Thai Inspired Pasta and an update :)

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First the update :) Regular readers of this site may have noticed that the share on twitter and facebook buttons at the top right of each post have disappeared since the last week. Well they haven't actually disappeared they have just been relocated. You will now find these buttons just below the title of each post. In addition to the usual share on facebook and twitter buttons I have also added a couple of new ones. One is the like on facebook that wasn't available before. The second is the pin it button for those of you who are on pinterest and wish to add any recipe to your pinterest board. The pin it button is not visible on the home page, but if you select the post or specific recipe that you want to pin, you will find the button to the right of the facebook share and like button.

Moving on to the pasta. This Thai inspired pasta is inspired by another pasta with the same name on this very site :) This version uses peanut butter, but does not use any coconut milk or thai curry paste. Instead it is a simple combination of ginger, peanut butter and soy sauce among other things to give this pasta a more Thai inspired flavor. This one's is becoming quite a favorite with us and I have been making this fairly frequently the last few months.  I mean what's not to like, it is easy to make, tastes delicious and is very quick to put together too :)  Perfect for those rushed weekdays or weekends when you do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen and yet want something light and nutritious :)



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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Inspired Pasta

For the peanut butter pasta sauce
3 tbsp honey (use agave nectar for a vegan version)
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp vinegar
6 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup packed finely cut cilantro (coriander leaves)

For the pasta
14 oz multi grain angel hair pasta prepared as per manufacturer's directions
4 spring onions (green onions) cut fine both white and green parts (can be substituted with 1 finely cut onion in a pinch )
1 green bell pepper (capsicum) deseeded and cut fine
1 large or 2 medium sized carrots grated
salt to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
1 tbsp oil
1 inch ginger minced fine
peanut butter sauce (recipe follows)

For the sauce
In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients mentioned under sauce except cilantro and blend together or whisk together until it blends well. Add finely cut cilantro to the sauce and mix well. Keep sauce aside.

For the pasta.
Prepare pasta as per manufacturer's instruction, drain and keep aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil, add spring onions to it and saute until cooked to a tender crisp. Add ginger and stir a few times.
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Add bell pepper, carrots, salt to taste and stir until cooked to a tender crisp. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, assemble cooked and drained pasta, peanut butter sauce and sauteed vegetables. Toss together to mix well. Sprinkle crushed red pepper to taste (if using) and serve immediately.

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Thai Eggplant Curry

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If you workout regularly then you know that sometimes it can get a little more intense than planned, resulting in aching muscles. At least that's how it turns out for me sometimes, I decide to workout a little more than usual and my muscles protest the next day. I usually ignore it and make sure not to push too much the next few times I workout. I have never thought of using or including particular foods in my diet as a way to soothe sore muscles, frankly I was quite surprised to learn that there are some foods that can actually help in soothing sore muscles.

Curious about which foods help? According to an article I came across recently, the foods that are supposed to help are blueberry, tart cherries, pomegranates and ginger. Blueberries, cherries and pomegranates contain a lot of antioxidants that may help in warding off muscle fatigue. In case of ginger, it contains a lot of inflammation fighting compounds such as gingerols that may soothe sore muscles. Cool, huh? I am going to keep this in mind for the next time I have sore muscles from too much workout :-)

Moving on to the Thai eggplant curry.....it was just something I came up with for a quick dinner one day. I used a combination of some Indian eggplants and bell pepper along with red curry paste and served it up on a bed of plain steamed rice. The picture was taken in a hurry and doesn't do this curry any justice, but trust me the curry was way more delicious than it looks in the picture :-) I also loved how quick it was to put this curry together, the entire dinner got ready in something like just thirty or so minutes . So if you are looking for a quick curry and you like eggplant, maybe this curry is something you would enjoy :-)



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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Eggplant Curry
1 large red onion cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 large green bell pepper (capsicum/ koda molagai) deseeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
12 to 13 medium sized Indian eggplants cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 tbsp oil (preferably coconut oil)
1 inch piece of ginger minced
4 tsp red curry paste (or to taste)
salt to taste
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp red chili powder (optional) (or to taste)
1/2 cup coconut milk (or to taste)
handful cilantro cut fine (for garnish)
water as needed

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and on medium heat saute the onions until they are transparent.

