Friday, July 30, 2010

Healthy, easy thai recipes?

So, I'm looking to eat healthier, but I'm having a bit of trouble with it, I love food, so I thought I'd attempt some different styles of cooking, I went to a thai restaurant and it was wonderful.





Anywho, any ideas for a vegetarian? thanks!Healthy, easy thai recipes?
These are just a sample of the recipes that are included in these site to show you what's out there.





http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetariant鈥?/a>


http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetariant鈥?/a>


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler鈥?/a>


http://www.thaifoodplus.com/Thai/Recipes鈥?/a>


http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com/鈥?/a>


http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=19844.鈥?/a> (200 grams equals 1 cup)





If you need to do any conversions, go to http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions鈥?/a>





I've added a few non-vegetarian recipes just in case you want to try something different. I have used vegweb.com before.Healthy, easy thai recipes?
Yummy! Thai is my favorite. A simple vegetarian recipe I enjoy goes like this:





Chop into bite-sized pieces any/all of the following:





Onion


Carrot


Zucchini


Red and Green Bell Pepper


Celery





Saute your veggies in olive oil until they start to get tender, but not soft. Add salt and pepper, finely chopped red chile pepper and fresh garlic. Cook over medium for about 2 more minutes, then add Curry powder, to taste (I like the yellow and buy ';Hot Madras'; by McCormick at my local grocery.





Once all of that has come together pour in a can of coconut milk and heat through....... Don't forget to top it with fresh Cilantro and serve along side a nice jasmine rice. Hope you'll give it a try!
1 (12 ounce) package rice noodles


2 tablespoons butter


1 pound chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces - use tofu


1/4 cup vegetable oil


4 eggs


1 tablespoon white wine vinegar


2 tablespoons fish sauce


3 tablespoons white sugar


1/8 tablespoon crushed red pepper


2 cups bean sprouts


1/4 cup crushed peanuts


3 green onions, chopped


1 lemon, cut into wedges





Soak rice noodles in cold water 30 to 50 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and set aside.


Heat butter in a wok or large heavy skillet. Saute chicken until browned. Remove, and set aside. Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat. Crack eggs into hot oil, and cook until firm. Stir in chicken, and cook for 5 minutes. Add softened noodles, and vinegar, fish sauce, sugar and red pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste. Mix while cooking, until noodles are tender. Add bean sprouts, and mix for 3 minutes.








Garnish with crushed peanuts, chopped green onions and wedge of lemon.


--------


Stir-Fried Thai Noodles





One of Thailand's best known noodle dishes. It is eaten as a light meal at any time of the day or night, and is especially popular at the night markets throughout the country.











Ingredients:





8 oz (250 g) rice noodles (sen lek)


3 tablespoons oil


3 garlic cloves (kratiem), minced


1/4 cup dried shrimp/prawns


1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)


1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) sugar


2 tablespoons tamarind juice (ma-kaam piag)


1 tablespoon paprika


1/2 cup fried tofu


2 tablespoons dried unsalted turnip, cut into small pieces


1 egg, beaten


1/4 cup 1-in (2.5-cm) lengths chopped chives


1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) ground roasted peanuts


1 cup bean sprouts





Garnish:





1/2 cup bean sprouts


1/2 cup chopped chives


1/4 small banana blossom, cut into strips


1/2 lime, cut into wedges








How to cook:





1. Soak the rice noodles in cold water for 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and set aside.





2. Heat a large skillet until hot, then add the oil. Add the garlic and dried shrimp, and stir-fry. Add the noodles and stir-fry until translucent. It may be necessary to reduce the heat if the mixture is cooking too quickly and the noodles stick.





3. Add the fish sauce, sugar tamarind juice and paprika. Stir-fry the mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the tofu, turnip and egg.





4. Turn the heat to high and cook until the egg sets, stirring gently. Thoroughly combine the mixture, and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until most of the liquid is reduced.





