Oh how I wish I had a YamChops restaurant near me!
But alas, they are in Toronto and I am in Michigan. And ahem, before you ask if Michigan is basically in Canada…well while I am very friendly towards our even more northern neighbors, I am in West Michigan and it is still a good 5 1/2 hour or so drive A little far for dinner! (but it is total on my travel list!)
SO when I found out they had a cookbook and then they emailed asking if I would do a vegan cookbook review, well I was over the moon!
YamChops: North America’s Original Vegan Butcher Shop
I love how YamChops describes themselves as a plant based butcher shop, so much fun in that phrase! If you are in Toronto or a surrounding community, you really need to check them out for lunch, dinner or grocery shopping. In your plant based in Canada, you can even shop their online store! Perfect if you need a vegan ingredient for a plant based dish.
If you are searching for a meatless main, this is the place to be at and eat at! Spreading the plant based message through delivering up amazing plates of food, YamChops is perfect for vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians.
From the Kitchens of YamChops
This recipe book has got it going on and I have bookmarked so many pages – in fact I had like 2 vying for my attention to share!
The book includes 75 delicious recipes and something for every course of your feast. Soups, appetizers, sides, salads, entrees, sauces and sweets are perfect for impressing your vegan and omnivores family and friends.
I love that the recipes use minimally processed ingredients and looking through the book, I also found that I had most of the recipe ingredients already on hand (or purchased regularly) – yeah for normal ingredients!
Why I Chose the Coconut Peanut Curry (and impressed my in – laws!)
The decision was hard on which recipe to share from the Kitchens of YamChops cookbook!
The Root Beer-Battered ToFish caught my eye and the Mango – Pomegranate Guacamole had my mouth watering. Chick*n Fried Portobello and the Cumin – Lime Black Bean and Quinoa also topped my to make soon list!
Then I saw the Dragon Bowl and my love of ‘bowl’ food and the story of how they created this dish for a popular Canadian TV show made me swoon (in hunger!)
But I thought one more final look through this vegan cookbook was in order before settling on my predictable love of salad bowls. So one more flip through the book and the Coconut Peanut Curry jumped off the page – it’s color was so beautiful!
It ended up being the perfect recipe to share during a pre-mother’s day gathering with my in – laws. It was a cool, rainy day in West Michigan and this curry was warm and hearty.
My mother – in – law is a good cook so when I make something that impresses her I know we have settled on a good recipe to keep around. And she was excited that she had never tried tofu and this recipe has tofu!
I totally also saw her checking out the cookbook later and the ingredient list. My father in law just kept exclaiming, ‘I love curry’.
A win-win around the dinner table!
Some quick notes! I omitted the oil and sautéed in water and it worked great! I also used lite coconut milk because I prefer a less coconut taste. Other than that I followed the recipe to a ‘t’. I served this with rice cauliflower to soak up the sauce!
If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @badtothebowl and @yamchopsto and be sure to pick up your copy of From the Kitchens of YamChops to get inspired in your plant based kitchen.
Coconut Peanut Curry + YamChops Book Review
Tofu simmered ina coconut peanut butter sauce is delicious and comforting!
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) grape-seed or canola oil
- ½ cup (75 g) diced sweet onion
- 4 small cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp (15 g) minced ginger
- ½ cup (90 g) peanut butter
- 2 tsp (10 g) Thai red curry paste
- 2 tsp (6 g) turmeric powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1½ cups (350 ml) water
- 1 (14-oz [400-ml]) can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp (18 g) brown sugar
- 2 tsp (10 g) sea salt
- 1 (416-g) block extra firm tofu (see note)
- 1 cup (133 g) cubed sweet potato
- 1 handful green kale (or spinach)
- 1½ tbsp (22 ml) lime juice
- ½ cup (75 g) roasted unsalted cashews
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or soup pot. When the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic and ginger. Sauté until soft, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir in the peanut butter, curry paste, turmeric and cumin. Stir until the peanut butter has melted and the mixture is very fragrant. Whisk in the water, coconut milk, sugar and salt.
- Cut the tofu into ½-inch (13-mm) cubes and add to the pot along with the sweet potato cubes.
- Tear the kale into bite-size pieces and add to the pot. Mix well and let the curry simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender, approximately 30 minutes. Stir the curry regularly.
- When ready, remove the curry from the heat and stir in the lime juice and cashews.
