Recipe Difficulty: Easy

Recipe Tags:

• Easy Red Thai Soup
• Vegan
• Gluten Free Thai Soup
• Coconut Thai Soup

My Thai Coconut Soup Recipe Thoughts
This is an easy delicious Thai inspired brothy coconut soup using ingredients that are readily available in most super markets. Authentic Thai Soups will use a lot of ingredients that I can't get at the grocery store nearest me. There are Asian grocery stores further away from me but I haven't gone to the larger city center in months, because life is busy. So while I would love to try this sometime using lemon grass, lime leaves, and birds eye chili, I instead use a Red Thai Chili Paste which is infused with many of these flavours.

I think the result is delicious and accessible if you too can't get to an Asian Market or a well stocked grocery store. Another component you'd probably see in non vegan Thai soup is fish sauce. You'd likely serve it along side for drizzling, same as I used to do when I made non vegan pad Thai. I don't find this soup is missing anything, but I do think there are vegan fish sauces out there that I have yet to try. I would be interested to try then at some point! Just sharing as an FYI. 

What's in my Soup
As well as the Thai Paste, this soup has home made veg stock, coconut milk (full fat), curry powder, a bit of cumin, onion, garlic, ginger, and a bit of brown sugar and lime to give it some sweet and sour notes. For veggies, I add sliced red pepper and mushroom to my soup, but you could use whatever you would like. The veggies I think of as a garnish in a sense, they get cooked in the broth at the end. I like the idea of bok choy and cherry tomatoes too, or just use whatever you like best. 

Noodles
I use thin rice noodles in this recipe, but you could use a thicker rice noodle, or simply white rice instead. This component of the recipe gets cooked separately. I don't add it to the broth, because then the noodles just absorb the liquid and you no longer will have a soup, you'll have noodles and veggies in a sauce. I cook a portion of rice noodles, add them to my bowl, and top with the brothy soup and garnishes. If I was using white rice, I would use the same approach. With rice noodles, I prefer not to have leftovers. I will only cook roughly the amount I plan on using. Often times they come in packages with several "nests". One nest per person is most likely more than you will need. 

Garnish
To garnish my soup, I like fresh cilantro, chopped roasted peanuts, and extra soy sauce and even sesame oil for drizzling along side. I find adding the plain noodles requires the additional soy sauce. I wouldn't serve it without. I also find the crunchy peanuts really add to the overall eating experience, and I wouldn't omit them personally, I like lots. This might not be authentic, I have no idea...I'm just going with what tastes good to me. A balance of textures and flavours. Depending how much lime juice you added to your soup, a lime wedge along side might be nice too. I also choose to add a sprinkle of chili flakes on top of my soup. It needs the extra heat to my taste, and chili flakes are an ingredient I always have on hand. You could cook a pinch of them into the soup if you prefer, or use a chili paste such as sambal oelek, or if you can get fresh Thai chilis, cook some of that into your soup. It really comes down to personal preference re spice level, and availability. 

How to Eat Thai Coconut Soup
I think the ideal bowl for this soup would be a ramen bowl. They are deep and narrower at the top and makes it easy to eat the noodles with chop sticks, and then just lift the bowl up for slurping. I don't have ramen bowls right now, but that's still basically how I eat mine. Bites of chewy delicious noodles, slurps of soup, maybe with a spoon at first, and then when I'm closer to the bottom I just lift the bowl up to my mouth. 

Recipe Difficulty: Easy

Recipe Keywords: Dhal, Red Lentil, Coconut Milk

Dhal, (also spelled dal, dahl or daal) is a term used in the Indian subcontinent to describe dried beans, lentils or peas. It also is a term used for the finished dish, of which many variations exist. I don't know how authentic my recipe is, but it's yummy and what I like to eat. 

This red lentil dhal is one of my favourite recipes, I come back to it often. It is flavourful and the recipe comes together quickly with a few basic ingredients. Not only is it delicious, but it is also inexpensive and healthy. I picked up a big bag of lentils for under 3 dollars!! Red lentils are simmered with coconut milk, fresh ginger, onion, garlic, dried spices, and tomato. 

