Another vegetarian in the house and delish Coconut Quorn Curry

My quest for creating delicious veggie evening meals has taken on a new urgency since Sam converted to the cause last week.

Sam, champion of animals

Yes my five-year-old son is learning about animals this term at school, and after a lively class discussion came home saying he no longer wanted to eat animals, because he likes them.

Right then.

Cue trip to the supermarket to stock up on kiddie vegetarian freezer staples like meat free hotdogs, veggie bites and burgers.

Whether it’s a phase or a life-long commitment remains to be seen, but as he’s always been a pretty good eater of fruit, veg and pulses I reckon he’ll do okay on it.

One of my go-to veggie options has always been quorn pieces. If you’ve never had them, they’re a bit like morsels of chicken and do a great job of absorbing any flavour you want to chuck at them.

I’m not entirely sure what they’re made out of. So I headed over to their website to double check. This is what it says…

Mycoprotein is the main ingredient in all Quorn products. It’s made from a member of the fungi family (like mushrooms and truffles) and is a high-quality meat-free protein that’s naturally low in fat, with very few calories. It’s high in dietary fibre (important for your digestive system) and has the essential amino acids your body needs, with no cholesterol or trans fats at all.

So it’s basically mushroom – shhhhhh! For god’s sake don’t tell Sam or he’ll refuse to eat them! Typically that’s the one vegetable he refuses to eat…

I made a delicious quorn curry using a tin of coconut milk, a couple of spoonfuls of mild curry paste I found lurking at the back of the fridge, some spinach from the lotters and the old faithful frozen peas. It was really lush and mega filling. You could easily use half fat coconut milk for a lighter meal.

You could also use chicken for this curry if you’re that way inclined.

Coconut Quorn Curry (serves 4)

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 pack of Quorn pieces
2 tbsps of your preferred curry paste
1 tin coconut milk (full or reduced fat depending on your diet)
handful of spinach, rinsed, stalks removed and roughly chopped
handful of frozen peas

1. Heat a tbsp olive oil in a large heavy bottomed frying pan and then gently fry your onion for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute with the onion. Add the quorn pieces along with the curry paste and gently cook for around 12-13 mins (according to packet instructions).

2. Add the tin of coconut milk and stir thoroughly to combine all the ingredients and allow to heat gently through for around 5-10 minutes. Add the spinach and frozen peas and cook until the spinach has wilted and the peas are cooked through.

3. Serve with fluffy basmati rice or naan bread.

So it’s just Arlo and I left eating meat in this house…. but as Arlo’s word for “I’m hungry” is “ham” and has a huge capacity for consuming animal protein I’m not too concerned about him turning… yet!