🥬 Eat Your Veggies, Thai style

Then have this chocolate dessert! 🍫

Sawaddee ka! 🙏🏼

For most of us it’s so easy for vegetable sides to become bo-ring. You know - same old, same old. 😐

So let’s mix it up and try something new… Thai style, of course!

Here are 5 veggie side dishes and…

… if you eat your veggies, you can have dessert! A dessert that uses tofu...which is a vegetable, right? 😉 But don’t worry… it also has chocolate!

Million-View Mixed Veg Stir Fry (pad pak ruam)

I was so surprised when I noticed this video had a million views! Because to Thai people, this is the most basic - though very tasty - of dishes. Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry is a go-to dish in Thailand and I love that it works with pretty much any veggie. Time for a fridge cleanup? This is your dish! It’s garlicky and filled with umami. So good! Remember - the vegetables in the recipe are just suggestions!

Long Bean Stir Fry (pad tua fak yao)

Long Bean Stir Fry was one of my favourites as a kid. I’ve updated it for my adult palate with the extra salted egg (optional) but it’s still a very kid-friendly dish. Long beans are firmer with a nuttier flavor than green beans but, if you can’t find them, try French green beans instead (the skinny ones). When I was younger we often added sliced pork to it, too.

Thai Wing Bean Salad (yum tua pu)

Wing Bean Salad is different from most Thai salads and that’s because of the dressing. The dressing is enriched with coconut milk and Thai chili paste, giving it a richer, more luxurious feel than other Thai dressings. You can make this with crisp wing beans (which look like little stars when you cut them!) or green beans.

In Thailand it’s a filling salad that comes with proteins like eggs, shrimp and chicken, but if you want to make it a veggie-only salad as a side, that’s totally cool, too.

Five Spice Roasted Cauliflower

Five Spice Roasted Cauliflower is one of my favourite ways to cook cauliflower. This isn’t a traditional Thai dish - it’s my own creation! But I love this combo of five spice powder and fried garlic. You can sub the cauliflower with another roasted cruciferous veggies such as Brussel sprouts or broccoli. You can also roast the cauliflower in an air fryer!

Tofu Chocolate Mousse (But you can’t tell there’s tofu in it!)

After all these veggies, it’s time for something sweet! Don’t let “tofu” fool you. This is a rich, decadent Chocolate Mousse that’s so incredibly easy to make! You won’t even notice the tofu - I promise! It’s also vegan and gluten-free so you can make and serve it to everyone!