Thai Inspired Stew with Black Rice and Charred Clementines

This recipe is a little more complicated than most of my other recipes, but I promise it’s worth the wait.

You’ll need,

Salted Raw Cashew Nuts

Black Beans

Cannellini Beans

Mixed Baby Greens

Tomato Sauce

Canned Coconut Milk

Red Onion

Clementines

Black Rice

Spices,

Red Thai Curry Powder

Cumin

Cayenne

Mild Red Hatch Chili

Press the tofu for at least 30 minutes before you start cooking. You may want to get your black rice started now too, it takes about the same time. Add the beans to a large pot and crush them slightly between your fingers. You don’t need to get to all of them but putting your hands in there to squeeze a couple of times helps the beans absorb the flavors of all the ingredients.
Toss in a handful or two of cashew nuts. Add a large blob of tomato sauce without stirring, then your spices to just the sauce, and stir this before mixing it with your beans and nuts.
Pour in a little water, just enough so you can bring it to a boil, lower the heat and let sit and putter without drying out. You’re going to add coconut milk later, so make sure it’s not too wet.
While the beans putter, chop your onion into large pieces and sauté in oil until they’re soft and but not browned, put them aside for now.

*This is a good amount of water, just enough to soften the greens and give it plenty of time to putter.*

Cut your pressed tofu into little squares, about half an inch thick. Fry them in oil on high heat until they’re crispy on both sides. Give it time, they take a while to crisp.

While your tofu is cooking, add a handful or two of mixed greens to the beans and stir. If your beans look watery, turn up the heat to let the excess water boil off. Lastly, add your fried onions, crispy tofu, and coconut milk. If you’ve used two cans of beans, add the whole can, if not, see how it looks with half.
Turn up the heat for a few minutes and while the bean stew reheats, it’s time to char the clementines.
It’s easy, just peel them, separate them and toss them in a hot pan with a little oil, and fry them until they’re dark brown, almost black on each side. Serve as a side along with the black rice. It makes for a delicious combination of flavors.