Vegetable Green Curry & Coconut Rice

I might have a slight obsession with my cat. It might be a little unhealthy but there is so much to love about my Iggy Smalls! How could I not love this cat- he takes out time from his busy little life to be my sous chef every time of day that I cook- whether it is breakfast (he loves to clean my yogurt off my plate), the occasional snack grazing fest, and especially dinner. He makes sure everything is at the least edible (he has a rather picky palate). If Bill were to be reading this right now, he probably would A. think I'm the most lunatic person that I'm actually admitting to this B. shake his head that I actually believe my cat has a picky palate C. not be surprised. Hey, it's tough being a mother to such a sous chef!

Lately, I've been craving Thai food. At school, I had a thai restaurant that was literally outside my apartment and it had the greatest thai food ever. One thing I always got was their Vegetable Green Curry. The best part about it was that they didn't use fish sauce or anchovies to make it, so it was completely vegan (and gluten free, as most green curry naturally is). However, in the Poconos, thai food is something we mountain people don't seem to explore, and if we did I would have to travel a good ways away to just get a decent curry! I took this as the perfect opportunity to stank up my house and make my own curry! The results were TREMENDOUS! I also experimented with making coconut jasmin rice- which is so easy when you have a rice cooker. 

For the green curry sauce, I used the recipe from this blog, My Husband Cooks. I don't usually follow this blog, but I literally googled it, did some soul searching, and had a feeling I was going to fall in love with this green curry. And I did. If you don't want to make your own curry sauce (there's many ingredients and can seem overwhelming and some that seem foreign), I'm sure you could use Thai Kitchen's curry sauces, but I don't know if they will be gluten free or vegan friendly so make sure you read the ingredients!

Some things about the ingredients:

* Kaffir leaves can be found at any asian grocery store or maybe the asian aisle of your supermarket. If you don't have them, you will be totally fine without them- they just give an awesome aroma to your curry!

* For the basil leaves, I used thai basil leaves (also at asian food market), but you can definitely use regular basil if you don't want to go on the hunt for them

* If you can, definitely use fresh herbs. I have fresh mint and cilantro leaves from my little garden and it definitely makes the difference.

Vegetable Green Curry Over Jasmine Coconut Rice

Serves 4-6

Adapted from "My Husband Cooks"

GREEN CURRY SAUCE

Ingredients:
1 cup coconut milk
2 limes (juice & zest)
1 serrano chili or jalapeno
3 cups (100g) cilantro
3/4 cup (10g) mint
1/2 cup (8g) thai basil (or basil)
2 (75g) shallots
3 (15g) cloves garlic
1 3’’stalk (15g) lemon grass
1 1 1/2′’ piece (35g) ginger
1 tbsp. brown sugar (make sure it's gluten free!)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
2 kaffir lime leaves (optional)

Directions:
1. Add the cilantro (stem and leaves) to a blender. Add the leaves of the basil and mint along with the kaffir lime leaves, lime zest, lime juice, and coconut juice.

2. Blend for a moment on highest setting before adding the garlic, shallots, lemon grass and ginger. Set to highest setting until smooth. Add a little bit of water or coconut milk if you want it smoother. If your blender is powerful enough, you can combine all the ingredients at once. You can also use an emersion/hand blender. (However, they’re not as  likely to give you a smooth consistency.)

3. Add the sugar, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt. Blend for a moment. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

COCONUT RICE

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can lite coconut milk

2 cups Brown Jasmine Rice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Directions:

1. if you have a rice cooker, add your jasmine rice and coconut milk into the rice cooker and follow directions. 

2. Once it is done cooking, add your cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg into the rice.

ASSEMBLE

Ingredients:

- 2 Bell peppers, chopped

- 1 jalapeno pepper, halved and deseeded

- 3 shallots, diced

- 4 carrots, diced

- 2 bunches curly kale leaves, stems removed and chopped

- 1/2 cup oyster (or shiitake- I had fresh oyster mushrooms) mushrooms, stems removed

- 3 Tbsp grapeseed oil

- salt and pepper to taste.

- 1 teaspoon sriracha

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray a baking sheet with aluminum foil with cooking spray, and place your bell peppers, jalapeno, shallots, and carrots on the sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and grapeseed oil.

3. Roast for 20 minutes, rotating the pan and flipping over the peppers halfway.

4. While this is happening, when you have ten minutes left bring your green curry sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. When your vegetables are done roasting, chop them up a little more and add them to your green curry sauce. 

5. Reduce heat to low, and let the vegetables simmer for 5-7 minutes. 

6. Add in your oyster mushrooms and kale and cook until your mushrooms are very soft and your kale is wilted. 

7. Place an ice-cream scoop size of coconut rice and ladle in your vegetable green curry. Drizzle sriracha if you want more heat!