Potato and Vegetable Green Curry

I have a love/hate relationship with curries. I don't ever order them at restaurants because I often find curry seasonings to be unpleasant. I have found a few brands of powdered seasonings and pastes that I enjoy and prefer to make them at home so that I can be sure I'll enjoy them. However, curry is one of my husband's favorites, so we make it pretty often.

This is my first try at a green curry. I don't usually like using things like seasoning pastes, but I have used a prepared curry paste here - Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste to be exact. It says on the bottle to start at 1/2 tablespoon and work your way up, but I ended up putting in close to 4 tablespoons and it was still not spicy. You know your tolerance for spicyness - add it to your liking, or add in extra hot peppers if you'd like it extra spicy.

I have used fish sauce in this recipe, making it not vegetarian. This could simply be vegan without the fish sauce, however it would take away quite a bit of flavor. Creative vegan cooks should know how to get around that :)

I like to serve this with hot brown rice. You could use jasmine or basmati rice, or get creative with noodles - or maybe add in some vegetable or chicken broth to make this a soup? This will make about two or three dinner sized portions.


Potato and Vegetable Green Curry

• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 3-4 small or medium red or yukon gold potatoes, cut into small chunks
• about 1 or 2 heads of broccoli florets
• 1 small red pepper, sliced thinly
• 1-2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 2 cups or so of torn baby spinach leaves
• 1-4 tablespoons green curry paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• optional garnish ideas: chopped fresh cilantro or mint, shredded coconut, crushed peanuts or cashews, fresh lime wedges
• hot rice or noodles for serving

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the potatoes until almost done, about ten minutes or so. In a separate pan, saute the onions in a little bit of olive oil until they are translucent, about five minutes.

Once the potatoes are done, drain them well and return the pot to the stove. Add in the coconut milk and curry paste and let gently simmer for about five minutes or so. Stir in the potatoes, broccoli, red pepper, garlic, fish sauce and brown sugar. Stir and let gently simmer, covered, for about five minutes. Taste and add in more curry paste, fish sauce and/or brown sugar, if desired.

Let the curry simmer, covered, until the potatoes and broccoli are tender to your liking. During the last minute or so of cooking, stir in the spinach leaves until they are wilted. Serve over the rice or noodles.

Vegetables swimming in a delicious sea of flavor