Today I want to tell you about the best airplane food I’ve ever had. It was a vegan green curry, and I loved it so much, I was inspired to make my own high protein vegan thai green curry.
Usually, I don’t think much of the food they serve on airplanes. Vegetarians are stuck with mushy pasta dishes, and no other options. The last time I few, they ran out of mushy pasta, and I refused to take the chicken dish.
The young, sweet flight attendant was a little baffled by the idea that I didn’t eat meat. But, I was in luck. There was a leftover vegan meal. I had never tried green curry before, and now I’m so glad I did!
You can use almost any vegetables you want in this dish. I loaded it up with protein options, including tofu, chickpeas, and edamame. The version I had on the airplane included green beans, and water chestnuts, so I used them here as well.
Variations to the High Protein Vegan Thai Green Curry recipe:
- The water chestnuts are not traditional, but I love the crunch that they add to this curry. If you want to use more traditional veggies, try spinach, green peas, or cauliflower!
- I used full fat coconut milk for a rich flavor in this dish. If you watch saturated fats, try using light coconut milk instead.
- For even more protein, try serving this curry over quinoa instead of rice!
- 1 cup brown basmati rice
- 8 oz extra firm tofu
- 1 small onion, diced
- splash olive oil
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup frozen edamame
- 2-3 TBS green curry paste
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (from a can, rinsed and drained)
- 14 oz can coconut milk
- ½-1 cup vegetable broth
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
- 8 oz can water chestnut, drained
- 1 TBS reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 TBS lime juice
- Cook rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top according to package directions. I like to use 2.5 times water to rice.
- Place the tofu block between two plates and top with something heavy from the pantry, like a jar of peanut butter. Let this press for 10 minutes while you prep the curry. Drain and cut the tofu into ½ inch cubes.
- Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in ginger and garlic. Saute 2 more minutes.
- Stir in frozen edamame, and cook until thawed. Mix in curry paste (using more for a stronger flavor) and saute another 2 minutes.
- Stir in chickpeas and pressed, cubed tofu, along with coconut milk, vegetable broth, and salt. Bring to a simmer.
- Stir in green beans and water chestnuts. Cook for 5 minutes or until the green beans are tender-crisp.
- Remove from heat and stir in soy sauce or tamari and lime juice. Serve with cooked rice.
Can you replace the green curry paste with red curry paste?
I have not tried it but I don’t see why not. In red curries, I usually use a tomato based gravy, but the other flavors are not that different. Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
This curry looks so warm and comforting!
Love that it has that many grams of plant protein!
one of my favorite dishes, sounds fantastic
I love curry, too! Thank you!
This sounds super tasty and comforting!
It is, very warming and creamy!
This looks amazing! <3
Thanks Farrah!
Wow! Love that this has so much protein!
Thank you Chelsey!
Oooh! I have been wanting to try more Thai recipes and this would be a great place to start!
This recipe is so easy, I think you would love it!
I need this curry in my life! it looks delicious
Isn’t curry awesome! Thanks Rebecca!
I love green curry!
Me too! Great minds think alike 😉
This looks amazing!
Thank you Kara!