Thai Green Curry- Meatless Monday

Thai Green Curry is one of my favorite dishes to make at home for hubby and I. It's loaded with healthy veggies, doesn't require a lot of ingredients, and comes together in about half an hour. If you've never had Thai Green Curry, it's got a thick, sweet sauce made of coconut milk and green curry paste. Because there are chile peppers in the green curry paste, it's also got a little bit of heat to it.



My family likes it without meat, which is great because it keeps the cost down and we can use whatever veggies we have on hand. (This is a great meal for polishing off some of the items in a summer CSA box!)

Here's how I make my Thai Green Curry:

Step 1: Open the fridge and find some vegetables. This is green curry so I like mostly green vegetables. I used: green beans, broccoli, thinly sliced carrots, bell pepper, and snow peas. You can use what you want or what you have. I don't recommend using frozen vegetables. They're going to turn out mushy because of the excess water content from the freezing process.


Step 2: Start preparing the rice according to the package directions. You can use brown rice (it will take longer), but this is a dish that's best with white rice, so it's a special treat. Also, this is a Thai curry so I like to use jasmine rice, but any white rice will do. I also use a rice cooker-- it saves me time, the rice never sticks or burns, and it wasn't very expensive. White rice will take about 20 minutes to cook which will give you plenty of time to finish up the rest of the meal.


Step 3: Cut up the vegetables. I'm using a mixture of sturdy veggies (broccoli, carrots, and green beans) as well as delicate veggies (bell pepper and snow peas). All of the vegetables should be chopped up to be bite sized. Keep the sturdy veggies separate from the delicate veggies. You'll need a few cups of vegetables.

Step 4: Cook the veggies. Put the sturdy vegetables into a large pan over medium heat. There's no need to use oil, but you can add a little bit to the pan if it makes you feel more confident that your food won't stick to the pan, or use a bit of olive oil cooking spray. Cook the sturdy vegetables for a few minutes (4-5) over medium/medium-low heat until they start to heat through. Things like broccoli and green beans will get a darker shade of green. If your veggies burning or looking dry, turn down the heat. If your veggies start to look soggy, turn down the heat. Once your sturdy vegetables have a head start on the cooking, you can go to the next step.

Step 5: Add the coconut milk to the pan and stir. Brand doesn't really matter, this was just the cheapest available at my organic market when I last stocked up. Curries are runny (and traditionally eaten with a spoon in Thailand), so don't go thinking you've screwed up by not including enough veggies. Your curry should look like a cream soup with lots of veggies in it.

Step 6: Add the green curry paste to the pan and stir into the coconut milk. I prefer the Thai Kitchen green curry paste because it has an authentic flavor. Another plus is that it doesn't contain fish sauce, which I'm not terribly fond of anyway, so it's great for vegetarians! Thai Kitchen also puts out coupons on a regular basis, so I can get it at a discount. A note about green curry paste- it's made with green chile peppers, so it does have a slight kick to it. If you're not especially fond of really spicy food, only use a teaspoon or two. Since you're mixing this with coconut milk, which is a fat, it's going to cut the heat down a lot so the result is a very mild sauce. If you like your curries hotter, you'll want to add more paste and may also want to consider mincing up some jalapeno or Thai chiles to add to your sauce.

Step 7: Add the delicate veggies to the pan and stir to combine everything. If your curry is bubbling and spitting at you, turn down the heat. This is a low-heat process. Your vegetables should be al dente and still have a little bit of a bite to them when they make it to your plate. Depending on what you've got for the delicate vegetables, you'll need a couple of minutes at most to heat them through. At this step in the cooking process, I also like to add a little fresh basil. It's not mandatory, but it will make your dish a little more special if you happen to have some available. Fresh herbs grow really well on window-sill pots and the seeds are very cheap.

Step 8: Check your rice. At this point your rice should be finished. Whether you're cooking it on the stove top, or a rice cooker, you'll just want to fluff it with a fork.

Step 9: Serve up your meal. Put a spoonful of rice in the middle of the plate and ladle the vegetables and curry sauce over the rice. You should be able to feed 3-4 off of this amount of ingredients.

Step 10: Devour and enjoy! In Thailand, curries are traditionally eaten with a spoon so feel free to use whatever utensil works best for you.