What you need:

1 lb vegan dried spaghetti pasta

salt

3 Tablespoons sesame oil

3/4 cup natural peanut butter  (I prefer crunchy, but creamy is ok too)

6 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

3 Tablespoons white vinegar

1 and a half Tablespoon freshly chopped ginger

1 pinch red chili flakes

1 Tablespoon hot sauce (I use Tabasco)

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 cucumber, seeded and chopped into 1 in pieces (sliced thinly)

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro/corriander leaves

First you’ll want to boil the pasta.  Fill a pot 2/3 of the way with water and put in the salt.  Bring to a boil and cook the pasta until done.  Then, strain the hot water off of the pasta and rinse with cold water.  This will keep your pasta from being sticky and overcooked.  After you have done this, toss the cold pasta with a few drops of sesame oil so that it doesn’t get sticky.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and  whisk together until well combined.  For this step, I like to use an immersion blender, but some really fast whisking or a blender will do the trick just fine.

In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the chopped veggies and then begin adding the sauce.  I have found that this recipe calls for about 4/5 of the sauce (you will have a few ounces left over – use it for salad dressing or dipping sauce another day!).  Toss everything together so that the pasta and veggies are well-coated.  Chill for 10 minutes and serve with sesame seed garnish.

Enjoy!

What you need:

1 T desiccated coconut

2 garlic cloves

6 shallots, sliced

2 stalks of lemongrass, peeled and chopped

2 fresh red chillis

2 T fresh ginger, grated

1 t tumeric

1 t salt

1 t sugar

1 reg. sized can coconut milk

125 ml water

1 t tamarind pulp, dissolved in 1 T water

4 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 packs tofu, marinated in soy sauce or tamari, cut into bite sized pieces, and baked until firm

2 T fresh cilantro

Heat a dry frying pan and add the desiccated coconut and toast until lightly golden.  Pound or blend together the toasted coconut, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, chillies, ginger, turmeric, salt, and sugar to make a paste.  Heat some oil in a heavy based frying pan and add the paste.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk to the pan, along with the water, the tamarind, star anise, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce the heat and simmer gently for a further 5 minutes.  Then add the marinated tofu pieces and continue to cook gently for another 10 minutes.  Stir in the cilantro and serve.

In a blender, combine the following:

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 bundle of green onions, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro

1 T soy sauce

juice of one lime

1 green Thai chilli, seeded

2 T coconut milk

Easy as that.  Blend it up and there you go!  All finished and ready for dipping!

What you need:

1 regular sized can  Thai Coconut Milk

1 1/2 – 2  Green Chillis (depending on how hot you want it)

2 C  Vegetable stock/broth

2  stalks  Lemongrass (chopped into 2 inch pieces and beated with the backside of a knife to get the flavor going)

1 pkg  White mushrooms, quartered

1/2 pkg  firm tofu, cut in small cubes, tossed in soy sauce and baked until firm and brown around the edges

1 T  soy sauce

Cilantro/corriander

1  Lime, cut in half

First, simmer the veg stock or broth with the lemongrass and the chillis.  You can slice the chillis however you want, just make sure the seeds are put in as well – you will straining this later, so its not a big deal if it looks messy at first.  Simmer for 40 minutes.

Then, add the coconut milk and the soy sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.  After that, strain the liquid through a strainer and put back on the stove.  It should be an off-white color and free of any stuff floating around in it.  Add the mushrooms and tofu and simmer for another 10-15 minutes to let the mushrooms cook.  Before you serve, add a few leaves of cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Enjoy!

1stalk lemongrass

1T Red Curry Paste

1 Onion

3 Zucchini

1/2 Green Cabbage

1crown Broccoli

2 Carrots

1 Green Chili Pepper

1/2 T Finely minced ginger

4T Finely chopped Cilantro

2 Cans (regular size) coconut milk

2 Cups Vegetable stock

5 oz (or as much as you’d like) rice noodles *can be any size, I like the thin ones, but you aren’t making this for me, and any option is fine – so go crazy with it*

2 T Soy sauce

1 t Sesame oil

Starting with the preparing the veggies: the ginger, green chili, and lemongrass all need to be finely minced as much as possible – as we are not going to strain them from the finished product. Once you have done this, you can set them aside. Finely julienne the onion, carrot, and zucchini (you can do the carrot and zucchini using a Mandoline or something like it if you have the means – it makes it SO much easier and faster – see my note at the bottom of this recipe for more info) and place them aside. Chop the broccoli in to small florets and lastly, finely shred the cabbage.

You will need two large sauce pans, soup pots or something similar for this recipe. One will be used to heat the veg stock and coconut milk together over a low flame. You just want to pour them both in together, give it a quick whisking, and let it warm while you cook the veggies. With your other pot over medium heat, place the curry paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, chili, and lemongrass into the pot and stir them all around. You don’t to burn anything here, just cook the ginger and lemongrass enough to get a nice aroma going and blend all the base flavors. Then, add the onion. Once the onion is starting to become a little less crisp, add the carrot and zucchini, stir it all around for a few moments and then add the broccoli and cabbage last. Keep moving everything around so that all the favors are combining nicely. Once you have done this, add the veg stock and coconut milk. Lastly, you will want to put in your noodles. Its important to make sure that you have this very hot, but not rapidly boiling. Rice noodles cook very quickly and you don’t want to end up with a mess of overcooked noodles.

Once the noodles have cooked, you’re ready to remove from the heat. Pour it all into a nice serving bowl, or eat it all yourself – either way! Just don’t forget to garnish with that cilantro you spent so much time chopping! Enjoy

**note about the Mandoline**

This is probably a vegan’s best friend – especially if you are as picky about having uniform cuts on your veggies as I am. The actual Mandoline is a little expensive, but worth the money. If you aren’t interested in spending that much, you can find similar versions at Asian Markets for a lot less. There’s a link below that might help explain it for those that are in the dark. Good luck and be careful – it is really easy to cut your hands when you first start using this tool!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandoline