Coconut Curry Noodles
1 lb. spaghetti or any other noodle you prefer
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced or grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste (or more if you like spicy!)
1/2 cup carrots, julienned
1/2 cup red bell pepper, julienned
2 cans coconut milk
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup extra firm tofu, cubed small
1/4 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon agave syrup or 1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce or regular soy sauce
black pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with a little cold water
chopped cashews and sliced cucumbers for garnish
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Saute garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Add the red curry paste, carrots and red bell pepper. Saute for 3 minutes. Add coconut milk, mushrooms and tofu. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add lime zest, and lime juice and agave. Then add the cornstarch/water mixture and let simmer for another 5-8 minutes. It will thicken up. Season with mushroom soy sauce and black pepper. When pasta is cooked, drain and add to the coconut curry sauce and toss well to combine. Garnish with chopped cashews and sliced cucumber.
Source of recipe: I wrote this recipe. Find more at theveganmouse.blogspot.com
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This was pretty good, but required a lot of additional spice....I added a ton more garlic, twice as much red curry paste, and a lot of sriracha. I don't know if the flavor would have been stronger if I had used regular coconut milk as opposed to lite, but it was a little bland - even with all the extras. I should also mention that I forgot to add the tofu (it was still frozen and I didn't feel like messing with it) but added broccoli. My husband really enjoyed it - he took all of the leftovers for lunch.
This was a good base recipe, but I found myself adding a lot of pepper/garlic powder/soy sauce to give it some flavor, the recipe was a tad too mild for me. I would at least triple up on the ginger and garlic, use 2 TBLspoons of curry paste, double the lime juice and maybe use a bit more soy sauce. Also, you might want to sautee the tofu with the vegetables if you like it a bit crispy like i do, and i used soba noodles instead of the spaghetti. bon appetit!
This was excellent! I changed a few things - I dropped the red peppers, added broccoli, and substituted seitan for tofu (my roommate hates tofu). I meant to substitute glass noodles, but then all I had in the house for pasta was ziti, so I made do with that. (Note: Ziti is just weird with curry. Don't do it if you can avoid it.) However, I followed the sauce recipe almost exactly, and YUM, that came out delicious! The only change I made to the sauce was adding extra curry paste - I put in ~1.5 tablespoons, maybe a little more. This worked out well; the level of spice was excellent, giving the dish a definite kick without being overwhelming. Overall, the dish had lots of flavour. Thanks for the recipe, kmouse! I'm sure I'll make it again.