We can’t be the only ones feeling this long winter, but this month we’re vowing to “think green!”. Our crew crowded into the farmhouse this week for their first meeting and before we know it the greenhouses will be up and seedlings started. The first recipe testing for March was centered around the greenest holiday- St Patrick’s Day! In addition to some more traditional recipes we came up with 2 bright, fresh, and green dishes – the more we think green the sooner spring will come! The other great thing about this easy, healthy dish is it will be ready in no time. Mix up a batch of green smoothies, put some rice in the rice cooker, and simmer this up. You’ll have a company worthy meal in under an hour.
In addition to a handful of green produce, grab some allium – we used yellow storage onions, local garlic, and our favorite ginger from The Good Life Farm. Their Fresh and Green Share starts in April and with it you could make this curry over and over agin. Using pre-made curry paste is a great shortcut for this dish. I give it a little extra flavor by cooking it with the onions, garlic, and ginger before adding the coconut milk. It’s on my list to make some fresh paste this summer when the jalapeños come in!
When the onion, garlic, ginger, curry paste mixture is ready just mix in the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until cooked but still bright green. The fish sauce is optional but traditional. Garnish with lime zest and basil, serve over rice.
Greenest Curry
4 – 5 cups green vegetables like – broccoli, kale, swiss chard, tatsoi, bok choy, mizuna, green peppers, zucchini, etc.
1 medium size onion, quartered and separated
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 can coconut milk + 1 cup water or 2 cans coconut milk
2 – 3 tablespoons green curry paste
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons basil chiffonade
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
juice from half a lime
rice for serving
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and ginger cook until softened about 4 minutes. Push onion mixture to the side of the pan, add another tablespoon oil and then add the curry paste directly into the oil. Mix to combine with onions, curry paste should be fragrant. Add coconut milk and water, sugar, and fish sauce or tamari. Stir to combine. Add vegetables to the pan and simmer uncovered for about 8-10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, add basil leaves, lime zest, and lime juice and taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve over rice.
Variations. Add bite size pieces of raw chicken with vegetables, simmer until chicken and vegetables are cooked through. Add shrimp with the vegetables, simmer until shrimp is pink and vegetables are tender. For tofu, pan fry in oil, then reserve the tofu and add when cooking is complete.
