Thai Green Curry - a foray and a variation

I have never attempted Thai food before. Well, once I made a Thai chicken coconut soup recipe from Cooking Light, but beyond that I've been too afraid to venture into that world. It is one of my favorite cuisines. How could I ever presume to rival the tasty goodness of Thailand?

With a little help from my dear friends at The Savory Spice Shop and their home-mixed Thai Green Curry, that's how.

What follows is a recipe I picked up in the shop, with a few variations of my own. This recipe can be easily adjusted to fit your needs (or whatever you happen to have in you fridge).

Want a vegetarian option? Substitute fried tofu for the chicken and equal parts oil and water for the fish sauce (add a splash of soy sauce with the basil to give it a little salt).

Don't have (or don't like) green beans? Substitute any chopped veggies: zucchini and squash work well, green or red bell pepper, broccoli, a handful of edamame. Add a can of drained, sliced bamboo shoots or water chestnuts. Curry is the catch-all dish ... take whatever you have in your fridge and toss it in.

(Spicy) Thai Green Curry with Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cubed
2 cup coconut milk (not the light variety - blech!)
1/3 - 1/2 lb fresh green beans, chopped into 1 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup canned, diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 t ground turmeric
2 T Thai Green Curry (Savory Spice Shop)
2 T fish sauce
pinch dried basil

1. In a bowl, toss cubed chicken with turmeric and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat coconut milk over low heat for 5-6 minutes.
3. Mix curry with fish sauce to form a paste.
4. Whisk paste into coconut milk, add tomatoes, and cook for 5-6 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium, add chicken, and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Reduce heat to low, add green beans and stir thoroughly. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until beans are cooked (but still have a bite).
7. Stir in basil and continue cooking, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes.
8. Serve over rice. (I like to use brown ... its chewy texture soaks up all the saucy goodness. Mmmmmmm.)

An obsession with salad

salad w/ mizithra, originally uploaded by Wanderings.

My recent traveling companion in Europe found my obsession with green veggies quite amusing. If I didn't get them every day, I went into a kind of emotional panic. I love green beans. I love broccoli. And I LOVE salad.

Tonight I built my meal around this salad, which I've adapted numerous times from my friend Verda's Classic Green Salad. This version had a new twist - mizithra cheese. I had walked into the grocery story planning on making a Greek salad, but when I reached up for my favorite tasty imported feta I noticed a new addition to the imported cheese selection. Mmmmm... Verda's salad with Mizithra.

What else could I do with it? Well, I've always wanted to imitate The Old Spaghetti Factory's "spaghetti w/ browned butter & mizithra", so I headed over to the pasta aisle and picked up some whole wheat linguini. And since my brother taste-tester is a carnivore, I also picked up some chicken thighs and garlic.

The Chicken:
Oven at 450.
Chicken pieces arranged skin side up on a broiler pan.
Make a paste of crushed garlic, dried oregano, sea salt, and a little melted butter and spread it around under the skin.
Brush the rest of the melted butter on top of the skin and sprinkle with a little more salt (I used course grey sea salt and it was amazing!).
Bake at 450 for 45 minutes.

The Pasta:
Cook the pasta as directed, being careful not to overcook. It should have a bit of a bite left. Remember to add a touch of salt to the cooking water.
Melt butter in a frying pan at a low heat (I was winging this one). I think I remember correctly that you're supposed to continue to heat it until the foam has subsided and it starts to give off a nutty smell and acquire a slightly browned appearance.
Toss the spaghetti w/ the butter in the pan, then transfer to a serving dish.
Grate copious amounts of mizithra onto the spaghetti.
Finish with a generous sprinkling of freshly ground pepper.
*Also good with parmesan instead of mizithra and olive oil instead of butter.

The Salad:
Choose your own ratio of ingredients...
red leaf lettuce (I think it mixes with other ingredients better than romaine)
thinly sliced carrot (the originals ... not the babies)
thinly sliced cucumber (make sure you peel it if it's not an English cucumber)
grated mizithra (or parmesan)
dressing: oregano, olive oil, sherry (or red wine) vinegar, s & p