Quick Indian-style tofu

It's cold and rainy today, and I was craving palak paneer, my favorite Indian dish and the perfect comfort food for bad weather. I was quite excited when I realized I had the ingredients to make something close enough to it to satisfy my craving. Palak paneer is chunks of cheese in a spicy spinach sauce, and is usually served with rice. Palak paneer, like all comfort foods, is a little high in fat, doesn't contain much protein, and takes a long time to cook. By using tofu as the base rather than cheese, this version solves these issues- tofu is high in protein, low in fat, and I cooked this whole dish, including chopping the vegetables, in about 15 minutes. This would be good over jasmine rice or with naan on the side and mango chunks for dessert.

People are often turned off by the appearance of Indian food, as it tends to look like mush. Palak paneer looks like green slime with white chunks of who-knows-what, but it's the best tasting green slime you'll ever eat!

Quick Indian-style tofu
3 T olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-7 oz bag spinach
1 medium tomato, cleaned and cut into chunks
1/2 t ginger
1 t turmeric
1 t curry
1/2 t salt
hot sauce to taste
1 12 oz package soft tofu, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 oz paneer, queso blanco, or feta cheese

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook and stir for 5 minutes or until onions become translucent. Add garlic, cook and stir for one minute. Add spinach, tomato, spices, and hot sauce. Cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add tofu, cook and stir until tofu is hot, about 3 minutes. Add cheese, cook and stir one minute.

Although my craving for Indian food has been satisfied, I'm now dying for a chai latte. Off to Java House!