Quick Coconut Curry

Phewf, we've had a long dry spell but we have still been cooking and are ready to rev things up. This proved to be a quick and tasty after-work-meal. That means little prep and a short cook time!

This mild coconut curry with just a very small kick of spice will please a crowd.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves approximately 4 adults

Ingredients

Combine a mix of your favorite veggies. To keep it quick, we used a frozen mix that included a few of our favorites:

Broccoli
Carrots
Green beans
Sugar snap peas
Water Chesnuts
Bell Pepper
Celery
Onion

We also quickly fried up and added a few mini sweet peppers to beef it up a bit.

Optional: Thai green basil


For the Curry:
1 Tablespoon coconut oil (can sub olive oil)
6 garlic cloves, diced
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
1 pinch Cayenne or 1 dried red chili pepper, diced (can add more if you want more heat)
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cans coconut milk (can use Light for thinner curry)
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste (can use black pepper too)
Coconut, shredded
Cilantro, to garnish


Coconut Rice:
1 cup rice, white or brown
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water

*you can also use quinoa instead of rice


Directions

Add coconut oil and garlic to pan over medium heat. Once oil is melted add mixed veggies and fry for 2-3 minutes. You might need to fry for a few more minutes if veggies are frozen. Add ginger, curry powder, Cayenne, vegetable stock, coconut milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat slightly and cook for 10-15 minutes or until curry is hot and vegetables are tender.

Once the curry is simmering, add all coconut rice ingredients to a rice cooker (making sure to rinse your rice first). For more details about how to make coconut rice without a rice cooker see our post here - however, a rice cooker is totally worth it, especially if you are looking to make quick meals!

Serve curry over coconut rice (or quinoa) and top with coconut flakes and fresh cilantro.

Sweet & Spicy Candied Pecans

For some reason, I just don't love making salads. I feel like a really good salad just takes SOOO long to make. I like to eat salad though, so sometimes I have to bite the bullet and make one. I think most really good salads have some kind of candied nut in them. I seem to try and candy/toast any type of nut if its going in a salad.

So, when I came across this recipe that had a bit of a twist to it, I thought, hey, what the heck. Thus, I candied some more nuts! They was great... but I probably could have eaten the nuts without the salad! :)

In the future, I think I'm just gunna leave the salad making to the Pro's.

Sweet & Spicy Candied Pecans

Nonstick Vegetable Spray

3 TBSP Light Corn Syrup

1 1/2 TBSP Sugar

3/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

1 1/2 Cups Pecan Pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine corn syrup and next 4 ingredients in a bowl. Stir together to blend. Add pecans and stir gently to coat. Transfer to prepared cooking sheet.

Bake pecans for 5 minutes. Using a fork, break up pecan pieces and then continue cooking until pecans are bubbly & golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a sheet of foil on the counter top. Use your fork & quickly separate the pecans that have been stuck together. Cool on foil. Use in your favorite salad, or store for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

***For this particular salad I used:

Granny Smith Apples

Hormel Bacon pieces

Thinly Sliced Purple Onions

Spinach, Baby Greens, Radichio

Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese

Craisins

Cranberry, Walnut, Gorgonzola Salad Dressing from Trader Joe's

& I would have used the pomegranate seeds I purchased but them seemed to have disappeared...

Black Bean Burritos

4 (10 inch) flour tortillas

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon minced Jalapeno peppers

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 (15. ounce) can of black beans, mostly drained, but leaving a little liquid

3 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

dash chili powder

Optional: Chicken, diced tomatoes, cumin powder, corn kernels

Directions

Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven heated to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapenos in skillet, cook for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour beans into skillet and cook 3 minutes stirring. Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to skillet with salt and chili powder. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir cilantro into mixture. Spoon mixture into tortillas and serve! Can top with cheese, salsa, sour creme, avocados/guacamole, etc.

***This is a bit spicy, so if you'd like to tone it down you can add steamed rice in the tortillas or cut down on the jalapeno pepper (I suggest removing the seeds, will be super hot if you add them!)

Beware: After cutting jalapenos, do not touch your face! Rich and I have both done this and boy, it stings!