Hello friends and foodies!
We’re sorry that we haven’t been providing you with epic meal-based battles for December. Our very own Snax is currently going through senior year finals season, so I’m sure everyone out there can understand how stupidly busy/stressed/masochistic he’s feeling right now.
In lieu of a battle, I wanted to share with everyone an awesome recipe for Vietnamese curry that I made yesterday. It turned out even better than I expected, so I’m very excited for everyone to try it at home and tell me what you think.
This recipe is vegan, packed full of veggies, and you can easily buy organic/non-GMO ingredients for the ultimate healthy indulgence.
*note* All portions are suggestions. I’m a firm believer that measurements do not matter in cooking, so add as much or as little of each ingredient as you like. Substitute at will – all that matters is that you enjoy!
Vietnamese-Style Curry
Ingredients:
- One medium onion, diced
- Two bell peppers of whatever color you prefer, diced
- Half of a globe eggplant, cubed
- Two carrots, sliced
- One long hot pepper, sliced
- One lb. silken tofu, cubed
- Four cloves garlic, minced
- One inch ginger root, minced
- Two stalks of lemongrass, cut into one inch pieces
- One can coconut milk
- One can vegetable broth
- One or two cans water – depending on preference
- Two sweet potatoes, cubed (can substitute regular potatoes)
- Half pound green beans, cut into one inch pieces
- A handful of snap peas
- Salt and pepper
- Curry powder, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper
- Sriracha (or favorite hot sauce)
- Hoisin (or fish or oyster sauce)
- Warning: I like my food spicy! Adapt my seasonings to your particular palette.
Directions:
Sauté chopped onion, eggplant, bell peppers, carrots and hot pepper in sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables start to get soft. Add in tofu, minced ginger root, garlic, lemongrass and seasonings. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until the curry becomes fragrant.
Add in the vegetable broth, coconut milk and water. Taste and add in Sriracha and hoisin at your discretion until you’re satisfied with the taste. Bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add in the cubed sweet potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes (for normal potatoes, about 30-40 minutes). When there is about 8 minutes left of cooking time, add in green beans. At 3 minutes left, stir in snap peas.
Serve with brown or sticky rice on the side and enjoy!
That’s it! This recipe is really so easy – the hard part is chopping everything up. It’s well worth the effort, though. My roommates loved it (and I did, too).
I also appreciate how adaptable this recipe is. Take out whatever ingredients you don’t like and substitute in your favorites like mushroom or zucchini. It could easily be made with meat (just add in at an earlier point than the tofu as tofu doesn’t need to cook) or use less liquid to make less of a soup. Whatever you want, make it happen.
Another benefit is that this recipe yields a million bowls. So despite the high amount of ingredients, you’ll be able to eat it for at least 3 days, even if sharing with one or two other people.
This was the perfect dinner on a cold December night. I hope you find it as comforting as I did.
-Legs
Dinner Royale 