Curried Carrot Soup

I had accidentally bought a new bag a of carrots last time I went to the grocery store when I already had a bunch so I had to do something with them. Carrot soup was what I decided on. I have a lot of spices so I made my own curry style seasoning mix. This easy recipe cost $10, makes 10-12 servings and takes 45 minutes or less.

Organic Curried Carrot Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 organic leek, rough chopped
1 organic white onion, rough chopped
2 lb organic baby carrots
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup water
-Curry Seasoning Mix-
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Start a large (5-8qt) sauce pot on medium and add oil. Add onions and leeks and let cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add curry seasoning mix and toss. Add carrots and toss with onions and leeks. Add broth, cream and water and turn to medium low (3.5 of 10). Let cook about 25 minutes or until the carrots are fork tender. Add to a blender in batches and puree until smooth. Add puree mixture back to the sauce pot. Add water to get desired texture and let cook for 10 minutes. Add some yogurt or heavy cream for garnish. I also threw in some fresh thyme leaves from my garden to add freshness.

This can be done with store bought curry powder or you can skip the curry all together. It turned out very tasty and not too "carroty" tasting with a little heat on the end. Enjoy!

Chicken Thai Massaman Curry with Scallion-Lime Couscous

Thai Massaman curry is a dish that is a bit more like an Indian curry because of the use of some of the savory spices like nutmeg, clove and cardamom. There are many versions to this dish, so I made it as authentic as I could based on what ingredients I had in the house. This dish whips up quick, about 40 minutes, costs about $20 and feeds 4 people.



Chicken Thai Massaman Curry

- Dry Spice Mix -
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 clove, crushed

- Wet Spice Mix -
1 Jalapeño pepper, chopped
1 Serrano chili, chopped
1 Finger Hot chili, chopped
1 Anaheim chili, chopped
1 bay leaf, crushed
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon grass, chopped

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 lb package of chicken tenderloins, cut into inch pieces
1 large organic sweet potato, diced to 1/2 inch squares
1/2 cup organic carrots, chopped to 1/2 inch squares
1/2 large organic vidallia onion, diced to 1/2 inch squares
4 organic scallions, rough chopped - tops reserved for garnish
1/2 a red bell pepper, diced to 1/2 inch squares
1 small can of bamboo shoots
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or fish sauce, but wifes allergic so soy it is)
1 12 oz can coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut water
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

(I didn't have these three ingredients but they make awesome additions)
1/4 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted cashews or peanuts
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Mix all dry spices together. In a mortar and pestal (or food processor) blend all wet spice mix ingredients into a paste. Mix half of the dry spice mix with the chopped chicken tenderloins. Chop all of the vegetables and turn a large pot to medium heat. Once the pan is very hot, add the oils and then add the chicken. Let the chicken cook for 3 minutes on each side to get color, but do not cook all the way through. Remove the chicken and turn the heat down to medium low. Add the wet spice mix and stir rapidly, let cook for 1 minute. Now add the vegetables (onion, carrot, scallion, bell pepper and sweet potato) and let that cook for about 7 minutes. Now add the cooked chicken, bamboo shoots and the remaining half of the dry spice mix. Mix that well and then add the soy sauce, coconut milk and coconut water. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the basil leaves. If you had the pineapple, cashews and/or cilantro, add those at this time as well. Let it stand for about 5 minutes and then serve.



Scallion-Lime Couscous

1 and 1/2 cups water (or vegetable stock)
1/2 cup coconut water
juice from 1 lime
peel from one lime, grated
3 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain couscous

Start a medium sauce pot on high with the water and coconut water. Once it boils add lime juice, lime peel, salt, scallions and couscous. Mix well and cover with aluminum foil and the pot lid to ensure a tight seal. Remove it from the heat and let it stand for at least 10 minutes. Open and fluff with a fork.


I scooped out the soft couscous and ladled out some of the beautiful coconut curry on the side of it. I then topped it with the sliced scallion tops and a wedge of lime. Although there were a lot of spicy ingredients, the dish was not extremely spicy because the coconut milk tempers the spice a lot. Traditionally this is served with rice but I didn't have any rice so the couscous was a great alternative and lighter side that matched perfectly. Enjoy!

Seafood Thai Green Curry

Thai green curry is a flavor packed meal, thats becuase there are so many ingredients to work with. For beginners, I recommend buying the green curry paste and then graduating to making that paste when you have the other parts of the dish down.

