Super Fresh Green Curry + Bonus Baby Food Recipe
Love Thai takeout? ME too. When I came up with this, I was craving those flavors but I wanted something homemade and made with ingredients I could control. Not having a Thai grandma to ask advice of, I tinkered many times with what I thought would make a good Green Coconut Curry. The result is super umami, herbaceous and ultra satisfying. The curry paste and the coconut milk is the base, but beyond that, almost any combination of protein and vegetables would be great. I tend to pre-steam green veggies like broccoli, this ensures they stay super green and crisp. Toss vegetable like mushrooms or frozen peas right into the simmering curry.
These days dinnertime doesn’t just mean Pat & I - Dean is a full blown food maniac. There are no illusions here, I don’t home make all of his food. With lots of great store bought options, I make about 60% of his meals. When I do, I really like to use ingredients from what I’m making us for dinner. Both for the obvious economical reason, but also to get him used to eating what we eat. I plan to start posting dinner recipes that can easily be made into food for your baby. For this recipe, you’d need to hold back some of the steamed broccoli, a little of your coconut milk, a little extra ginger and cilantro. If you’d like more specifics on this, scroll down to the bottom of this post. And please leave me comments on if this is a helpful feature for your family and the way you cook dinner!
Ingredients:
Curry Paste:
3 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 Tablespoons fish sauce
4 garlic cloves
1 thumb sized piece of ginger , peeled and roughly chopped
zest of 1 lime (save the lime for later)
half a bunch of cilantro (about 2 cups) rinsed and dried well
2 jalapeños, 1 seeded and 1 left whole (both seeded if you don’t like spicy)
1 medium shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
Curry Ingredients:
1/2 lbs. shiitake (or a mix of varieties) mushrooms, sliced
1 lbs. Snow peas, sugar snap peas or green beans
1/2 cup frozen peas or edamame
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 lbs. any protein (such as sliced chicken breast, sliced steak, filets of white fish, shrimp, tofu)
1 crown of broccoli, cut into florets and steamed until just cooked
Steamed white rice or cooked rice noodles for serving
Extra cilantro, mint or basil for garnishing
Here’s How:
Heat a large pan with low sides over medium high heat. Scrape all of the curry paste into the pan and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. A rubber spatula is very helpful here.
Stir in the coconut milk. Fill the coconut milk can halfway with water (stock works great too!) and add it to the pan. Bring to a simmer and add the mushrooms, snow peas and frozen peas.
Add in whatever protein you're using and simmer everything for another 10-12 minutes, depending on your protein of choice, until everything is cooked through.
Stir in any pre-steamed vegetables and squeeze the juice of the reserved lime into the curry. Taste for salt. If the curry seems lacking salt, add in another dash of fish sauce.
Serve with rice or rice noodles. Herbs like cilantro, mint or basil would be great as a garnish.
Broccoli, Coconut & Ginger Baby Puree
Handful of steamed broccoli
A scoop of coconut milk
a few grates of ginger (use a microplane)
a few leaves of cilantro
Place everything in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until super smooth. Add a little water if it needs loosening.
