thai winter curry

Asian Night

Curries are a simple and easy way to get dinner on the table fast. That is, as long as you have a curry paste. There are as many different kinds of curry pastes as there are people who make them. And just as many levels of heat to each paste. You can make your own paste easily enough - although it is a little time consuming. When you do make a curry paste there are a few things to keep in mind:

(1)

You want to get your paste as smooth as possible. A food processor works well as long as you process the paste long enough. A blender is better.

(2)

Make a lot for three reasons: (a) Your machine will work better (meaning it will actually move the food around and will be able to process the ingredients) if you have enough stuff in there. If you have a few tablespoons of stuff in the machine, you are making it very difficult on yourself and the appliance. (b) You don't want to go through making it again any time soon; it is time consuming.  (c) The extra paste doesn't take up that much room in your freezer, especially if you divide it into serving amounts and tuck them in here and there.

Thai curry pastes usually have these ingredients in common:

chilies (the amount and type will determine the level of heat in your paste), lemongrass, kaffir leaves, onion, vinegar, garlic, ginger (or galangal), coriander seeds

Optional ingredients range from:

cumin seeds, cilantro, peanuts, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

For my Thai Winter Curry, I used a basic red curry paste (The color depends on the chilies you use. If you use fresh green chilies you will have green chili paste.) I have an assortment of winter veggies in my curry: onion, cabbage, cauliflower, butternut squash, tofu, spinach and, of course, the coconut milk. To cut the fat I also used vegetable broth, but make sure you don't make curry soup instead by not using enough coconut milk.

Since I had the curry paste in the freezer, dinner was ready in under 30 minutes.

Cost Breakdown

onion: $.75

cabbage, cauliflower: $3

butternut squash: $2

tofu: $2

paste, tamari, lime, sugar: $1.25

spinach, pepper: $3

rice: $1

Total to make 6 servings:

$13.00

Thai Winter Curry Recipe

Basic Red Curry Paste Recipe

gazpacho salad

Gazpacho Salad. Yup. And why not? The soup it refers to is a bunch of vegetables and fruit with liquid. Replace the liquid with the salad greens and presto - Gazpacho Salad.

Here is your inspiration to convert any soup into a salad. Pretty simple idea, right? I'd love to take credit, but I believe I saw the idea while cruising through a cookbook - a Robin Robertson one, to be exact. It is the avocado that caught my eye. Throw avocado anywhere in a recipe and I'll give it grave consideration. During the summer I have to weed through all the avocado recipes, since I probably add at least three onto each week's menu. Although very healthy for the kids, I encourage them to eat as many as they would like, I'm too old to handle too many, as much as I love them.

That certainly does not mean I never eat the fruit and here it is in this salad.

There are two key components to a good salad:

The Dressing

The Size of the Veggies

I'm sure we are all aware of how important the moisture on the lettuce is - whether it is just a squeeze of lemon or a favorite dressing like Ranch - but, is it really well-known how important the cut of the veggies is?

Dice or thinly slice cucumbers, peppers, onions, tomatoes (after seeding them) and they take on

a-whole-nother appeal for the diner. Big, clunky veggies are okay, but to really get someone to dig in, consider how you cut them.

My diced veggies and fruits were tossed with a little walnut oil (which has Omega-3) and lime juice. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic (minced) and cilantro and tossed them with chopped lettuce.

A bit of Summer in the middle of Winter.

Cost Breakdown

lettuce: $3

onion, pepper, cuke, tomato: $4

garlic, cilantro: $1

avocado: $2

walnut oil, lime: $1

Total for 4 large servings:

$11.00