As I’ve mentioned before our family is fairly typical; two omnivores, one pescatarian (or, veg-aquarian) and one vegetarian.  Two adults, two kids.  Despite our differences, I never make separate meals, never have.  Tonight I broke that rule.  It’s the fishmonger’s fault.  I had to buy fresh clams at the Farmer’s Market.

So tonight I made a tempeh stir fry for all of us to share, and a big bowl of steamed clams for the three of us who eat seafood.

To make things a little easier on myself, I used the same basic seasonings for both recipes, the Lotus Curry Paste that I’ve used before to make Gift of Govinda Curry.  For that recipe carry on over to the vegan blog I share with my friends Liz and Sophie.  I had some on hand making the meal that much easier.

Clams in Coconut Sauce

• 2 – 3 shallots (I used some sweet Walla Walla onion from the Farmer’s Market)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 2 tsp Lotus Curry Paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp shoyu
• 2 stalks lemon grass
• 2 lbs clams in the shell (or 1 lb mussels, but this isn’t mussel season)
• fresh coriander

1. Mince shallots and stir fry in oil until soft.  Add chili flakes and curry paste and stir fry for 1 minute more.
2. Add cocnut milk, shoyu and lemon grass, bring to a boil.
3. Add clams, raise heat, steam until the clams open.
4. move mussles to a big plate, pour sauce over, sprinkle with fresh coriander.

I served this with lots of crusty bread to soak up the amazing sauce.  It was a big hit and I had to promise to buy clams again next week at the market.