Q: I was recently given some curry pastes. They make wonderful coconut curries but what other vegetarian dishes can I make with them? And yes, I checked that there is no shrimp paste or other non-vegetarian items in the pastes.
Sent by Alexandra
Editor: That's a great question, Alexandra. Readers, what would you suggest? What are your favorite dishes to make with curry paste?
Related: Recipe: Easy, Tasty Chickpea Curry
(Image: Alexandra via email)
Monterey Pitcher fr...

I suppose it's just a variation on the coconut-based curry theme, but I like making Thai-influenced soups that have some curry paste in them. And, as with the curries, it's very easy to tailor the soups to your meat/non-meat preferences.
Red curry is delicious in pumpkin soup. There's a good recipe at 101cookbooks: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001525.html
and another from Gourmet, replacing the spices with curry paste, of course:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Curried-Pumpkin-Soup-232968
Yum! So perfect for fall.
Curry paste is wonderful in fried rice- cooked cold rice, vegetables, tofu/egg strips, curry paste and herbs all fried together in a wok with some pineapple cubes for a flavor contrast- mmm.
To riff off of what @Katy did. said above, I like to put curry paste in all kinds of soup. I love yellow curry paste in winter or summer squash soups and the red curry paste in carrot soups. It gives them a nice, complex flavor without a lot of extra effort.
I love it in pad thai (replacing the chicken with tofu for a vegetarian version): http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2006/01/12/the-return-of-pad-thai/
A miso sqush and tofu recipe with Thai curry paste found at http://mydarlinglemonthyme.blogspot.com/2011/05/miso-curry-butternut-squash-with-tofu.html
Spicy peanut sauce has red curry paste in it. Has anybody tried to do a tofu satay? I think peanut sauce would also be good for dipping raw or roasted veggies. I have Nancy McDermott's Real Thai cookbook, and it is excellent. She has a vegetarian version, which I have not cooked from. It might be a good source of ideas for vegetarian uses for curry pastes.
I make a stirfy with a bit of curry paste added in to spice things up. It's great in soup as various others have mentioned--I like red lentil, carrot soup with curry paste. And personally, while I like coconut milk, I often find it gives me a tummyache because it's so heavy, so I make Thai curries with vegetable broth instead. A lot of traditional Thai curries (like many of those from the North) were always made with broth and not coconut milk anyway, so you can look up any of those types of curries (i.e. Kaeng khae or Kaeng Hanglay) and just leave out the meat and/or seafood ingredients.
I haven't made it before, but curried couscous is really good!
If you're pretty flexible in your kitchen, pretty much any veggie combo with noodles or rice or nothing at all plus curry paste will taste great. I've never used a really recipe. Just dump some in, cook and taste.
I'm glad someone else mentioned the 101 Cookbooks curried pumpkin soup already! I've made it with good red and green curry paste and it's been fantastic both ways.
I will also put curry paste in spicy peanut sauce for a peanut noodle salad.
I love curry with tofu. You could brown the tofu and then simmer it with some milk (almond works great), the curry paste, and some chili flakes. I also like to add a sprinkle of brewer's yeast at the end - it gives it a nice nutty kick.
Now I wish I weren't eating this stupid salad! :)
Marinate firm tofu in curry paste overnight and grill.
Lentils! Curried lentils with roasted carrots and whatever rice you prefer is so yummy. My kids devour it.
It's really good in deviled eggs - just use it instead of mustard when you mix up the yolks, with a little bit of mayo.
I love red curry paste with coconut milk in mashed sweet potatoes. So yummy!
If you dilute it with some yogurt, buttermilk or even stock, it makes a great marinade for roasted veg. I love using curry paste on root veggies -- the spicy/sweet combo is lovely.