your favorite plate, crack a beer, sit down, and enjoy!