Category: Asian Inspired

Thai Green Curry

2/27/2017

I've been on a Thai Curry kick recently. There's something about the combination of the spicy broth and coconut cream that I love. When you take a bite its so spicy and intense, and then the coconut sweetness comes in just enough for your mouth to recover before the next bite. Plus, with all the veggies I always feel good about ordering it for delivery.

I wanted to try cooking it for myself, for the challenge of trying something new, but also so that I could have it more frequently and not have to pay for delivery! Surprisingly, it was a lot easier than I thought! I found a lot of great resources on the website, Rachel Cooks Thai, and was able to come up with a great recipe.

One of the main differences I made was using two cans of coconut milk instead of one. Rachel talks about customizing the balance of coconut milk to water based on your own preferences. I made an earlier batch with only one can of milk and more water and I really didn't feel like I could taste the coconut flavor at all.

Like I mentioned, its a pretty simple recipe to make - heat the coconut milk, add in your curry paste, add more liquid and your chopped veggies, simmer until veggies are soft and the flavors have marinated!

Let me know what you think! What's your favorite kind of curry?

Ingredients:
1 Cup Uncooked Brown Rice
2 Cups Water

2 Tablespoons Green Curry Paste
2 Cans Coconut Milk
1 Cup Water
4 Carrots
1 Small Eggplant
1 Cup Green Peas
1 Package Tofu
1 Tablespoon Turmeric

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4-6

Instructions:

Combine the rice and water in a pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 35-40 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

Chop all of the veggies and tofu into cubes. Press the excess water out of the tofu. Fry the tofu in a skillet or non-stick pan with turmeric until all sides are crispy.

Open the two cans of coconut milk and scoop out the solid cream part at the top and put into a pan over medium heat. Stir until the cream has liquefied and begins to bubble. Add the curry paste and again stir to combine.

Pour the remaining coconut milk into the pan. Add your veggies and tofu and one cup of water. You can add more water depending on how thick you like your curry broth.

Cook until the veggies are soft and ready to eat.

Serve the rice and veggies in two separate bowls. As you are eating add the rice into the veggie bowl to soak up the broth and mix with the veggies - enjoy!

0 Comments

Stir Fry Veggies and Quinoa with Seared Tofu

4/6/2015

0 Comments

Stir Fry Veggies with Quinoa and Seared Tofu

I had some of the best tofu ever when eating out the other day - the firmness and texture were amazing. It was hard to tell that I was eating tofu (they had even sliced the tofu on an angle so that it looked like chicken breast). I asked the waiter how it was prepared and he told me that the chef pressed, seared, and baked the tofu. I had to try to recreate it! It turned out great and was not difficult to make. If you have a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe pan) you can use the same pan from the stove right into the oven and would probably be ideal.

As I have all winter - I had some carrots on hand and some butternut squash that I had shredded and froze. I added some cooking greens and mushrooms. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Make sure to chop them to approximately the same size so that they all cook for the same amount of time.

I made mine for lunch, so I divided everything into four portions to bring into work with me.

Ingredients:
I block tofu
2 cups cooked quinoa
4 Medium sized carrots
1 cup butternut squash
2 cups greens
1/4 cup mushrooms
Turmeric
Ginger
Sriracha (optional)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4

Instructions:
Press your tofu for about 5 to 10 minutes. Slice in fours. Sear tofu for 5 minutes on each side on high heat with a little bit of water or oil. Sprinkle turmeric and ginger on each side. Cook in oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping halfway.

While the tofu is cooking - chop and saute the vegetables with water over medium heat. Start with the carrots and squash. Once again, add a generous coating of turmeric and ginger and stir in to cover all the veggies. When they are soft add the greens and mushrooms and cook until the greens are wilted. I generally need to add the greens a little at a time and let them wilt down until I have room for some more.

Serve the veggies over quinoa and top with a slice of tofu. Top with sriracha, if desired. Enjoy!

0 Comments

Baked Tofu with Quinoa and Veggies

2/21/2015

0 Comments

I make a lot of Asian stir fries with tofu, but I had a lot of local seasonal vegetables, so I wanted to put a different spin on things. I still used a lot of Asian flavors with ginger and sriracha, but I used some different cooking methods and ingredients.
I love roasting squash - it really brings out the flavors and adds a nice sweetness. In this recipe I used delicata squash, which I think is the easiest squash to cook with. It's generally smaller and has a softer skin so it's easier to cut open and you don't have to worry about peeling it. Since I was roasting the squash I thought I would try roasting the tofu as well. Many people don't like tofu because of the texture, but changing up the cooking method (as well as pressing the liquid out of it) has a big impact on the texture. Roasting or baking tofu makes it firmer and dryer and gets rid of the mushy texture that many people don't like about tofu.

