vegetarian food

An authentic Thai Green Curry Recipe for the vegetarian palate. All the authentic trimmings - lemongrass, coriander seeds, green chillies, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk - without the meat, but with meat substitutes - wheat gluten or tofu, take your pick. This recipe is vegan, and you can also choose to make it gluten-free. Any way you cook it, this is such a tasty meal, you'll tend to forget how healthy it also is!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
PASTE:
1 stalk lemongrass, sliced finely (see instructions below)
2 tsp. ground coriander (grind whole coriander seeds yourself in a coffee grinder for the best taste!)
3 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce (available at Vietnamese food stores, or substitute wheat-free soy sauce)
1 tsp. brown sugar (optional)
1-3 green chillies, deseeded (adjust according to desired spiciness)
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece galangal (or ginger), peeled and sliced
2-3 kaffir lime leaves (fresh, frozen, or dried), snipped into strips or small pieces with scissors
1 loose cup fresh coriander leaves and stems
1½ tsp. dark soy sauce (substitute 1 Tbsp. wheat-free soy sauce for gluten-free diets)
OTHER:
2-3 kaffir lime leaves
1 can good-quality coconut milk
1 package firm tofu cut into bite-size pieces (for gluten-free diets), OR 1 package wheat gluten “chicken" cutlets
1 red bell pepper
1 cup snow peas
1 cup fresh holy (or sweet) basil, chopped roughly
1 small yam or sweet potato, cubed
3 Tbsp. oil for frying
optional: other vegetables of your choice, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc...

No doubt the meal is colorful, I mean those orange and whitish roots look good, the greens are perfectly placed near the brown and that red sauce and white cheese also look good. But how would you react if this was your main vegetarian course at a dinner?

Oftentimes vegetarian food can be disappointing. In Taiwan, they tend to overcompensate for flavor by adding grease, which just makes people sick and unhappy all around. But the black bean burrito I had (which was vegan, by the way) was not greasy at all, and, accompanied by a sharp salsa plus the house salad, it was greatly satisfying.
We went back the next day for lunch and stuffed our faces again.

Suzanne Stevens, founder and Executive Director of Hope Springs Institute, invited volunteers, guests and staff cooks to share their recipes so she could pick the best of the best to create tantalizing meals at Hope Springs. The kitchen staff consistently offers meals that appeal on every level. They are beautiful, delicious and filled with nutrition. People who eat animal protein when they are not at Hope Springs, beg for these vegetarian recipes. "I'd be a vegetarian if I could have meals like these" many tell us.

Usually whenever you mention vegetarian food, people will say "no way as I love my meat too much". I used to be one of those "anti-vegetarians" but ever since I took the plunge to try the food, I have been pleasantly surprised with the selections and most importantly, it tastes good.

This particular place practises Hare Krishna principles - no garlic or onions to flavour their food but by some miracle, the food tastes great. We have eaten here twice - once for lunch and another time for dinner. For lunch, they have their sets. There's the Nava Thali Set with rice and nine small metal bowls with curries, yoghurt and pickles for a complete meal. The vegetables change on a daily basis for variety. Also available during lunch time is their Chapati set served with potato and bittergourd curries.
The Mutton Varuval came highly recommended by a friend who had dined here earlier. It's really good stuff with all the spices flavouring the vegetarian mock meat.
One of their specialties is their vegetarian satay which is only available in the evenings. They have been even featured on the local food show, Ho Chak for this. Even though it's made from gluten, the chunks reminds one of tender chicken satay. It's well marinated with spices and grilled with a slight smoky taste.
They serve the satay with an unusual peanut sauce that is not too thick but flavoured with curry powder. I kinda didn't like the sauce as I always like my satay sauce to be full of peanuts. However the satay was tasty just on it's own which I really enjoyed.
I tried their char kuey teow in the hope it would taste like the one I had at Blue Boy's. Unfortunately it was slightly oily and they had cut the strands of rice noodles which I hate. It had wok hei but somehow it didn't feel like char kuey teow with all those sinful items like cockles and deep fried pork lard cubes.
Splashie Boy had a Rava Thosai with Kheema which tasted not too bad but slightly chewy. This place also serves vegetarian cakes (saw a few cupcakes) and yong tau foo which is popular among it's customers.
To cool off during lunchtime, we shared the sweet and icy cold Ais Kacang which was filled with a kaleidoscope of colours - yellow, green, red and pink.
Usually whenever you mention vegetarian food, people will say "no way as I love my meat too much". I used to be one of those "anti-vegetarians" but ever since I took the plunge to try the food, I have been pleasantly surprised with the selections and most importantly, it tastes good.
This particular place practises Hare Krishna principles - no garlic or onions to flavour their food but by some miracle, the food tastes great. We have eaten here twice - once for lunch and another time for dinner. For lunch, they have their sets. There's the Nava Thali Set with rice and nine small metal bowls with curries, yoghurt and pickles for a complete meal. The vegetables change on a daily basis for variety. Also available during lunch time is their Chapati set served with potato and bittergourd curries.
The Mutton Varuval came highly recommended by a friend who had dined here earlier. It's really good stuff with all the spices flavouring the vegetarian mock meat.
One of their specialties is their vegetarian satay which is only available in the evenings. They have been even featured on the local food show, Ho Chak for this. Even though it's made from gluten, the chunks reminds one of tender chicken satay. It's well marinated with spices and grilled with a slight smoky taste.
They serve the satay with an unusual peanut sauce that is not too thick but flavoured with curry powder. I kinda didn't like the sauce as I always like my satay sauce to be full of peanuts. However the satay was tasty just on it's own which I really enjoyed.
I tried their char kuey teow in the hope it would taste like the one I had at Blue Boy's. Unfortunately it was slightly oily and they had cut the strands of rice noodles which I hate. It had wok hei but somehow it didn't feel like char kuey teow with all those sinful items like cockles and deep fried pork lard cubes.
Splashie Boy had a Rava Thosai with Kheema which tasted not too bad but slightly chewy. This place also serves vegetarian cakes (saw a few cupcakes) and yong tau foo which is popular among it's customers.
To cool off during lunchtime, we shared the sweet and icy cold Ais Kacang which was filled with a kaleidoscope of colours - yellow, green, red and pink.