Add minced ginger and stir a few times. Then add green bell pepper, eggplant, salt to taste, soy sauce, chili powder (if using) , red curry paste and water as required to cook the vegetables until soft.
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When the vegetables are cooked, add coconut milk. Simmer for another couple of minutes until the flavors mingle.

Finally garnish with cilantro and serve hot with plain steamed rice.

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Thai Inspired Pasta

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One evening a couple of weeks ago, I had pasta planned for dinner. I was planning to make it with traditional pasta sauce, but while I was waiting for the pasta to get cooked, I suddenly realized I was more in the mood for something with Thai flavors than Italian. A quick search through my refrigerator and pantry revealed that I had some ingredients that could work together to infuse Thai flavors to the pasta dish.

So I decided to give it a try. Luckily for both of us, this idea worked out very well. The red curry paste, coconut milk and peanut butter gave the pasta dish that typical Thai kind of flavor that I was craving that day. In addition it was really quick to make and super easy too. So if you are in the mood to try something "different" with your pasta and you like Thai flavors, maybe you could give this pasta dish a try:-)   



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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Inspired Pasta
1 14.5 oz packet of multi grain angel hair pasta (see notes)

2 tbsp oil ( I used coconut oil) + 1 tsp any oil
1 large red onion cut lengthwise

1 large red bell pepper deseeded and cut lengthwise into thin strips
1 large green bell pepper deseeded and cut lengthwise into thin strips
1 inch piece of ginger minced
1/2 tsp minced garlic
salt to taste
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional) (or according to taste)

For the sauce
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp red thai curry paste (see notes)
3/4 cup coconut milk

Prepare pasta/ noodles as per manufacturers directions. Drain and add 1 teaspoon of oil to the noodles and mix well. This ensures that the noodles do not stick to each other.

Whisk together peanut butter, Thai curry paste and  coconut milk until smooth and keep aside.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until it turns transparent. Add minced ginger and garlic and stir a few times.

Add bell pepper strips, stir frequently until it cooks and is soft yet a little crisp.

Add red chili powder if using, salt to taste and mix well. Add the cooked pasta and mix well. Add the sauce, mix well. Adjust spices if required.
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Remove and serve hot with any Thai style curry or even on its own.

Notes:
In place of angel hair pasta Thai style noodles can be used as well. Also you can use any type of angel hair pasta, I used barilla plus multi grain pasta because I really like it very much :-)

Some types of Thai sauces available in the markets have some type of fish sauces in them. So if you are a vegetarian or vegan you might want to read through the labels to make sure that the one you buy does not contain fish sauce. I use Thai kitchen brand since it is vegan.

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Thai Green Curry

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As I mentioned earlier Janet hosted a Tried and Tasted event with Veg Inspirations as her theme. When she first let me know about it, I felt simultaneously elated, honored and nervous. I was nervous because I was not sure how all the recipes tried by others would work out, and if it would be well liked and appreciated. Frankly I did not feel very different from when I used to nervously wait for the results from an important examination.

Well in this case the results are in  and it looks like I got a passing grade :-). Thanks to all of you who have participated in this event, tried the recipes and have given your feedback. My schedule has been a little crazy lately and I haven't gotten a chance to visit  you all individually and thank you, I hope you read this post and know that I appreciate all your efforts and feedback.

Moving on to the other reason for this post, Thai green curry. I tried green curry in a restaurant for the first time and have been wanting to make it at home ever since. Unlike Thai red curry, green curry tends to be a little more mild making it ideal for those who do not like very fiery hot food.  Thai cuisine appears much more often in my kitchen these days, mostly because it is quick and simple and uses a lot of the same vegetables that is usually stocked in my refrigerator. In addition, just having plain steamed rice or Thai fried rice to go with the curry is enough to make a complete and delicious meal 




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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Green Curry
3 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 green bell peppers (capsicum/simla mirch/ koda molagai) deseeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
4 to 5 small Indian eggplants cut into 1/2 inch pieces
20 to 25 green beans cut into 1 inch pieces
one handful Thai basil cut fine (optional)
1 inch piece of ginger minced
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp vegan Thai green curry paste ( I used Thai kitchen brand)
1/2 cup coconut milk

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add ginger and garlic and stir for a few seconds. Add all the vegetables, stir for a few seconds. Add salt to taste, sugar, Thai curry paste and a little water and allow the vegetables to cook until soft but not mushy.

