Good for the Soul Thai Style Curry

Typical Eastern Oregon Spring:  It gets really hot out; I turn off the pilot light for the fireplace; it gets cold two days later; and I can't figure out how to get it back on.  Haha... story of my life.  So to solve the problem of freezing my buns off in my house, I made a big pot of curry.

Personally, I am a fan of the Asian style curry dishes rather than the Indian style.  I still sort of mix the two whenever I make anything.  This is another recipe of mine that can be altered 1001 times and still be awesome. It is another one of those clean- out- your- fridge dishes that I love.

This is what I use in my standard recipe, although it changes almost every time:

2-3 chicken breasts, diced (or beef, or shrimp, or omit the meat to go vegan)
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 head broccoli, stems and florets, cut into small pieces
1 small can water chestnuts, sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas, left whole
2 zucchinis, sliced
1 tbs dried ginger or (I prefer) 4 tbs grated fresh ginger
5 or 6 small sweet peppers, sliced (rainbows make it pretty;-))
1-2 jalapenos or hot chiles, diced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, FINELY sliced or lemongrass paste
1/4 bunch basil, cut into chiffonade ribbons or dried basil
2 16oz cans coconut milk
1 small can diced green chiles
1 small can bamboo shoots
2-5 tbs curry paste (I prefer green for chicken, but red is delicious with shrimp)
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
soy sauce
sesame oil

In a large stock pot, sautee the meat in the sesame oil (I usually use about 1 tbs, then add a little olive oil so the sesame taste isn't overpowering).  When the meat is done, add the vegetables and sautee until tender, stirring often.  Add the coconut milk, green chiles, curry paste, lime juice and zest, lemongrass, bamboo shoots, then add the fresh herbs.

Simmer uncovered until hot.  Serve over rice with soy sauce.

What I love about this dish is the food allergy/sensitivity/ limitation aspect:  It is dairy free, soy free, sugar free, and gluten free.  It can be meat free easily and still be filling ( I like to replace the meat with diced eggplant).  It's a great vegan or vegetarian dish.  It is packed full of vitamins and different colored vegetables and is low in fat and calories (depending on the kind of coconut milk and meat used).  It's a great, healthy, tasty dinner to make your family when you only want to use one pot and not dirty a bunch of dishes:-)

If nothing else, it saves you from freezing your hiney off on a cold day like today;-)

You can also do this recipe in a crockpot. Cook on low for 5 hours.

College Student version:
Use a frozen bag of stir fry veggies and a jar of premade green curry in coconut milk:-)