Sunday, June 04, 2006

Thai Coconut Vegetable Stirfry

I love Thai food, and especially adore anything that contains coconut milk. Unfortunately, coconut milk is a healthy eater's nightmare, weighing in at 140 calories and 14 grams of saturated fat for 1/3 of a cup. However, despite it's hefty nutritional flaws, it is definitely delicious, and if consumed in moderation, shouldn't be too detrimental to your diet.

However, if you're lucky enough to find light coconut milk in your grocery store, you can indulge more often. For 1/3 cup of the light coconut milk, it only contains 50 calories and 4 grams of saturated fat.

No matter which coconut milk you use to make this vegetable stirfry, I think you'll agree with me that it's absolutely delicious. Although I made this one with mushrooms, peppers, and asparagus, you can definitely add any vegetables you choose. Also, if you're of the meat-eating persuasion, you can add chicken to make it a full meal.

Thai Coconut Veggie Stirfry

Thai Coconut Vegetable Stirfry
1 (14oz) can light coconut milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp grated lime zest
2 c sliced asparagus tips
1 c sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, julienned
4 c bok choy leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of sugar
1/2 c fresh basil leaves, julienned

In a food processor, combine coconut milk, garlic, ginger, lemon and lime zest. Pulse until well combined and minced. Place in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add asparagus, mushrooms, bell pepper, bok choy, and red pepper flakes, and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir in soy sauce, lime juice, lemon juice, pinch of sugar, and basil, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve by itself or over jasmine rice.

10 comments:

Special Sauce said...

Looks lovely as always- and I like the asparagus notion. Yum.

Anonymous said...

This looks incredible! I've been saving my coconut milk for just such an occasion! I have Thai basil in my garden, so I'll be using that - it has such a distinctly different flavor than the traditional Genovese basil.

Anonymous said...

I love using coconut milk-this looks great.

kickpleat said...

mmm, i love thai food as well and this recipe looks lovely.

Dr. Melissa West said...

Wow! This looks fantastic. Thanks for the recipe. I love thai food too. We've given up on the thai restuarant in our neighbourhood so it is definitely time for some home cooked thai.

Fiber said...

Saucy - I hear ya. Asparagus is where it's at.

Laura - I love Thai basil, and any other variation. When I had space for a garden, I had 3 variations of basil, and all were tasty!

Elle and Kickpleat - thanks for stopping by! I hope it's as good as it looks!

Dragonslayer - I've only been to our local thai restaurant once. I had a bad experience (the meal smelled exactly like a diaper) and I haven't been back since. It's been years since then, but I just haven't given that up yet. =)

Anonymous said...

I made it for supper tonight! I used zuchini because there was no bok choy at the store and I didn't think to get any spinach or cookable leafy stuff...

I also took a turn for the Vietnamese and threw in some chopped cilantro and mint.

Oh, and then water chestnuts, because my husband loves them.

p.s. I think that the third line of ingredients should read: "1 tsp minced ginger." :)

Kalyn Denny said...

This looks wonderful. I always use the light coconut milk, and can't really tell that much difference in the finished result.

Fiber said...

Laura - correction made. Thanks so much for your keen eye!

Kalyn - I'm with you. I can barely tell the difference between the two.

Special Sauce said...

And an update: I got to try a delicious bowl of this, and it is even better than I imagined. The flavors are nice and light, with just a little heat- and it's not overwhelmingly coconutty. It's really quite wonderful!