The days and weeks (and months!) have been flying by! Longer spring days have provided great motivation for excursions, gardening and checking things off the wedding planning to-do list. Season six of Weeds on Netflix has kept me busy too. It seems each time I whip up something in the kitchen, friends are over or we're realllly hungry, or I'm itching to work on wedding invitations or a knitting project or or or . So my blog has had a bit of a Spring Break. Let's imagine that it was relaxing on a white sand beach somewhere warm and sunny.
Today's recipe keeps things simple while highlighting some great spring vegetables. It's a great, quick recipe, yet full of YUM. Serve over millet, as seen here, or with rice, quinoa or another grain.
So what's been happening while my blog has been on Spring Break? SO much. Here's a peek:
Bill and I took a lovely (albeit rainy and foggy) excursion to Point Reyes, complete with a visit to the lighthouse, Drakes Bay Oysters, Cowgirl Creamery and Marin Sun Butchery. There's nothing like good company paired with a beautiful landscape and delicious food.
Bee keeping has also been taking up some of my time this spring. The San Mateo County Beekeepers Guild offers a free intro class each spring -- a full day of learning all the basics of keeping bees, schmoozing with seasoned beekeepers, and sampling different kinds of honey. After that I was ready to jump into it all. In the weeks following the class, I helped clean out an abandoned hive, harvested nearly 30 pounds of beautiful honey, donned the mesh-hooded protective bee suit to check on an active hive, and learned how to dump 14,000 new bees and their queen into an empty hive.
Spring has also been full of greenhouse work. The greenhouse at Collective Roots has been chock-full of seedlings. Nearly a thousand seedlings went to market last week for the annual heirloom seedling sale. There's always something to do: planting new seeds, mixing potting soil, potting up seedlings, fertilizing with stinky fish emulsion, hunting for elusive snails, etc.
Even though I haven't taken the time to rig up some fancy food photography, I've snapped a few sweet shots of my other favorite subjects: flowers and people!
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| strawflowers blooming their hearts out. |
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| Niko and Grandma |
So, now a recipe? As promised -- a lovely Spring Curry that's quick enough for a weeknight meal.
The original inspiration for this one came from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Everyday. Go ahead and sub in other veggies, if you'd like. Heidi uses cauliflower. Fiddleheads and spring ramps would be heavenly.
Spring Curry
serves 4
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped small
3 small zucchinis, sliced into coins
1 Tablespoon red curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
1 small head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces (cut the stem into small pieces so it cooks evenly)
1/2 bunch asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 ounces firm tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 -3 large leaves of Swiss Chard, spines removed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
jalapeno, sliced, optional
Directions:
1. If you are planning to eat this with a grain, get that going now. The millet cooks 1 cup millet: 3 cups water, similar to rice or quinoa (bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover), 25 minutes.
2. In a wok or large pan, heat the coconut or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a large pinch of salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. While onion is cooking, prepare the red curry paste by mixing it in a small bowl with a couple tablespoons of the coconut milk. The curry paste should be distributed evenly in the coconut milk.
4. Add the sliced zucchini to the onion, saute another minute.
5. Add the curry paste/coconut milk mixture to the onions and zucchinis, stir to coat everything.
6. Add the rest of the coconut milk, then the broccoli, asparagus, tofu and water or vegetable broth. Cover and cook 3 minutes, just until the vegetables start to get tender and everything is hot.
7. Uncover, turn off heat, add the Swiss Chard and stir to combine and wilt the leaves.
8. Taste and add salt or pepper as you'd like. If you want it spicy, add a few jalapenos, or Sriracha.
Spring Curry
serves 4
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped small
3 small zucchinis, sliced into coins
1 Tablespoon red curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
1 small head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces (cut the stem into small pieces so it cooks evenly)
1/2 bunch asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 ounces firm tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 -3 large leaves of Swiss Chard, spines removed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
jalapeno, sliced, optional
Directions:
1. If you are planning to eat this with a grain, get that going now. The millet cooks 1 cup millet: 3 cups water, similar to rice or quinoa (bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover), 25 minutes.
2. In a wok or large pan, heat the coconut or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a large pinch of salt. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. While onion is cooking, prepare the red curry paste by mixing it in a small bowl with a couple tablespoons of the coconut milk. The curry paste should be distributed evenly in the coconut milk.
4. Add the sliced zucchini to the onion, saute another minute.
5. Add the curry paste/coconut milk mixture to the onions and zucchinis, stir to coat everything.
6. Add the rest of the coconut milk, then the broccoli, asparagus, tofu and water or vegetable broth. Cover and cook 3 minutes, just until the vegetables start to get tender and everything is hot.
7. Uncover, turn off heat, add the Swiss Chard and stir to combine and wilt the leaves.
8. Taste and add salt or pepper as you'd like. If you want it spicy, add a few jalapenos, or Sriracha.
Serve over the grain of your choice in bowls.
Enjoy!
Just made this recipe for Naima tonight and she LOVED it! It was the first curry that she's ever had, and she couldn't get enough of it:) She probably would still be eating it, but after sitting at the dinner table with her for about an hour I finally had to call it quits! I made it over quinoa with a few different veggies and also added a few mustard seeds before putting the onions in to fry. What a DELICIOUS recipe for everyone from adults to 10 month old babies!
ReplyDeleteI love the mix of veggies, looks delish.
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