Vegan. Green. Curry.

Mmm Thai curry. Hello delicious. Not to be confused with its tumeric-based Indian and Pakistani cousins, Thai curries are made of red, green, panang, and massaman curry pastes (among others). While both kinds of curries are delightful, the Thai version is heavy on the vegetables and often comes in a coconut milk broth.

I made a big batch of this to feed me and some out of town guests who are Vegan. If you are a carnivore, you can make yours with chicken pieces or beef and chicken broth. I made my own green curry paste using a recipe I found on the internet years ago (God knows where) but you can use a jar or packet purchased from the grocery store. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, and you pre-purchase the curry paste make sure you buy the kind that doesn't have fish sauce or shrimp paste in it!

Vegan Green Curry:
--1 block of extra firm tofu, well-drained and chopped into bite-sized chunks
--1 1/2 cups of uncooked jasmine rice
--1 TBSP sesame oil
--1 TBSP olive oil
--Garlic, minced
--Ginger, minced
--1 small onion, chopped
--1 large head of broccoli, chopped into smaller florets
--1 16oz. bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables
--1 pint of grape tomatoes
--1 14oz. can of coconut milk
--Green curry paste
--2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth

In a frying pan sear the tofu on medium to medium-high heat.  Make sure all sides are seared.

Cook rice according to package directions.

While the tofu sears and the rice cooks, heat the sesame and olive oils in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the garlic, ginger, and onion. Saute until translucent.

Add the broccoli and frozen vegetables and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to get tender.  Add the tomatoes and stir to mix all the vegetables together. 

Add the coconut milk and the curry paste. Stir to fully dissolve the curry paste. Start in small batches, because remember, you can always add more curry paste but you'll have a hard time taking some away!

When curry paste is dissolved add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer and add the seared tofu, stirring to combine. Continue to add curry paste, as needed, until the curry is to your taste.

Serve over the rice.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6
Calories: 230 per serving

Taken From Take Out

Today's recipe is made just for you inspired by one of you! I got an email from reader Shannan who wanted to know how to make her favorite chinese soup at home. She's a vegetarian so the recipe below is also herbivore-friendly, but I added pork to mine (as you'll note in the pictures). She is a kitchen newbie, so I've provided more in-depth directions in certain places.

If you add ground pork to yours you can either cook this separately and add it into the soup, or (and I prefer this method) slice the pork into long strings and add the raw pork during the broth step and allow the heat from the broth to slow cook the pork pieces with all the flavors of your soup.

Hot N Sour Soup
--Olive oil or vegetable oil
--Ginger, minced
--Garlic, minced
--1 package extra firm tofu
--5 fresh shitakke mushrooms, sliced
--1 8oz. can of sliced bamboo shoots
--soy sauce
--chili sauce (I like Sriracha which I forever refer to as "rooster")
--1 32oz. box of vegetable broth (use chicken broth if not vegetarian)
--1/8 cup lime juice
--2 tbsp. corn starch
--1 egg, beaten
--1 bunch of spinach, thoroughly washed and torn into large pieces
--sesame oil
--1 bunch of green onions, green parts chopped into thin slices

PREP TOFU:
Drain the tofu. Obviously you're going to dump the liquid that it comes in, but the tofu has also sucked up more liquid. The trick when cooking tofu is to get out as much of the water as possible. You can use cheesecloth to drain it. Another easy way to do this is to put the block of tofu into a strainer with a bowl underneath. Put a small plate face down into the strainer. Push the plate against the tofu block to squeeze the water out of it. Cut the block of tofu into evenly sized (mouth-friendly) squares like a tic-tac-toe board.

PREP MUSHROOMS:
Cut the mushrooms into thin slices along the length of the mushroom, keeping the shape and the stem intact.

MAKING THE SOUP:
Pour a quarter-sized dollop of olive or vegetable oil into a large stock pot. Heat the oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes before adding the ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring regularly for 2-ish minutes.

Add the tofu, mushrooms, and the bamboo shoots to the pan and keep stirring. Add a few splashes of soy sauce. Add a few dollops of chili sauce. This part is totally to your taste. If you want a spicier soup add more chili, less spicy, add more soy sauce. Cook this mixture until the mushrooms cooks down some and shrink and begin to get tender (maybe 10-ish minutes).

Pour in the box of chicken broth and turn the heat up to high. You want this to get a nice boil.

While you wait for the soup to boil, pour the lime juice into a measuring cup. Take one tablespoon of the corn starch and add it to the lime juice. Stir it well until it dissolves. Add the second tablespoon of starch and stir that up until it dissolves. Once the soup comes to a big boil, add this lime juice mixture by stirring with one hand while you pour the mixture with the other hand.


Turn the heat down to low. Add the spinach pieces in and give the soup a good stir so that all is mixed together.

Now take the egg and if you haven't already, crack it into a small bowl and beat it. With one hand, stir the pot of soup. With the other hand pour the egg into the soup in a steady stream.



Add a few splashes of sesame oil and the chopped green onions. Stir.

Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes. Crack some fresh black pepper into it. Stir and serve!