Thai Red Curry

Making Thai red curry feels like cheating. Well, if you use red curry paste it does. You hardly do anything, and you get a rich and complex flavor. No herbs and spices needed (well, except for the ones in the red curry paste) - I'm not used to that!



I basically followed this recipe, adding whatever vegetables I had on hand: broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, and - of course - delicious sugar snap pea from our garden.



I started by mixing 3 T of red curry paste I got from Lee Lee's (the one doesn't contain any animal ingredients) with some basil and 2 cans of coconut milks. This made it very soupy, as evident in the pictures. Once the mixture was gently boiling I added the veggies and tofu, and simmered till the broccoli stalks were soft enough for me. Can't get much simpler than that, and still qualify as making dinner from scratch, can it?

Served it on long grain brown rice.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

It was time to relieve the fridge from some of the tupperware that occupied it, so I decided to make a soup out of pumpkin puree and coconut milk, and it turned out surprisingly delicious (not surprising that the flavors blend so well, but that I managed to get something tasty out of them). It's also super easy and ready in less than 10 minutes!



Everything goes into the pot:
about 1 c of pumpkin puree
about 1/2 can of coconut milk
about 1 T of peanut butter
some salt, ginger and garlic powder
about 1 T of brown sugar

warm it all up while stirring and add some water to get the desired consistency. When it's hot enough for you, pour into a bowl and sprinkle with some roasted peanuts and then drizzle some soy sauce (I know it sounds weird, but it's really good - even Mark liked it, and he's not a fan of creamy soups).

Green Power

Inspired by madcap cupcake again, I made this green smoothie and, as she promised, it was delicious! Certainly surprising. Even Mark, after tasting it, admitted that it was "...interesting...".
I am looking forward to having some more this evening!



After I had it, like Popeye, I had a burst of energy in me and I decided to lash it on the toaster oven. It looks almost like new now (which is also thanks to the magical powers of baking soda).

Also, I made the perfect summer food: cold Thai noodles with sugar snap peas and mandarins. It is one of Mark's favorite dishes. It is very good, and doesn't require too much cooking.



This is how it goes (4 servings):
You choose a tapper ware container that will be big enough to hold about 10 oz of tofu cut into 3/4" cubes, such that the marinade will cover it completely.

You put in it:
2 T peanut butter
3 T sesame oil
2 T brown sugar
1/3 c lemon juice
1/2 c soy sauce
1 t minced garlic
1 t minced ginger
crushed red peppers to taste

and mix it well.
Then you put the tofu cubes in it to marinate for at least 15 minutes in the fridge.

You cook the noodles (I use an amount that fits in between my index finger and my thumb) and wash them with cold water to cool them down.

You add frozen sugar snap peas (about 1/2 bag) to the noodles (they will bring each other to the right temperature), a small can of mandarins (or 1/2 14oz can) and the tofu in its peanut sauce, and mix it all together. It tastes great as no-heating-required leftovers, too!

We later watched the movie Chocolat and of course, we had to have some:

Everything in Gold

I was really looking forward to trying the black rice we got a couple of weeks ago at the Asian market, so I decided to have it with some golden Thai curry. It was weird!



Black rice is kind of nutty, somewhat reminds me of wheat berries. It wasn't necessarily appropriate for the curry. But by the time I finished my portion I decided that I like it anyway!
It was good! (well, I am known to love weird things).

Inspired by Susan's pineapple sorbet, I made this one with some coconut milk:


(yes, I made the cup)

The coconut milk diluted the pineapple sweetness, so I think that I will add some more sugar next time I'm having it. It was very refreshing nonetheless!