Recipe Series: A Month of Lunches #4

Post by Olivia Martino and Paula Jahn, Registered Dietitians and Co-owners, Nourish Northwest

 

This post wraps up our month of lunches series.  In case this is the first post you’ve seen, for the past four Mondays we have shared a recipe that we have prepared once and ate for lunch all week.  Having a healthy lunch already made everyday of the month has been amazing.  We have been able to eat healthier, save money and have more time throughout the day.  I can’t recommend doing this enough.  Even if you are just preparing several sandwiches or one big salad, doing it ahead of time is bound to set you up for success.

For our last recipe we chose one that goes well with the changing seasons.  September started out rainy and the temperature is now creeping into the upper 80s.  We made a lunch that works well with both of these extremes.  The warming spices paired with the summer vegetables are the perfect combo for this indecisive season.  We are also teaching our Curry in a Hurry  cooking class this Thursday if you are interested in learning more about this versatile dish.

Summer Vegetable Curry

From 101cookbooks.com

Prep time: 30 min – Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients

1 14-ounce can coconut milk*
4 medium shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons green curry paste, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 pound waxy potatoes, washed and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/4 pound yellow (or green) beans
1/4 pound Romanesco florets (or broccoli)
8 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
kernels from 1 ear of corn
1 lime, halved or quartered
fresh coriander seeds (or chopped cilantro)

Preparation

Spoon a few tablespoons of thick coconut cream from the top of the coconut milk, place it in a large pot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.

Add 2/3 of the shallots and saute until they soften a bit, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and salt, and cook for another minute or two. Have a taste, and decide if you want to adjust the flavor – adding more curry paste or salt if needed.

Squeeze some lime juice over remaining shallots and set aside.

Add the rest of the coconut milk to the pot along with the potatoes, cover, and simmer until they are just starting to get tender throughout – about 10-15 minutes. At this point add the yellow beans, romanesco, and tofu. Let simmer for a couple of minutes, the potatoes should be completely tender by this point. Add the corn and remove from heat.

Serve each bowl topped with a sprinkling of the remaining shallots, fresh coriander seeds and feathery sprigs (or chopped cilantro), and more lime juice, to taste.

Serves 4.

*You have some options here. I’ve cooked this with full-fat coconut milk, low-fat coconut milk, and another time with a blend of full-fat coconut milk + broth (half of each)….all are good. Full fat tastes quite decadent here, very rich. Although I normally don’t buy lite coconut milk, I had a can on hand and used it – it was ok(!) for this curry. Or for a lighter broth without using “light” coconut milk, you can simply thin full-fat coconut milk to the consistency you like with some great-tasting broth – this also works great.

Thai Green Curry Paste

2 green hot chilies (Thai chilies)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
1 teaspoon chopped galangal
1/2 teaspoon chopped lime rind
 (pref. makrut lime)
1 tablespoon chopped lemongrass
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/4 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon toasted coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt

If you have a good-sized mortar and pestle, put the green chilies in the mortar and pound, add the garlic and pound. Now add the shallots and pound – continue down the ingredient list pounding away. Alternately, give it all a whirl in a food processor.