Quick and Easy Thai Green Curry (30 Minutes, Vegan)
- Updated on Aug 30, 2015
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The creation of this Easy Vegetarian Green Thai Curry recipe, and it’s accompanying post has been (from a writer’s perspective) one of our very most interesting to date. Let me explain…
When we first started HurryTheFoodUp waaaaay back in the day (last year) we made a simple mantra we wanted to follow. Our recipes had to be quick, tasty, healthy and meat-free.
So far, so good. But other, less obvious, points were hidden from us at that time.
Some were easy – all three of us naturally stayed away from recipes that included little known, or hard to find spices or herbs that would get used once then sit abandoned and forlorn in the cupboard, never to see the light of day again.
Wasting food is one of the western world’s biggest problems (one of I said!) and there’s no way we were going to add to that.
So when Howie said he still had a half jar of baby corn and a half pack of snow peas sitting in the fridge with nowhere to go, he’d made a valid point.
After all, he’d already made a big batch of the curry, for photographing, for eating, for force-feeding to housemates. So what to do with the rest?
Maybe we could make them optional ingredients, he suggested, and focus on the frozen veg instead?
No no, came the adamant response from Kat – these ingredients are an integral part of the meal.
What’s a green Thai curry without the sweet crunch of a baby corn, or the tender bite of a snow pea? It’s just not the same.
Which meant we had to find another way.
Indeed, it’s nearly impossible to make only recipes that use an exact amount of buyable ingredients (a market might help to combat this, but if you’re relying on supermarkets like we are then it’s pretty much a no-go).
So what to do? We put our heads together and here are some of the best options we came up with to avoid wasting food.
- Make huge batches and eat them for days.
You’ll certainly use up your ingredients, but run the risk of putting yourself off the meal for good (see last week’s White Bean Dip for an example). - Make huge batches but freeze the leftovers instead. This saves masses of time and means you’ll always have a tasty meal just waiting to be reheated when you have little energy or time to cook.
It’s very efficient with the only drawback being that not every dish is freezable. You’ll be happy to hear this curry is perfectly suitable for freezing. - Find other recipes that use the same, or replaceable ingredients.
This was the option that Howie plumped for in the end, and he made this delicious Fake Lo Mein and ensured not a single pea was thrown away.
There must be other ways to avoid wastage, but these were our favourite picks so far. We hope they’ve given you something to think about, and we want to know:
- Are you guilty of wasting food?
- Do you use any of the methods above? Which work best for you?
- Do you have any more tips or advice to help combat the millions upon millions of tons of good food thrown away every year?
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown rice (or basmati rice)
- 7 oz firm tofu (firm 7oz = 200g)
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 small onion
- 0.5 inches ginger, fresh (0.5 inches = 1.5 cm)
- 2 handful frozen vegetable (carrot, cauliflower, broccoli)
- 1 handful snow peas/ snap peas
- ½ cup vegetable broth (½ cup = 125 ml)
- ½ can low fat coconut milk (1 can = 15oz / 430ml)
- ½ tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp green curry paste (vegan versions are very easy to find)
- Salt to taste
- 1 handful peanuts (or cashews)
Optional
- ¼ lime (juiced) (gives the curry a little "fresh/summer" kick)
Instructions
Tofu
- Cut the tofu into dice-sized cubes. Fry them for 10-15 minutes on medium heat in half the oil.
Rice
- Cook the brown rice according to package instructions.
Curry
- Peel and dice the onion and ginger. Use the other half of the oil and fry them in a pot on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
- Add the frozen vegetables and give them a few minutes to cook.
- In the meantime wash the snow peas and add them to the other vegetables in the pan.
- Then add the vegetable stock and coconut milk and let it all simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the curry paste, maple syrup and salt to taste and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
- Finally add the nuts in the last minutes of cooking so they are still crunchy.
- Serve with tofu cubes and basmati rice on the side. Enjoy!
NOTES
*Sooo, we’ve used light coconut milk in this recipe to keep the calories below 600 kcal per serving. If you’re not looking at calories, feel free to go for the full fat coconut milk version.
Nutrition
Comments
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40 comments
What calculator are you using for the nutrition facts? This is the second recipe where mine are completely different. I am trying to use your recipes with MFP and it is causing me major brain pain. Thanks!
Hi T, we use one that is built into wordpress. I wonder if it’s the low fat coconut milk, or maybe the brown rice that is causing the discrepency? It’s usually one of those! What’s the other recipe? I’ll happily check it out 🙂
I don’t have curry paste. Is there a good substitute?
Hi Carmy, I’d go for something simple like curry powder and a little oil, with perhaps some extra chopped garlic and ginger thrown in too, And if you have more lemongrass use a little extra! 🙂
Had red Thai curry paste on hand and gave this recipe a go – so, so good! I don’t think we’ve tried a recipe from you guys that we didn’t love! This will definitely be something we make again!
I’m happy with keep managing to impress you, Veronica! It’s so good to hear!! We much appreciate you writing as well. Yes, I’m sure the red curry paste fits nicely, too!
Wouldn’t it be healthier to make the green paste at home? It would cut salt big time.
I often freeze leftovers if there’s enough for a meal. Otherwise, I share our meals with an elderly neighbour on one side and our lovely neighbours on the other side of us. Nice way to build community and eat well. This curry looks like one we’ll share!
That sounds lovely! Then I hope the curry does the deed justice and everybody enjoys, Kerry! 🙂
Great recipe! Substituted honey for maple syrup and olive oil for vegetable oil as well as adding a few other veggies to the mix. Very easy to make and will definitely do so again!
Sounds great, Steph! Half the fun is trying your own ingredients in a good recipe. Glad you enjoyed!
My whole family loves this recipe! Thanks, it’s now one of our favourites.
That’s awesome to hear, Catherine! I love finding new meals to keep ‘on rotation’ for the family 🙂