Thai Green Curry

Servings: 2 to 4

This recipe is a little labor intensive, but it is not hard. The vegetables are cooked perfectly, the flavor is just right, and this dish of mixed vegetables with rice and lots of sauce makes a great meal. I use "lite" coconut milk. It has half the calories of regular coconut milk, and makes a very creamy sauce without all the fat.

Prepare vegetables for curry:

Combine all or any of these raw vegetables to make a total of 5 cups.  When cooked they will yield about 4 cups, or 2 cups per person.

• 10 - 12 carrot slices cut in thin rounds
• 1 cup asparagus spears or green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup broccoli florets, cut in half
• 6 - 8 mushrooms, brushed clean, large ones cut in half, small ones leave whole
• 12 snow peas, destring and cut diagonally
• 1/4 cup sweet red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
  
• 2 cups bok choy, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup English cucumber (not waxed), sliced into half moons
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh English green peas

Ingredients for Thai Green Curry:

• 1 - 2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste**
• 1 - 13 ounce can lite coconut milk
• 1 - 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon sherry, not cooking sherry
• a pinch of ground cumin
• a pinch of ground cayenne (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon Thai fish sauce or salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Bring all of the above ingredients for the green curry sauce to a boil in a medium-large pan , then simmer for 5 minutes uncovered. Remove from the heat and reserve.

**  Available at your local supermarket. If you are eating Thai green curry for the first time, you may want start with 1 tablespoon.

Cooking the vegetables: is more like blanching them.  Cook them in small batches. When cooked they should be bright in color and still slightly crunchy.  Do not overcook them.

Cooking time for the vegetables:

• carrots, asparagus (or green beans) - cook for 3 minutes
• mushrooms and red pepper - cook for 2 minutes
  
• broccoli  - cook for 2 minutes
• green onion, snow peas and cucumbers - cook for 1 minute

In a medium size pan add 1 cup vegetable broth and 1 cup of water OR 2 cups of water, and 1 teaspoon of Bragg Liquid Aminos or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, add vegetable(s), cook briefly, stirring occasionally, remove from pan with a slotted spoon, and spread on a large plate to cool and prevent them from cooking anymore. 

Do not overload the pan with blanching all of the vegetables at once since there is only a small amount of liquid remaining. You want to make sure that the vegetables cook evenly.

Remove vegetables from the broth and add back any vegetable broth left on the plate, raise the temperature and simmer the broth until it is reduced to 1/2 cup of liquid...then add to the coconut milk mixture.

Bring the coconut milk mixture to a boil, add the bok choy and English peas, reduce heat and simmer these vegetables for 1 minute. Add in all the blanched vegetables, gently stir and simmer for 1 - 2  more minutes. Turn off the heat leaving the pan on the burner. When vegetables are all heated, serve immediately in bowls with your choice of rice and additional hot sauce, if desired.

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