Thai Red Curry with Tofu and Vegetables

If you follow my blog you know I'm not a big fan of Thai food. (And that is a HUGE understatement.) But every so often a Thai-ish recipe comes along that sounds ok and sometimes even wonderful.

Such was the case with these bell peppers. I took one look and decided I had to make them if for no other reason than they looked beautiful. But I also detected some of my favorite things like mushrooms, and zucchini.

If you're anti-soy you can substitute chicken for the tofu. Also feel free to ditch the pad Thai noodles for   zucchini noodles, perhaps left over from this anti-pasti recipe, or just make a bit more filling.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 oz white and/or crimini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
1 zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
8 oz organic medium or firm tofu cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup light coconut milk or water
2 tbsp rice vinegar
4 red or orange bell peppers, tops trimmed and reserved
1 cup cooked brown rice pad thai noodles
Sea salt and black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large saute pan on medium high heat, heat oil. Add onion and saute for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently until tender. Add curry paste and saute for 1 minute stirring frequently. Add mushroom and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and tofu and cook, stirring gently for 2 minutes. Add milk, vinegar, salt and black pepper and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place bell peppers on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Add noodles into the bottom of each, dividing evenly. Divide tofu mixture evenly into each bell pepper. Pace reserved bell pepper tops over top. Bake until bell pepper is tender but still holding shape, about 30 minutes.