Vegan Diary: Red Thai Tofu and dining out

After a successful week of our vegan challenge we decided that a treat was in order and headed off to nearby Wholefoods’ SAF to experience eating out in a vegan restaurant. We were excited to find out what, with a bit of time and effort, can be achieved with the ingredients at our disposal.

The answer? Quite a lot, however, it all comes at a price; it’s fair to say that eating vegan food in Kensington is certainly not helping us to save money. We started off with the cashew nut based “cheese trio” which were flavoured with mixed herbs, olives and peppers. They tasted like a mild cream cheese and we were pretty impressed by how yummy they were. With the “cheeses” came pear chutney, grain crackers and a balsamic vinegar dressing and all combined together were very satisfying. It was even possible to forget the absence of meat and dairy.

Onto our mains, we ordered a vegan “Pad Thai” and the pasta of the day. The latter of the two with its wild mushroom and paprika sauce was a meal that no meat eater would notice as being vegan. The sauce was creamy (a quality we’ve found to be lacking in much vegan food) and rich. The “Pad Thai” on the other hand was a completely different story. Firstly it was entirely composed of raw vegetables, enoki mushrooms and a few cashew nuts in a tahini based sauce so was definitely not worth the nearly £15 price tag that it came with. In addition its raw nature and the absence of the main ingredients of noodles, chicken and prawns meant that by no stretch of the imagination should it have been called a “Pad Thai”. However, if we left this to one side the meal was refreshing and light and certainly left you with a feeling of being healthy (if not entirely satisfied).

We walked away from the meal with significantly thinner wallets and a mild sense of satisfaction (although a steak would probably have been tastier!)

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Vegan recipe: Red Thai Tofu

Ingredients 1 block extra-firm tofu (14 ounces), cubed 1 tsp oil 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thinly ½ cup sliced shallots 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste ½ cup water 2 tbsp soya sauce 1 tbsp light agave nectar/pure maple syrup 15 leaves fresh Thai basil

1. Fry tofu in hot oil for 10 minutes, flipping so the sides are browned. Midway through cooking, drizzle with 2 tsp soya sauce and toss to coat. Once cooked set aside.
2. Sauté the red pepper, shallots, garlic and ginger in oil for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile mix together the curry paste, water, remaining soya sauce and the agave/maple syrup in a bowl.
4. Add the tofu and sauce mixture back to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. Then add the Thai basil, toss to wilt and serve.