Mango Chutney

4 pounds fresh mangos, ripe but not too soft, peeled and dice to 1/4" pieces
2 table spoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chile flakes
2 1/2 cups red onion, diced
1/4 fresh ginger, minced
1 cup red bell pepper, dice to 1/4" pieces

Seasonings: combine and set aside.
8 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
4 oz cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons mild curry powder, can use hot curry if prefer spicier chutney
Ssalt and ground white pepper to taste.

In a saute pan with medium heat, heat the oil and add the chile flakes for a few seconds to flavor the oil. Do not burn the chili flakes. Add the onions and cook until onions are soft. Add the ginger and bell pepper and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mango and cook for 1 more minute. Add the seasonings to the pan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe make about 3 - 4 cups of mango chutney. I store the extra chutney in my freezer. I use this chutney in my curry tofu salad. When I googled how to use Mango Chutney, here are some of the suggestions:
Serve as topping to vanilla ice cream
Serve over chicken or fish
Mix with mayo on chicken or turkey burgers
Serve on top of rotisserie shredded chicken in a pita
Serve on top of smoked pork lion
Serve with chicken or lamb curry
Serve with grill lamb
Mix with mayo, curry powder, salt and pepper for curry chicken salad and sweet and white potato salad.

Curry Tofu Salad

When I was running errands one day stopping at Whole Foods to get a few things, I all of sudden became very hungry. I was so hungry that I thought I could not continue without putting some food into my stomach. Even at Whole Foods, there are limited things you can grab that are low in sugar and dairy free. I ended up getting a curry tofu salad and it was so delicious! I came home, study the label, wrote down the ingredients, googled curry tofu salad recipes, made a couple of batched of it, and came up with my version of curry tofu salad. The only issue I have with this dish is that I can't stop eating it! I think this recipe can also to turn into a wonderful curry chicken salad.



Tofu, 14oz, firm or extra firm, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 -2 tablespoon Olive oil, for pan frying or baking tofu

1/2 cup Green bell pepper, diced into 1/2" pieces

1/2 cup Red bell pepper, diced into 1/2" pieces

3/4 cup Carrots, shredded
2 Green onions, finely sliced

1 Tablespoon Cilantro, cut

1/3 cup Raisins

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Curry Dressing:

2 heaping tablespoons Nayonaise (vegan) or Mayo; I like Follow Your Heart Vegenaise

2 heaping tablespoons Mango Chutney

2 teaspoons curry powder

If you don't have Mango Chutney, use the following ingredients, it tastes pretty close. The first two times I made the dish, I didn't have Mango Chutney, and the end result was very good also.
2 heaping tablespoons Mayonaise or Mayo
2 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 clove Roasted garlic, minced
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar or agave

dash of salt & ground pepper

Cut Tofu into 1/2 inch cubes, pan fry until lightly golden. For firmer texture, use extra firm tofu and deep fry and cubes until lightly golden. You can also baked the tofu in a 375F oven on a lightly greased baking sheet for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking time. Don't over cook the tofu; it can get dry. Mix the ingredients of the curry dressing in a small bowl and set aside. Combine tofu, bell peppers, green onions, carrots, cilantro, raisins, and almonds  in a large bowl. Top with the curry dressing and toss thoroughly. Chill for at least an hour. The raisins will sweeten up the dish; add salt & pepper to taste before serving.

Sugar Snap Peas with Miso Sauce

This recipe is inspired by a show I watched on Food Network:  Healthy Living with Ellie Krieger. She microwave the sugar snap peas with a little water similar to steaming or blanching the peas. She then made the sauce in a sauce pan and then toss the sugar snap peas with the sauce before serving. I don't like to cook with microwave so I simply sauté the peas and simplify the ingredients list by using the Brown Sauce (see the article on Stir-Fry Sauce). If you don't have miso, it is not the end of the world. You can simply skip it, the dish taste different but it is still good. If you skip the miso paste, you may need a little more brown sauce to balance the sweetness of the orange juice.

1 pound sugar snap peas or snow peas
2 teaspoon olive oil
2 scallions, white and green, sliced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, optional, there is ginger in the brown sauce add the ginger if you like a stronger finger flavor.
1 tablespoon of brown sauce
1 teaspoon of frozen concentrated orange juice or 1/2 teaspoon of orange marmalade jam
1 teaspoon low sodium white miso paste
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Heat the oil in a stir-fry pan over a medium high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and sauté until tender; if you like the sugar snap peas softer, add a little water (one tablespoon) to the pan and cooked until the liquid has been absorbed. Add the scallions and ginger and saute for 1 more minutes. Turn the heat to low and add the brown sauce, concentrated orange juice/jam, miso paste, sesame oil and stir until miso paste is dissolved.

Stir-fry sauce

Here are a couple of sauces that I always have on hand for making stir-fry dishes. I keep them in the fridge in empty Briannas' salad dressing glass bottles; the recipes have been modified to fit in the 12 oz container. The brown sauces can be very versatile; it can be used for stir-fry as is or you can add other ingredients like plum sauce, ketchup, or black bean sauce to make some totally different dishes. Sometimes I even use the brown sauce as dipping sauce for pot stickers and the teriyaki sauce for dipping tempura (after thinning it some by adding water).  I prefer using fresh garlic and ginger and always have some garlic in my spice cupboard and a piece of ginger in the fridge or freezer. Ginger can keep in the fridge for a while but if you can't use it up fast enough, just put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in the freezer. I sometimes grate the ginger when it is still pretty frozen. There are a couple of indispensable tools that I use all the time if a recipe calls for minced garlic or powder ginger.  One tool is the Microplane stainless steel zester; I use it to grate lemon/lime zest or ginger. The other one is a Kuhn Rikon stainless steel garlic press; it cost me dearly but it is easy to use and easy to clearn. Plus, I hate the cheep one at the grocery store that don't work well or I manage to break them (I have broken two OXO garlic press). Did I also mention that I don't like to chop garlic by hand? I don't like my fingers to smell like garlic.

Brown Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup broth or water
1/8 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 oz cooking sherry or replace it with broth or water
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon vinegar
The original recipe also had 1/2 tablespoon of accent (MSG) but I never use it.

Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup dry sherry or replace it with broth or water
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 t ground ginger