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!

Quick Eats

So today was the first day back at school, as well as a boot camp day (I go 2-3 times a week - a wholistically healthy life should always include exercise!), so that left very little time for making dinner. I decided to try out a new recipe using kelp noodles. I've never used kelp noodles before tonight, so I was a little unsure about whether I'd like them. I'm not a big fan of seaweed, so I was worried that the kelp noodles would be too fishy tasting. Suffice it to say, they actually didn't really taste like anything! They had a slightly chewy texture that wasn't off-putting. And they were super easy to prepare. The nice thing about kelp noodles is that they are only 6 calories per serving! And they have a bunch of minerals and good stuff in them. They made a great pre-workout meal because they didn't leave me feeling too full or sluggish. I love pad thai, but don't get to eat it very often, so this was also a great chance to try making it at home. So, here's the recipe!

Pad Thai with Kelp Noodles
Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb (454 g) kelp noodles (Sea Tangle is a great brand)
350 g extra firm tofu
1 zucchini
6 large mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
1/2 lime
2 Tbsp (30 ml) chopped peanuts
2 Tbsp (30 ml) nutritional yeast

Sauce:
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) tamarind paste
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
3 Tbsp. (45 ml) soy sauce
1 tsp (5 ml) Thai red curry paste (or less if you don't like it too spicy)
3 Tbsp. (45 ml) brown sugar

Method:
1. Rinse kelp noodles in running water, then soak in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Mix sauce ingredients together in a bowl, using a whisk to mix them to a consistent texture. Taste, and add more tamarind, chili paste, or brown sugar as needed.

3. Drain water from tofu and cut into cubes. Set aside.

4. Chop zucchini and mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Julienne red pepper.

5. Saute vegetables in a bit of water for about five minutes. Add tofu and continue to heat for another five minutes.

6. Add noodles and sauce and heat for another minute or two until everything is warmed.

7. Serve with lime wedges, chopped peanuts, and nutritional yeast sprinkled on top.

Overall, this was a pretty yummy meal. Spicy, with a bit of sweet, much like traditional pad thai. I think if you wanted it a little more like pad thai you could take down the curry paste and up the brown sugar a bit, but I liked it with this ratio. 

I had a feeling this was a pretty low-calorie meal too, so I thought I'd do a quick nutritional evaluation of it. Using the recipe analyzer at Calorie Count, I discovered this recipe has less than 250 calories per serving! But, it still has a good amount of protein (about 18 g), lots of vitamin C and iron too, plus a plethora of other vitamins and minerals. I'm definitely going to be adding kelp noodles into my rotation of foods - it's a great replacement for pasta!

And now, I better be getting to bed - first day with students tomorrow, and I know I'm going to be needing my sleep tonight!