Yup, another curry. It has to say something about my family's undying love for the stuff that I've actually created a category for curried dishes on this blog. That said, while this is the 19th meal to make it on that page, every single one I've made has been so different from each other. One thing that stays constant, though, is that complex layering of spices and aromatics that somehow, some way, just work. With few exceptions, any vegetables that are languishing in the fridge perk up beautifully in the presence of the spices - it's one of our favourite ways to clean out the fridge and use up some of our garden's bounty (and we always add a ton of them). Herbs are never "optional" in a good curry, but the type you use can be. Again, I am always inspired by what my garden gives me - and unlike traditional curry lovers I flat-out refuse to grow cilantro (yuck!).
The best part, at least for us, is that you can essentially use anything as a protein base, because a curry variation exists for it. Since I had the last little bit of my homemade green curry paste in the freezer, along with some cooked chicken thighs and a block of tofu, I scouted around to see if mixing proteins, especially a vegetarian with a non-vegetarian one, had been done before - and would the lemony, slightly fishy and definitely spicy paste be too much?
I found inspiration in a Cooking Light recipe, of all things, and set to work, adding my own flair with both proteins, extra veggies and tons of herbs from the garden. Since the zucchini and cabbage are coming in thick and fast, they got top billing on my "shopping" list, as did the sorrel, basil and lemon balm, which all seem to enjoy the extra water we've been given!
Now, I won't lie - I made this with the homemade paste and the Thai chili flakes (we like our heat), and it was spicy. As in, "bowl of rice is mandatory" spicy. However, with all that heat there was so much flavour that it didn't matter that we were breathing fire - and for extra insurance, using the richest, fattiest coconut milk (or even cream) you can find helps temper the spice a bit more.
They do say that hot peppers are really good for you, though, so why not dig on in?
Green Two-Protein Curry
Serves 8 with rice
1 tbsp coconut oil
⅓ cup homemade (or good quality storebought) green curry paste
½ tsp Thai chili flakes (optional, you can use regular or Korean ones too)
½ tbsp freshly grated ginger
Zest of 1 lime
1 large onion, sliced into half moons
1 tsp kosher salt
1 red bell pepper, julienned
½ pound zucchini
1 15 oz can cut baby corn, drained
12 oz extra firm tofu, cubed
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
8 oz cooked, cubed chicken thighs
12 oz cleaned hearty greens (I used a mix of cabbage, beet greens and kale)
1 (14 oz) can premium coconut milk (use unsweetened coconut cream if all you can find is stuff with "coconut extract")
¼ cup sorrel (or baby spinach + juice of 1 lime)
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup lemon balm (optional)
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
- Add the curry paste, chili flakes, ginger and lime zest and cook until fragrant - about 2 minutes.
- Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring, until onion is soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add the red pepper, zucchini, baby corn and tofu, stir to combine.
- Cook 3 minutes, until pepper begins to soften.
- Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.
- Add chicken, greens and coconut milk and simmer until greens are cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in herbs and serve.
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 190.6
- Total Fat: 11.2 g
- Cholesterol: 26.8 mg
- Sodium: 150.3 mg
- Total Carbs: 9.6 g
- Dietary Fiber: 3.6 g
- Protein: 13.6 g
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