Hearty Green Curry

Winter fairly begs for warm, toasty curries, soups, and comfort food. We've had quite a few grey days in a row and this morning I had some trouble dragging myself out of bed. A long day later, and comfort food sounded lovely.

I managed to cut all the vegetables without cutting myself, though it was touch and go there for a second.

When it all came together, it looked delicious. And happy. And yummy. And curry-y.

Simple, good food like this makes the end of the day a little happier.

Hearty Green Curry
Serves 4
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 inches ginger, peeled and diced
3/4 c crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 c green beans
1/2 c white wine, chicken stock, or water
2 T olive oil
1 can coconut milk
1-3 teaspoons green curry paste, depending on your spice tolerance
salt
Soba noodles


Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the squash. Cook for 10 minutes, until nearly tender. Remove the squash with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the cauliflower to the boiling water and boil for 4-5 minuutes, until nearly tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the soba noodles to the water and cook until done; 5-7 minutes. Set aside.
Heat the oil over medium heat until shimmery and add the onion and mushroom to the pan. Sautee 5 minutes, until tender and slightly golden. Add the ginger and cook an additional 2 minutes, until fragrant and lovely.
Add the squash to the pan with the onions and reduce heat slightly. Cook 5-7 minutes, until the squash is slightly caramelized. Pour in the wine or stock to deglaze the pan.
Add the cauliflower and the green beans and stir to combine.
In a small bowl, combine 1-3 teaspoons of green curry paste with 2 T of the coconut milk and stir out any lumps. Add the mix to the vegetables and simmer for 3-4 minutes to toast the spices. Add the remaining coconut milk and stir. Simmer 5-7 minutes to heat it through.
Serve over soba.

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup

You know what curry dishes are good for? Stopping the almost-cold from getting any further. (That, of course, is only one of the many good thing about curry. The bad thing about curry is that I am unable to spell and have spelled it 'currey' every time I typed it while writing this. Which is awesome. (Except not.))

And when curry meets soup on a cold, rainy, blustery, not-quite-spring day like we had yesterday? Then curry is even better. This soup warmed us from the inside out, thanks in part to the magic of soup and in part to the warmth of the curry. Spinach and purple cabbage made it colorful and fun to look at and the somen gave it heft and body that helped to make it a perfect gloomy day dinner.

Once you have the vegetables in the pan, scootch them all to once side and add the curry (currey!) paste, letting it cook for a minute or three. When you pour in the coconut milk, stir just that half until the curry is totally mixed in. This particular paste has a kick to it, so clumps can be particularly ... surprising.

Just before you pull the soup off the heat, it should look something like this - supremely colorful and aromatic from the curry, coconut, basil, and cilantro.

The last, and best, step is the eating.

This soup was also good in that it came together relatively quickly - about half an hour.

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup
Serves 4
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 c crimini mushrooms, chopped
1 c chopped purple cabbage
2 c chicken thighs, chopped
2 T green curry paste (or to taste)
1 can coconut milk
4 c chicken stock
1/2 c basil, chopped
2 c spinach, washed and chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
1 bunch somen noodles

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat with 2 T olive oil.
   
2. Once the onion is translucent, add the cabbage to the pan and stir.
   
3. Cook the vegetables for 3-5 minutes and stir in the chicken.
   
4. Push all the chicken and vegetables to one side and add the curry paste, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring the curry paste only
   periodically. Once the curry paste starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, pour in 3 T coconut milk and stir the curry paste and coconut milk together until all the clumps are incorporated. Once the curry is incorporated, stir the curry mixture into the vegetables and chicken.
   
5. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
   
6. Add the somen, spinach, basil, and cilantro, and cook 4 additional minutes.
   
7. Serve.