Add coconut milk, water as required to achieve required consistency and simmer for a few minutes.
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Garnish with basil leaves and serve hot with plain steamed rice or Thai fried rice to make a complete meal.

Serves approximately 2 to 3

Notes:
Some types of Thai sauces available in the markets have some type of fish sauces in them. So if you are a vegetarian or vegan you might want to read through the labels to make sure that the one you buy does not contain fish sauce

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Thai Spinach and Sweet Potato Curry

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With just one packet of spinach in my refrigerator and only a few sweet potatoes left in my pantry, I knew I was due to go grocery shopping very soon. In the meanwhile, I wanted to make something interesting with either one or both of them. I was not in the mood for the usual kind of Indian curries and thought something with Thai flavors would be great. A quick google search revealed this interesting recipe on Vaishali's site with the same combination of vegetables that I had on hand, how convenient :-)

I especially loved the part about adding whole peanuts to the curry. Cooked peanuts add such a wonderful taste and texture to any curry don't you think? I recently tried adding it to my pitla (bittergourd curry)  and loved how it tasted. I tweaked the recipe quite a bit, I changed the proportions of the ingredients. I also added some peanut butter to complement the flavors from cooked peanuts and reduced the quantity of coconut milk. The result was a creamy flavorful and surprisingly quick to make curry that we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Spinach and Sweet Potato curry
3/4 cup raw peanuts cooked until soft

3 large sweet potatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pkt of spinach leaves cut into small pieces (about 9 oz/ 225 gms)
1 onion cut fine

2 tbsp oil
2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies
1 inch piece of ginger minced fine
1/2 tsp minced garlic
approx 10 Thai basil leaves cut fine (optional)
1 tbsp vegan Thai red curry paste ( I used Thai Kitchen brand) (or to taste)
1/2 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)
salt to taste
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut milk

Cook the raw peanuts on the stove top or the microwave with a little water until it is soft (I used the microwave).

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until it is transparent. Add green chilies, minced ginger and minced garlic and stir for a few seconds.

Add sweet potatoes, thai paste and a little water, close the pan with a lid and allow the sweet potatoes to cook until they are soft yet firm.
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Dilute peanut butter in a little water and add to the cooked sweet potatoes. Add spinach, salt to taste, red chili powder and cooked peanuts and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Not too long since spinach cooks really fast.

Finally add coconut milk and thai basil (if using) and allow to heat through on gentle heat.

Remove from heat and serve hot with steamed plain jasmine rice or any other plain steamed rice. ( I used brown basmati)

Serves approximately 2 to 3

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Thai Chickpea Curry

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Chickpeas are one of my favorite type of beans and I use them often. Considering how much I like chickpeas and how frequently it appears in my kitchen, it surprises me to find that there are barely a couple of dishes with chickpeas on this site. That is something I would like to remedy soon and this Thai chickpea curry is a great place to start. 

I soaked the chickpeas with the idea of making chana masala with it. Somehow, between the time I soaked the beans and the time that I was ready to make it, the idea of chana masala lost its appeal and I wanted something different. I liked the idea of thai curry with chickpeas, and using this recipe as my reference I started on this curry.The combination of chickpeas with vegetables in a light and flavorful gravy was very tasty and we enjoyed it with some plain steamed rice.