How to Best Serve
I garnish my red lentil dhal with fresh cilantro and lime wedges for squeezing over top of everything. The best bites are when the dhal is mixed with rice, and then piled onto chapatis or naan. I also often serve shredded spinach with this (or any curry). I love getting the extra green goodness into my diet, and I find it just works well. You can just add a handful right to your bowl and top with hot rice and curry, then mix everything together and start scooping it up with the flatbread. 

The chapati flatbreads I often make with this are simply made from whole wheat flour, water & salt. The dough just rests for 30 minutes, then rolled flat and cooked directly on a cast iron skillet. Alternatively, I buy vegan naan bread at the store. Just read the label, many contain milk ingredients, but some don't. The vegan ones I've had are incredibly delicious. (I can't remember brands off the top of my head).

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Recipe Difficulty: Easy

Recipe Tags:

• Banana Muffins
• Vegan Banana Muffins
  
• Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
• The Best Banana Muffins
  
• Moist Banana Muffins

Yield: 12 - 16 muffins. (mine were a bit smaller than normal size but not the mini size)
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History of Muffins!
The history of banana muffins specifically isn't certain, as the origin of the recipe is not well documented. 

What is known, is that muffins have been around for a long time and have evolved over the years. The first known reference to muffins in English literature appears in a 1703 book called "The English Huswife" by Gervase Markham. The muffins described in this book are similar to modern-day English muffins, and they are made from a type of bread dough that is shaped into small, flat rounds and baked on a griddle.
In the 19th century, muffins became more popular in the United States and were made with a sweeter, cake-like batter that was baked in muffin tins. These muffins were often served as a sweet breakfast food or as a dessert.
  
My Banana Muffin Recipe Notes

This is my go to banana muffin recipe. (or banana bread if baked in a loaf pan) I like to mix it up. Sometimes I will mix in walnuts and dried cranberries with a streusel topping, other times I mix in chocolate chips and sprinkle a few extra on top. You can totally keep the batter plain if that's your thing! These really are the perfect banana muffin. They don't taste "vegan". They remind me of the ones my mum always made growing up. Simple, deliciously moist and banana-y. They do not disappoint. 

Vegan Butter
My favourite vegan butter for spreading on muffins or bread is Melt. For this recipe you could also use solid coconut oil or another brand of vegan butter in the batter. 

Flax Egg
This recipe calls for a  "flax egg". Which is 1 tbsp of ground flax seed, mixed with two tablespoons of water. Let it sit for 10 minutes before adding to the recipe. 

Streusel Topping
This was my first time making a streusel topping for my banana muffins. At first it was REALLY crunchy, but by the next day it had softened and was tasty. Definitely not a necessary component.
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Onto the recipes!

XO
Trisha

Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup vegan butter or solid coconut oil (room temp) 
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt (I use plain Silk brand)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened unsweetened oat milk
• 2 cups whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 flax egg
• 1 1/2 cups nuts, toasted & chopped (I used walnuts & pecans) or chocolate chips. (you might not need 1 1/2 cups of chips depending how chocolatey you want them)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. To prepare muffin tin I lightly greased silicone liners or paper liners.
2. Cream together vegan butter and sugar for a couple minutes.
3. Mix in one at a time the banana, vanilla, coconut yogurt and oat milk. 
4. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl except for nuts/chocolate chips. 
5. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix until just combined, then fold in nuts or chips. Use a 1/4 cup measure to portion batter into muffin liners. (top with streusel if desired)
6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean / or the top springs back when touched. 

Streusel Topping

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup AP flour
•  1/4 cup sugar
•  1.5 tbsp. melted vegan butter
•  1/4 tsp vanilla

Method:

1.  Compine all ingredients in a bowl. Use your fingers to turn it into a crumb like mixture.
2.  Sprinkle on the tops of muffins before baking.
3.  I sprinkled cinnamon on top after they came out of the oven.

For a quick video on how to make these muffins, the recipe is also on YouTube!