RED RICE AND VEGETABLE THAI CURRY STEW

This gluten-free one-pot meal is bursting with flavour and vegetables! It's a frequent work lunch for me, and it freezes really well if you want to do that so you can have a grab-and-go meal ready anytime. I used spring vegetables I had in the fridge, but you can use any seasonal produce - can't go wrong. Adjust spice levels to taste, and even top with sliced fresh chiles if you want!

Red Rice and Vegetable Thai Curry Stew

makes: 6 servings

- 3 cups cooked red rice (or black, brown or any other unpolished rice)

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced

- 2-3 green chiles, chopped

- 1 tbsp. grated ginger

- 4-5 cups chopped greens (chard, spinach, kale, collards, beet/radish/mustard greens, etc)

- 1 bulb fennel, diced

- 1 cup diced celery

- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

- 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

- 1 capsicum, cut into chunks

- 1-2 carrots, diced

- 1 tbsp. cold pressed coconut oil (or ghee, safflower/sunflower/peanut oil - not olive)

- 2 tbsp. Thai red curry paste

- 1 tbsp. Thai palm sugar (or Demerara sugar)

- 5-6 cups vegetable stock (or water)

- 1 tbsp. salt

- 1 tbsp. crushed red chile

- a handful of mint and cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

- 2 limes, halved

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the red curry paste over medium-low heat. If it starts to stick, add a bit of stock and stir to mix. When it's fragrant add the onions, garlic, ginger, and chiles and sauté till the onions are soft.
2. Add the vegetables except the greens and stir. Turn the heat up to medium and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally so the vegetables don't stick to the pan. Add the greens and mix. Cook for 2 minutes until the greens are just wilted. Mix in the cooked rice. 
3. Add 1/2 of the stock and mix to combine. Cook everything until the potatoes are cooked through.
4. Add the sugar, salt, crushed chile and mix. After the sugar dissolves, taste and adjust seasonings.
5. Remove the stew from the heat and squeeze in the lime.
6. Serve in bowls and garnish with the cilantro and mint. Pass around extra lime wedges.

SMOOTHIES GALORE, SWEET AND SAVOURY!

My family and friends often ask me for smoothie recipes and everytime - despite having this blog which I started so I could easily share recipes with everyone - I end up typing the recipes a few times to send to each person. So I decided to do a bit of a smoothie compendium. In this post I'm including some of the smoothies I make very often, if not almost everyday.

PRODUCE

Select fresh seasonal produce for your smoothies when its at peak flavour. There are some things I make a point to buy organic - herbs, tomatoes, root vegetables, apples, peaches, all berries, leafy greens, and corn- to name a few. But if you can't get organic produce, it's ok. Use whatever you get at your local market, just make sure its fresh and not wrinkled, stale looking, or partly rotten. Turmeric I always use raw but you could use powdered as well.

SEASONINGS

Remember that seasonings go a *long* way when blended so start small and add more if you want. I sometimes add a small amount of salt to my savoury smoothies because I like the slightly savoury element salt brings to the smoothie. You can, however, easily leave out the salt without negatively affecting the taste. Interestingly, celery adds a hint of saltiness to smoothies so you can use it instead if you wish. To savoury smoothies (sometimes also called raw soups) I add a bit of garlic, pepper, or crushed chile for a slight kick.

STORING SMOOTHIES

Smoothies and juices are of course best within 8-12 hours of blending, but if you really need to, you can safely store them in the fridge for 2 days. Or freeze them for a few days. Before I travel somewhere, I often freeze a couple of smoothies so I have a healthy meal or breakfast ready when I'm back.

Smoothies will develop flavour over a few hours, which is especially great when you're trying to ease into intense tasting things like kale, collard greens, mustard greens, etc. I don't ever have time to make smoothies in the morning so I make them at night and by the next morning, after everything has had time to meld together, I have a refreshing energising and filling bottle of the best meal ever!

The photos below are just ideas, feel free to modify ingredients based on whatever's in season or in your fridge. I don't use dairy in my smoothies and I also don't mix melons with other fruits. Herbs and greens like spinach are ok with melons. More on food combining later... 

PESTO OF FAVA (BROAD) BEAN GREENS

I love Lidia Bastianich. She has an amazing story, cooks incredible food, doesn't get too fusion-y with her food, and her recipes are bonafide. And, I love watching her show on television if she's on when I'm around a TV. I much prefer reading to TV - which I haven't owned in decades - so I don't watch shows too often but I do love watching her, Jacques Pepin, Hubert Keller, and a couple of others. So Lidia had - as she often does - her mum on the show once. And she was cooking while her mum entertained with stories of Lidia's cooking escapades. Apparently, Lidia started cooking when she was 4 - 5 yrs. old, for her dolls! She'd make different dishes everyday for her dolls - SO ADORABLE!!! How can that visual not make anyone smile? It's so cute!

Anyway so I never plan meals... I buy things then make meals around whatever I've found at the market. I'd already bought plenty of greens so I didn't need yet another bunch of anything to stir-fry or make into soup or smoothies... but the fava greens were too pretty to pass up. Especially because they're very much a spring thing, available for a short time since the young leafy tops and flowers of the plant are the best tasting. So if you can find some in the farmer's market, do get them.

So I had the last bit of walnuts in the fridge, the fava greens that were not meant to be anything specific, a few Meyer lemons from a gracious coworker's tree, a couple of leftover garlic cloves I'd roasted for a soup, and some fresh spearmint. I decided to throw it all together in a blender and call it done. And I'm so glad I did! From here on, this clean and bright-on-the-palate pesto is my favourite way of enjoying the earthy buttery flavour of fava greens! Unlike basil pestos, this one doesn't dull in colour so no need for covering with a layer of oil. If you don't have fava greens, use spinach or a combination of spinach and arugula (rocket leaves). And use a regular lemon or any variety of lemons.

To quickly roast garlic, put a few cloves skin-on in a pan and roast on medium-high heat turning occasionally until the garlic is soft and blackened in spots. This won't take more than 5-7 minutes.

Pesto of Fava (Broad) Bean Greens

makes: 1 cup

- 4 cups washed fava greens (leaves, flowers, and tender stems only)

- 1/2 cup mint leaves, washed

- 2-3 cloves roasted garlic

- 1 Meyer lemon, juiced

- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

- 1 tsp. salt

- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1. Put everything in a blender and blend into a smooth pesto.
2. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
3. Store in the fridge for up to a week.