5. Mix in the chives, peanuts and bean sprouts. Place on a serving dish, arrange the bean sprouts, chives, banana blossom and lime attractively and serve
THAI SOUP - KAEN RON





4 oz pork tenderloin or lean boneless shoulder


1/2 breast of chicken, 4 oz


1 qt. Chicken stock


8 dried mushrooms about 1/4 cup


1/2 cup water


1 large onion, thinly sliced


4 cloves garlic, minced


1 tsp. anchovy paste


2 tsp soy sauce


2-3 oz soy bean threads


4 oz raw shrimp, cleaned


1/2 cups cubed cucumbers


2 eggs


2-3 tbsp. chopped fresh coriander or parsley





The original version of this recipe calls for a fish sauce called Nam Pla. You may be able to obtain this in gourmet specialty shops or by mail order. In this recipe we've substituted anchovy paste and soy sauce, which works well.


Soak the dried mushrooms in water for about 20 minutes prior to cooking. Cut up the chicken and and the pork tenderloin into 1/2 inch cubes. Add the meat to your chicken stock in a soup pot. Bring to a simmer. Thinly slice the soaked mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and water to the soup along with the onions, garlic, anchovy paste, and soy sauce.





Simmer gently until the meat becomes tender approximately 20 minutes - do not allow to boil. At this point, add the raw shrimp, soy bean threads, and cucumber. Continue to simmer until the shrimp are cooked (they will no longer appear translucent).





Stir in the beaten eggs, one after another. When the eggs have coagulated, pour the soup into a serving bowl or soup tureen and serve with steamed rice as a side dish. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley or cilantro.





OR





THAI CHICKEN AND COCONUT MILK SOUP


(TOM KA GAI)





1 12-ounce can coconut milk, such as chaokoh


1/4 lb chicken breast, cut into small chunks


juice and grated peel of 1 lime


1 4'; piece of lemon grass, cut into very thin (1/16';) slices on the diagonal


3-4 slices of galanga (fresh ginger may be substituted)


hot chile peppers to taste -- preferably thai birds, with serranos an acceptable substitute cut into thin circles


cilantro for garnish





Pour the lime juice on the chicken and let stand while you prepare the rest of the soup. In a medium saucepan, place the coconut milk, lemon grass, grated lime peel, galanga or ginger, and (optionally) chiles. (The optional part is that if you don't want the whole dish to taste spicy, add the chiles later; the earlier you add them, the hotter the resulting dish.) Bring the coconut milk to a simmer.


When the soup is simmering, add the lime-soaked chicken pieces and stir to distribute them. Reduce the heat so the soup stays just below a boil and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or till the chicken pieces are finished cooking. Remove from heat and serve immediately with fresh cilantro leaves for garnish.





OR





THAI FISH CAKES (TOD MAN PLAA)





1kg redfish fillets (processed to a paste)


4tbsp red curry paste


1/2cup finely chopped cilantro (roots, stems %26amp; leaves)


4 kaffir lime leaves (sliced finely)


150g snake beans (sliced thinly into rounds)


1 egg (beaten)


2tbsp sugar


1tbsp salt





Combine all ingredients and mix well. Shallow fry in hot oil until a golden brown colour (about 1-2 minutes on each side).


It鈥檚 really up to you how salty or sweet you want the fish cakes to be. What I normally do is fry a couple, taste them and if more salt or sugar is needed, I just add it to the remaining mixture.





Serve with sweet chilli sauce.





OR





PAD THAI





1/2 lb. dried rice noodles, 1/8'; wide


warm water


1/2 lb. shrimp or chicken or pork


1/4 c. fish sauce


1/4 c. and 2 tbsp. sugar


2 cloves finely chopped garlic


1/4 c. and 2 tablespoon white vinegar


1 tsp. paprika


4 slivered green onions


1/2 c. oil


2 eggs


3/4 lb. bean sprouts


2 tbsp. ground roast chili (skip it if you have kids with mild palates)


3/4 c. ground roasted peanuts (peanuts finely chopped)


lime wedges





Soak noodles 30 minutes until pliable and drain (sometimes it takes longer).


Mix sauce (sugar, vinegar, paprika and fish sauce). Set aside.





Heat wok, stir fry meat, add noodles. Add garlic and sauce. Tuck eggs under noodles and add oil as needed. Add sprouts and garnish with green onions, peanuts and lime wedges





JM

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