One of the challenges of having a pregnant wife on partial bed rest is handling all the household chores within a reasonable time frame. Somethings can slip a little, like vacuuming and dishes, but others, dinner and dog walking, need to be done everyday. Now given that we both hate processed food and take out can get hellishly expensive our options for rapid and easy dinners are a little more limited, especially when I’m exhausted and not motivated to cook. This is where inspiration and a little creativity can pay off.

Inspired by my father-in-law’s crop of lemon basil and the excellent Italian eggplant from the farm stand up the street from us I whipped up a stupid simple recipe that at least approximates our love for Thai food. The beauty is the ingredients are few, fresh, and easy to prep. I have managed to go from prep to finish in the time it takes for two cups of rice to cook on the stove.

Ingredients

• (1) Medium eggplant cut into 3″ strips
• (1) 16oz block of tofu, water pressed out and re-hydrated in pineapple juice (best done a night in advance)
• (1) 16oz can of coconut milk
• (1) Cup of shelled unsalted peanuts
• (1) Small knob of ginger, peeled and diced
• (4) Tablespoons of tamarind soy sauce
• (1) Half-Teaspoon of Schezuan hot oil
• (1) Tablespoon of black bean paste
• (1) Medium bunch of lemon basil (plain old will do if not available), discard stems and chiffonade leaves
• Cornstarch to coat the tofu
• Vegetable oil for cooking

Instructions

• Start rice per usual.
• Heat on high approximately 1/2″ of oil in a wok until it is nearly smoking.
• While oil is heating…
• Mix together the tamarind soy sauce, Schezuan hot oil, black bean paste, and 1/3 of the ginger in a bowl. Add the eggplant and toss until all pieces are well coated. Set aside.
• Press out excess juice from tofu and cut into 1″ triangles and toss in cornstarch. Reserve remainder of pineapple juice and get ready to cook things in rapid succession using the same oil and wok all on high heat.
• Cook tofu in oil until golden brown and crispy (watch yourself as water and hot oil don’t care much for each other) and then place cooked tofu on paper towels to drain.
• Cook eggplant in oil until browned and the place on paper towels to drain.
• Cook peanuts until the brown slightly and then set aside on paper towels to drain.
• Discard oil.
• Return wok to heat and toss the basil and ginger for a couple of seconds then add the reserved pineapple juice and coconut milk. Let the mixture start to boil stirring only to keep it from burning and bubbling over the sides. The aim here is to reduce the milk and juice to about 1/3 its original liquid volume.
• When the milk and juice have been reduced add the eggplant, tofu, and peanuts to it and continue to cook it for another minute or so over high heat, tossing occasionally.
• Serve over the rice and enjoy!