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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Chickpea Curry

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas soaked in sufficient water for 6 to 8 hours with a pinch of soda (the soda is optional)
2 medium onions cut fine
1 medium tomato
2 large carrots cut into circles
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 large green bell pepper (capsicum) deseeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

salt to taste
3 tsp red Thai curry paste ( I used Thai kitchen because it is vegan)
2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 cup coconut milk
Approximately 1 1/2 cups of water (or as required to achieve consistency)
1/2 bunch cilantro(coriander leaves) cut fine for garnish

Drain the water the beans have been soaked in and fill with fresh water and either pressure cook or cook on stove top, until the beans are cooked and soft but not mushy. ( I used the pressure cooker)


To know why I soak beans with a pinch of soda and why the bean soak water is suggested to be drained read this post

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until onions are transparent.
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Add garlic and stir for a few seconds, then add tomato and saute until tomato is cooked and soft.

Add carrots and bell pepper, and stir frequently until both are cooked yet firm.

Add red thai curry paste, soy sauce, chili powder and stir a couple of times.

Add cooked chickpeas, salt to taste, sugar and coconut milk.

Add water to achieve required consistency, allow the curry to simmer for a few minutes until the flavors come together.

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with plain steamed jasmine rice or plain steamed basmati rice.

Serves approximately 2 to 3

Notes
If you like a creamier curry you can increase the quantity of coconut milk by 1/2 a cup, I wanted a little lighter gravy so I used only 1/2 a cup of coconut milk

If you are a vegetarian or vegan and you are buying thai curry paste, do read the labels because some of them have fish sauce in them, this particular brand that I use is vegan.

This curry is off to the MLLA 22 event being hosted by Ruchika  originally started by Susan 

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Thai Fried Rice with Pineapple and Brown Rice

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Barely three weeks into spring and we are seeing record breaking heat in the mid nineties in our neck of the woods. It feels like the weather transitioned from winter to summer with no stop in between for spring. And this time more than others I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring, because we had a very bitter winter and I was looking for a little warmer weather to get a break from the chill . Now three weeks into spring, I find myself in the same place, eagerly looking forward to spring, only now I am looking forward to pleasant weather to get a break from the heat :-) Ironical huh ?

Moving on, Thai cuisine appears far more frequently in my kitchen these days, I find that I prefer the homemade version of this cuisine when compared to the restaurant ones. At home I can customize it to our taste, and make it as healthy as possible. This Thai fried rice with pineapple is one of my favorites, it is simple and quick to make, with a touch of sweet from the pineapple and raisins providing a good combination of hot and sweet. If sweet and spicy combination is your thing then this fried rice is something you will surely like...




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Ingredients and method to make Thai fried rice with pineapple
2 cups brown basmati rice soaked in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes

1 large onion cut fine
1 cup green peas (either fresh or frozen)
2 large carrots cut into 1/4 inch pieces (yielded about 1 heaped cup of cut carrots)

3 Thai or Indian green chillies cut very fine (or to taste)
3/4 tsp minced garlic
a sliver of ginger minced
3 Tbsp oil

1/4 cup dark raisins
1 cup pineapple chunks

4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or to taste)
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp vegan red thai curry paste (I used the Thai Kitchen brand since it is vegan)
handful cilantro for garnish

Cook brown basmati rice in a pressure cooker or rice cooker until done and keep aside.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onion to it and saute until transparent. Then add green chilies, garlic and ginger and stir for a few seconds.

Then add carrots+ peas and keep stirring until the carrots and peas are cooked but should not be mushy. They should be soft but firm.

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Add soy sauce and stir a couple of times, then add raisins and stir for a few seconds until the raisins begin to puff up slightly.

Add pineapple chunks, red thai curry paste, mix well.

Now add cooked rice, salt to taste, sugar and mix well on low heat.

Garnish with cilantro (coriander leaves) and serve hot with choice of thai curry.

Serves approximately 3 to 4

Notes
If you are a vegan or vegetarian, when buying Thai curry paste in the stores, do go through the labels since some of them contain fish sauces in them, make sure the paste you buy is suitable for vegan/ vegetarians

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Thai Salad with peanut dressing

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If you had to guess the total calories of a salad served at a restaurant, what would be your guess? Would you think the number would be 300 to 500 calories. If I had to guess, my estimate would be somewhere in the range of 500 calories. My wildest imagination would not have come up with the number of 2238 calories for salad. But according to this article, this harmless sounding Thai salad with shredded carrots, edamame and avocado served at California Pizza kitchen has just that many calories.