I hadn't had any quinoa in a while, so I decided to use quinoa instead of rice. I had purple carrots, so I sauteed those on those stove by themselves. First because I didn't have any more room in the oven, but also because I've learned that purple carrots turn everything else they're cooked with purple, so I needed to isolate them.
This dish has a lot of pieces cooked separately, but they all fit together well. There's a great mix of textures with the fluffy quinoa, soft squash, spongy tofu, and crunchy carrots and pepitas.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Dry Quinoa
1 Block Tofu
1/2 of a Small Delicata Squash
1 Cup Sliced Carrots
1/4 Cup Pepitas
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
Sriracha

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Slice cube and press your tofu. Slice the squash in half. Scoop out the seeds inside and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place the tofu and squash on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkle with turmeric, ginger, and paprika and roast for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your quinoa. Add quinoa and 1 cup water to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
Slice carrots and saute on over medium heat for about ten minutes. Remove from the pan and add the pepitas, cooking for about 5 minutes.
All of your items should finish cooking around the same time. Divide the quinoa, tofu, squash and carrots evenly among four plates. Top with the pepitas and any sauce you would like - I used sriracha. Serve and enjoy!

0 Comments

Cashew Chik'n and Vegetable Stir Fry

12/14/2014

0 Comments

Jay had been saying how he wanted something with peanut sauce after I made the spaghetti squash with peanut sauce the other day. I thought that I would mix it up a bit and use tahini to make a sesame sauce. I wanted a recipe that would use my winter vegetables and all the cooking greens that I had and I thought a stir fry would be great.

I used bean starch noodles, also referred to as cellophane or glass noodles. There are other varieties made with potatoes or starches. You can find them in the Asian food aisle at the grocery store. They are normally packaged in three bundles of dried noodles. I normally use one bundle at a time. The package says it has three servings, but once you add in vegetables that one serving goes a long way. Jay has always been creeped out by them and this time was no different. If you don't like glass noodles you can use any other type of Asian noodle.

I used the rest of the seitan from the stew I made last week, about a half a cup. Jay thought it did a good job of filling in for chicken and was pleasantly surprised by the texture.

Ingredients:
1 bundle bean starch (or other Asian) noodles
1 carrot
1 medium sweet potato
4 oz mushrooms
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 apple

1 bunch cooking greens (kale, chard, mustard greens, collards, etc.)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Sauce:
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon sambaal oleek or sriracha or red pepper flakes (optional)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Instructions:

Cook the noodles to package directions.

While the noodles are cooking, chop up all your vegetables in the order you'll cook them - garlic, onion, carrot, sweet potato, apple, mushrooms, greens. I like to start cooking the heavier vegetables while I chop the rest. Heat the garlic and onion over medium heat until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the carrots and sweet potato and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the apples, mushrooms, and seitan. Finally, add the greens and let them wilt.

To make the sauce combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. This makes enough sauce for a light coating, so if you want more you can increase the portion size of each ingredient. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and stir to evenly coat the dish.

I generally find that cellophane noodles tend to be very long, so after I drain them I like to put the whole pile on my cutting board and slice them once or twice. Combine the vegetables with the noddles. Serve and top with cashews. Enjoy!

0 Comments

Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce

11/30/2014

0 Comments

I made this for my family last week while I was at home. My mom, dad, and uncle all ate it and loved it! I love working with spaghetti squash cause it's so versatile - you can make it work with any cuisine. I saw this recipe on Pinterest from Leelalicous and thought it would be a great last minute dinner to make! You can sub out the vegetables for whatever you prefer or have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 medium to large Spaghetti Squash
1/2 Avocado
1 Cup Cherry Tomatoes
Green Beans
1 Cup Shredded Carrots
Basil

Peanut Sauce:
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
1/2 Lime
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Cloves of Garlic - minced
1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger - minced
1/2 teaspoon Fresh Lemongrass (optional) - minced

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Cook Time: 30-45 minutes

Servings: 4 as entree

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash cut side down in a baking pan with a little bit of water on the bottom. Cover it with foil and cook for about 30-45 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your squash.

While the squash is in the oven, prepare the rest of your ingredients. Wash and prep the green beans and steam them for about 5-7 minutes, until they're soft but not mushy. Once they're cool, slice them in long diagonal strips to make them skinnier. Slice the tomatoes in half and cut the avocado into cubes. Put all of the ingredients except the avocado and basil in a large bowl.

Combine the peanut sauce ingredients in another bowl and whisk them all together.

The squash will be done when you can easily stick a fork through the skin, don't let it get too mushy though or all the "spaghetti" strands will stick together. Once the squash has cooled enough that you can touch it, use a fork to scrape apart the inside of the squash, pulling the flesh off of the skin. The flesh will fall apart into spaghetti-like strings.

Add the squash to your bowl of vegetables. Pour in the peanut sauce little by little until you have enough to coat everything but it isn't too soupy. If you have any left over you can use it as dipping sauce. Slice the basil and add that on top, along with the avocado. Enjoy!

0 Comments

Thai Green Curry

Stir Fry Veggies and Quinoa with Seared Tofu

Baked Tofu with Quinoa and Veggies

Cashew Chik'n and Vegetable Stir Fry

Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce

Author

Categories

Archives