Curried Noodles

This is a vegetarian dish, as this was a side item to some chicken that was cooked on the grill. Dad said he could ‘’really’’ taste the soy sauce in this dish, even though it was just a tablespoon. I thought it was subtle enough but some are sensitive to this. So I would actually recommend just starting with maybe a teaspoon of soy sauce, then adding a little more if you think it needs it.

Serves about 4-5

3 bundles of soba noodles (rice noodles). Each bundle is pretty small, but this expands pretty big!
Evoo – extra virgin olive oil
½ can coconut milk
½ - 2/3 bottle of Trader Joe’s red curry sauce
1 bunch of green onions
1 bunch of cilantro – remove stems and use the leaves only
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 zucchini – cut lengthwise, then lengthwise again. then dice.
4 garlic cloves – minced.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce (optional. if you don't have it around, it should be fine)
Crushed black pepper

boil a pot of water. Add noodles and cook as directed, should be no more than 5 minutes for the noodle cook time. Drain.

While the water is boiling, prepare the vegetables by cleaning then and dicing them.

Meanwhile in a very large another pan (big enough to hold noodles and veggies) on medium heat, drizzle a tablespoon of EVOO and sauté the zucchini, celery, and carrots. Crush some black pepper for seasoning. Add the garlic. Allow to cook for a few minutes. Add the drained noodles into the pan and toss. Then pour over the coconut milk and curry sauce. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce. Mix thoroughly and allow to heat through completely. You can cover the pan and allow to heat on medium low for a few minutes. Dice the green onion and the cilantro. Add to the pan. Mix and toss thoroughly. Serve hot.

another recipe to come with what to do with that leftover bottle of curry sauce and coconut milk.

Red Chicken Mirepoix Curry

Here's another curry recipe. I decided to make a mirepoix curry because it's a mix of veggies I generally keep around, and had it in abundance at that moment. I usually don't put celery in curry, but it was a nice change.

2 chicken breasts (or one whole fillet)
extra virgin olive oil.
1 onion
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 red pepper
2 inch piece of ginger
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 box of chicken broth
1 pack of thai red curry paste
1 teaspoon of curry powder - yellow
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 tsp or so of chili powder
sprinkle of red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons of fish sauce (patis)

Brown the chicken in olive oil. Cook a cup of rice in a rice cooker with double the water. In the meantime prepare the mirepoix - peeling and dicing the carrots, celery, and onion. Then peel the ginger and dice finely. Add all that in the pot as you are done chopping. Season the meat and veggies while it cooks with salt and pepper, curry powder, red pepper flakes, and chili powder. Then chop the red pepper and add. Allow this to cook for a few minutes. add the coconut milk and broth. Then add the curry paste and stir until dissolved. Then add the fish sauce. cover and bring to boil stirring occasionally. Serve over rice.

Dark Meat and Veggie Red Curry

Curries are awesome one pot meals that you can throw together with lots of staples. I decided to use dark meat to be more economical - there was a 5 dollar difference between organic thigh and breast meat. And I think you get richer flavor from dark meat anyway. My mom swore that this was a little too spicy for her liking, but I begged to differ on that one. I didn't even use cayenne, which I typically do. Musta been the jalapenos. Overall I thought it was pretty tasty and it saves very well. and I think I made enough for about 6 people

in a rice cooker or seperate pot, cook up 1 cup of brown rice in double the water.

spices used:

Salt and Pepper

cumin

tumeric

red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves

ginger powder

1 pack of dark meat chicken.

1 medium onion diced

4 cloves of garlic minced

2 potatos, peeled and cleaned - chopped into 1 inch cubes

5 carrots - peeled an sliced

4 - jalapenos - seeded, white ribs removed

1 mini bag of cauliflower - equivilant to about a 1/4 head

2 handfulls of frozen peas = about 3/4 - 1 cup

1 can (14 oz or so) coconut milk

1/3 box of chicken broth

3 tablespoons of red curry paste

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of fish sauce (patis)

a large handful of fresh cilantro for garnish

heat to medium a large pot. add a generous amount of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Slice the meat into cubes then drop in. season with salt and pepper. Also season with a teaspoon of cumin, a generous sprinkle of tumeric, a 1/2 tsp or so of red pepper flakes, and a sprinkle of ground ginger. Start peeling and chopping the rest of the veggies and add them in as you go. Be sure to add the potatos pretty early as they would take longer to cook. After the last veggie has been added, pop a can of coconut milk and pour in, soon to be followed by a chicken broth. add paste in, into one section. be sure to break it down thoroughly and stir very very well. Then sprinkle in the brown sugar and fish sauce. heat to boiling. mix in a large handful of fresh chopped cilantro at the end. mix to wilt. Serve over brown rice.