Whoa, I am so glad that I have never ordered this salad when I visited their restaurant in the past. If I ever want to consume more than a days worth of calories in one go, I sure would not be opting for a healthy sounding salad, I would much rather buy some dessert and satisfy my sweet tooth instead :-)

Speaking of Thai salad, here is one salad that will definitely definitely satisfy your taste buds without a whole lot of calories. I got the idea for this recipe in a Vegetarian Times cookbook I got from my library. I tweaked the recipe slightly to suit our tastes and also to adjust for availability of ingredients. We loved this salad and it appears on my menu almost weekly nowadays.



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Ingredients and Method to make Thai Salad
For the dressing
4 tbsp heaped smooth and creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder (see notes)
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp (or to taste) hot chili sauce
4 tbsp dry roasted peanuts broken into small pieces

For the salad
1 medium head lettuce broken into small pieces
2 carrots cut into match stick size pieces
1 large cucumber peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
handful cilantro cut fine

For the dressing,

In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients required for the dressing and whisk together until it all blends. Keep aside.

For the salad
In another large bowl assemble the items mentioned for the salad.

Add half of the dressing and toss well. Add the balance if required and toss again.

Serve immediately

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serves approximately 3 -4

Notes
If you are not particularly fond of ginger taste then you can scale down the ground ginger powder to 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2

The reason I am suggesting to use only half the dressing initially is because sometimes different sizes of lettuce are available, resulting in different quantities of salad, so use dressing as is required for the quantity of salad you are making. Refrigerate the balance dressing if any and use within a week or so.

This salad is off to the Healthy Inspirations Event- Salads currently going on at this site.

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Vegan Thai Curry Soup

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Thai curry soup is one of my favorite items to order when I visit Thai restaurants. But the thought of attempting to make this soup at home daunted me, not because it is difficult, it isn't but by the list of exotic (at least for me) items like lemongrass, galangal etc that are required for authentic Thai dishes. These items are not available at my regular grocery and making a special trip to an Asian market to get these spices was not high on my list of things to do.

So I shelved the idea of making Thai curry soup at home until I came across Thai red curry paste in my regular grocery and it struck me that I could try making Thai curry soup with it. And that is just what I did,it was so simple and quick to make this soup. And the taste was just perfect, I absolutely adored this soup and it tasted just like the restaurant curry soup I usually have. This soup, I know for sure, is going to appear regularly in my weekly menu from now on:-)





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Ingredients and Method to make Vegan Thai Curry Soup
2 small onions (or 1 large) cut fine
3 large carrots (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
2 1/4 cup sliced button mushrooms ( about 8 oz)
1 large sweet potato (skinned and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
3 1/2 cups of water or vegetable broth ( I used broth)

1 tbsp oil
2 inch piece of ginger minced
3 tsp of Thai red curry paste ( I used Thai Kitchen brand) (see notes)

salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (or according to taste) (optional)

1/2 cup of coconut milk (fresh or canned) ( I used canned)
handful of fresh cilantro (coriander leaves) for garnish

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add onions and saute until the onions are cooked and transparent

Add minced ginger and stir for a few seconds.

Add rest of the vegetables, salt to taste, water or broth and thai red curry paste and let it simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

Finally add coconut milk heat gently till the soup begins to bubble and simmer again. Add additional red chilli powder at this point if you want more heat.

Remove from heat and serve hot after garnishing with fresh cilantro

Notes
If you want to tone down the spice level in this soup and want a very mild soup you could use lesser quantity of Thai red curry paste or increase the quantity of coconut milk to 1 full cup

Some varieties of Thai curry paste have fish sauce in them, so please check the labels to be sure that the paste you buy is vegetarian/ vegan if you want to avoid fish sauce. This particular brand specified that it is vegan.

Suggested variation
Add some spinach in addition to all other vegetables to the soup for a slightly different flavor.

This Thai soup is off to Lisa's Thai Soup Event

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