Thai and Indian cooking is fantastic for vegetarians as it is possible to capture a wonderful array of flavours, together with a balanced diet that combines pulses and grains along with a huge array of vegetables to give all the nutritional components needed for good health. This is a really quick recipe for green curry that cheats by using a ready-made paste. You can of course make your own, but Gee is presently cooking in a student hall of residence so speed and convenience are paramount. One note of caution – many commercially available Thai green curry pastes are not suitable for vegetarians as they contain fish sauce. However, if you look carefully the major retailers do stock branded versions that are suitable for vegetarians. This recipe also has protein in the form of Quorn, again for convenience and because Gee likes it, but you could easily make this using legume protein such as chickpeas.

Start by frying a pack of Quorn ‘chicken’ pieces in a light oil until they have some colour and set to one side. Lower the heat and gently cook a chopped onion and a chopped green pepper until they have softened. You can also add a chopped green chilli if you like a more spicy dish. Add back the ‘chicken’ pieces and stir in a jar of thai green curry paste until everything is evenly covered. Take a can of coconut milk, give it a good shake and add it to the curry mixture. Stir everything together and leave to simmer very gently for ~20 minutes. All you are doing here is allowing the flavours to combine and for the dish to heat through. You can use this time to cook your rice if you are having that as an accompaniment. Next add some vegetables to give the curry some crunch. I use a pack of baby corn (chop each cob into two or three bits so they are bite sized), some french beans (again, cut into bite sized pieces) and some mange tout. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables are heated through but still crunchy. Serve with basmati or jasmine rice or with noodles. You can garnish with a little chopped chilli, chopped fresh coriander or a couple of curry leaves if you like.