Spicy Thai Soup

I stumbled upon this recipe on the Thai Cooking channel on my Roku. I made 2 soups at the same time, this is for the soup on the left. The recipe calls for chicken, but I used potatoes instead of chicken. 

Ingredients: 

3 lemongrass stalks, bottom two-thirds of tender inner bulbs only, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (4 inch) piece fresh ginger root, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

7 baby red potatoes quartered

12 ounces fresh white mushrooms, quartered

2 teaspoons red curry paste

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 lime, juiced

2 (14 ounce) cans coconut milk

1 red onion, sliced

1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, sliced into rings

Directions:

• Stir lemon grass, garlic, and ginger together in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Strain chicken broth and set aside. Discard lemon grass, garlic, and ginger.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large soup pot over medium heat; Stir in chicken; cook and stir for 5 minutes.
• Stir in mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes.
• Stir in red curry paste, fish sauce, and lime juice until combined. Stir in chicken broth and coconut milk; return to a simmer and cook on low for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Skim off any excess oil and fat that rises to the top and discard.
• Stir red onion into the chicken mixture; cook and stir until onion softens, about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and add about 1/2 the cilantro.
• Serve with plates of cilantro, lime wedges, and fresh sliced jalapenos.

This can easily be made vegan with the following substitutions: 

• potatoes for chicken
• vegetable broth for chicken broth
• soy sauce for fish sauce

Thai Lime Coconut Chicken (or vegetables)

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes (see below for vegetarian substitution)
1 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp curry powder
1 14 oz can light or regular coconut milk
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime (use a 1/4 lime zest and hand squeeze half a lime, otherwise it's too limey)
1/4 cup green onion, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken, garlic, and onion and cook chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring for 1 minute, until it is fragrant. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and zest, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, stir in the green onions and cilantro.  Serve over rice.

For vegetarian/vegan, replace the chicken with the following:
10 baby golden yukon potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
12 baby carrots, sliced

adapted from this recipe

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

pad Thai rice noodles (about 4 cups cooked)

1 cup tofu (or meat of your choice)

1 zucchini, sliced

1 cup Thai peanut sauce (or more to taste)

3 green onions, chopped (optional)

handful of cilantro (optional)

Cook noodles according to "fried noodles" package directions. Put noodles, tofu, zucchini, and peanut sauce in wok or large frying pan and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until tofu and zucchini are slightly brown and noodles are tender. Top with green onions and cilantro.

Serves 4

Thai Peanut Sauce with Honey

(please pardon the poor quality photo, I liked this so much I started putting everything in containers for lunch

before I remembered to take a photo.) Original recipe can be found here

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter (optional)

3 tablespoons soy sauce, Bragg's, or coconut aminos

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Stir together the honey, peanut butters, soy sauce, rice vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Serve with pad Thai noodles, spring rolls, or rice.

Thai Green Curry with Potatoes and Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini

1 medium potato

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 to 3 TBSP green curry paste

2 large chicken breasts, cubed (can be replaced with 2 cups tofu or 2 additional potatoes)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water

2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce (or 1 TBSP regular soy sauce)

1 TBSP coconut sugar or brown sugar

a handful of fresh Asian or Italian basil leaves (optional)

Directions:

Slice zucchini in half lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces and set aside. Cut potato into 1 inch pieces. In medium saucepan, bring 1/2 can of coconut milk to boil over medium high heat. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the curry paste and cook 2 to 3 minutes until it is dissolved in the coconut milk. Add the chicken and potatoes and cook 2 minutes more, tossing to coat it with the sauce.

Add the remaining coconut milk, the chicken broth, zucchini, soy sauce, and palm sugar. Reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes until chicken is cooked, and potatoes and zucchini are tender, but firm. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil leaves.

Serve over brown rice.

Serves 4 to 6.