Thai Curry with Basil, NO Eggplant, & Green Beans

Saw the above recipe on Albion Cooks and thought it would make an excellent easy meal. I was right! I made one huge exception--I didn't use the eggplant. I finally found the Thai eggplants at the Very Expensive, Hoity Toity Grocery Store (by the way, did you know there is also Japanese eggplant and Chinese eggplant?), bought the two that the recipe called for even though they were small and I seemed skeptical about their ability to contribute much towards the meal, got them home, put them on the counter, and promptly forgot about them. Fast forward to four days later to partially blackened, soft eggplants that now reside in the compost pile. So there was no eggplant in my dinner tonight. But that's okay, it was deemed worthy enough to chow down anyway!

Here's the tofu merrily simmering with the garlic and serrano chile pepper in the wok, with the red pepper slices and Thai basil standing by.


Barrett wanted to show you all his amazing flipping-the-food-into-the-air skillz. I didn't quite capture it but I love the way the burner coils turned purple and white in the flash!


Tearing hunks of chard off at the end. There's something so satisfying about tearing leafy greens up with one's bare hands.


And the final result, showcased on the homemade skeleton plate that I bought at a crafts fair back in 1992. It's my favorite plate.