Thai it!

Okay, yes, that was a very cheesy title. Er, I mean silly, since vegans don't eat cheese. Maybe I should just stop now.

I decided to experiment tonight with a Thai coconut curry. It was a night to use up veggies in the fridge and throw together a quick dinner with what I had on hand, so I had the following to work with:
- 1 package pressed tofu (which I cubed)
- 1 Japanese eggplant (which I sliced into thin slices)

- 1 very large box of snow pea tips - it's taking us forever to get through this thing! Thanks Costco!

- 1 package spinach noodles

- 1 can light coconut milk (I love Trader Joe's!)

- 1 jar Thai green curry paste

Here's what I did to put the meal together:
1) Heat a large skillet and spray with cooking oil.
2) Add the eggplant and saute for a few minutes until they start to go softer and begin to get translucent. Add a bit of water to the pan if they start to stick.
3) Add a bunch of the pea tips. Basically you want so much that you can't add any more in to the pan. They shrink down A LOT, so use as many as you can fit. Saute them for a while until they start to shrink.
4) Add the tofu cubes. Toss with the eggplant and pea tips.
5) Add the coconut milk and about 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of the curry paste). Stir to coat everything in the pan, then simmer on low for about 5-10 minutes.

6) Cook the spinach noodles, or another noodle of your choice as per package directions. When done, drain off water and toss with the mixture in the skillet.

Here's the final product:

The whole dinner probably only took me about 20 minutes to make and was quite tasty. It makes around 4-6 servings, depending on how big your serving is. Vegan cooking doesn't always have to be a long, drawn-out process. Sometimes a quick meal with whatever you have on hand is both easy and delicious!

Experimentation

I wasn't sure if I was going to blog about tonight's dinner, but the hubby thought it looked pretty so I decided I would share. It was really just an experimental night. I had some lasagna noodles that I wanted to use up (since we don't really do lasagna anymore - not a fan of the fake vegan cheeses), so I thought I'd try putting something together. Let's just call it...

Colourful "Lasagna"
Yield: 1 9x13 pan (about 6 servings)

Ingredients:
2 large yams (the orange-coloured kind)
1 large Japanese eggplant
3 cups (750 ml) cooked black beans
6 whole-wheat lasagna noodles
Nutritional yeast - a little or a lot
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 1 cup (250 ml) vegan pasta sauce
about 5 oz (142 g) fresh leafy greens (e.g., arugula, spinach, kale, etc.)

Method:
1) Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.
2) Peel and chop yams into small-ish pieces - this makes them cook faster. Put them into a pot of water, bring to a boil, then lower heat slightly and cook until they are softened (about 20-30 minutes). Mash them when done.
3) Chop the eggplant into half-moons. Saute the eggplant and garlic together with a spray of oil. Add the pasta sauce and cook until everything is relatively broken up and saucy.
4) Once everything is cooked, it's time to assemble! Spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with some oil to prevent sticking, then add the layers as follows:

• A single layer of lasagna noodles (3)
• Half the leafy greens
• Half the mashed yams
• A sprinkling of nutritional yeast
• All of the eggplant sauce
• Half the black beans
• The other three lasagna noodles
• The rest of the yams
• Another sprinkling of nutritional yeast
• The rest of the black beans
• The rest of the leafy greens

5) Cover the dish with aluminum foil, then bake at 425 F for about 10-15 minutes until the greens have wilted a little.

And here's what it looked like - lots of pretty colours! And it tasted pretty good too.

It's one of those recipes that you can really make your own. Don't like black beans - switch them out for some lentils, another kind of bean, or maybe some soft tofu. You could do more of the eggplant tomato sauce layers too if you'd like. Have fun experimenting - I know I did!