Green Curry Paste
1/2 cup basil (thai if you can find it)
1/2 cup cilantro
6 green chilis (thai if you find)
1 tablespoon ground ginger (galingol)
1 tablespoon ground garlic
1 shallot or 1/4 red onion
3 green onions chopped
1 piece of lemon grass
juice from 1/2 a lime
1 bay leaf
cumin, coriander, salt and pepper

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. I used finger hot, Anaheim, habanero and jalapeño chillies because they didn't have Thai chilis.



Once you have the green curry paste you can begin making the rest of the dish. The curry paste will last about a week in the fridge if you want to make extra to save.

Seafood Vegetable Thai Green Curry

1 pound peeled deveined shrimp (u24 is a good size)
1/2 pound bay scallops
8oz jumbo lump crab meat (any crab meat will suffice)

1 thai eggplant, chopped large
1 cup broccoli and cauliflower mix
1/2 cup carrots, julienned
1 green bell pepper, julienned
1 can of bamboo shoots, julienned

1 cup of Thai green curry paste
2 cans lite coconut milk

1 handful of unsalted cashews (I had salted so I rinsed them in cold water)
1/2 cup of basil
1/2 cup cilantro

Garnish
Sliced Avocado
Green onions
Cilantro
Basil
Lime wedges

Start a large cooking vessel or wok on medium high heat. Add vegetable oil to coat the bottom and add you vegetables, cover. After 5 minutes remove the veggies and add your seafood. Stir to cook evenly, after 5 minutes remove and set aside, they will cook through in the curry. Add green curry paste to the pot and let it cook for 1 minute, do worry they will bring out all of the flavor. Add the coconut milk and mix it through, let it cook for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to low and add the veggies and the seafood. Let cook for twenty minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cashews, cilantro and basil.



I also boiled up some nice jasmine rice and added a little coconut oil and salt. The lump crab meat made the dish so rich and coated all of the other items in the mix. We had our friends Sean & Dana over for dinner. They both know their Thai food well and we all cleaned our plates so I was happy with my first try at Thai Curry from scratch.

Potato and Eggplant Curry with Basmati Rice, Spouts Salad and Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

Wow, where to start. I have been trying to make my own curries (dry and wet, green and red) recently and after a lot of research I have made some progress. Since it is Saturday, I was able to go to the weekly organic farmers market in Coconut Grove and pick up some key ingredients.

After the market, Nicole and I went to our friends Josue and Laura's house to try to make some serious vegetable curry. We chose eggplants, white sweet potato, baby sweet potato, vidallia onion and purple potato for the vegetables. I chopped all of the potatoes uniformly about a 1/2 inch square. I also chopped the eggplant and onion uniformly at 3/4 inch square. I laid the veggies out on a sheet tray and baked them for 25 minutes at 315 or until cooked but still firm.

In the meantime I went about making the curry. For the wet green curry I mixed chopped garlic, ginger, Serrano chillies, jalapeño peppers, habanero peppers, coconut water, fenugreek, coriander, salt and black pepper together with a mortar and pestal. For the dry curry I mixed powdered coriander, cumin, cayenne, red chili, mustard seed, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, star anise, nutmeg, bay leaf, thyme and turmeric in a dry sauté pan. I turned the pan on low and waited until the spices became fragrant. I then added the seasoning mix to the wet curry and belended it all together.

We chose to go classic and use basmati rice. Rinse the rice twice in cold water. Then add new water and bring the rice to a boil. Let the rice cook on medium heat until the rice has risen to the water level. Cover the pot using a piece of aluminum foil first the put on the pot lid , this will create a very tight seal. Turn it to low and let it cook another 7 to 9 minutes, set a side and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before fluffing.

I also made a cucumber yogurt condiment which consisted of: sliced cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, curry seasoning, salt and black pepper.

To finish the curry we started a large pot on medium heat. We added the curry and stirred it until fragrant. We then added a can of coconut milk and some coconut water. We let this cook for 10 minutes and then added all of the vegetables. We let that cook for another 10 minutes to get heated through and to allow the flavors to meld.

I served this with a sprouts salad that was a mix of organic sunflower, broccoli and buckwheat sprouts with a sprouted bean mix of 6 different beans. I tossed that with an herb-lime vinaigrette and some vidallia onions.

It turned out pretty good and I enjoyed it as well. I think this curry road is going to be a long a interesting flavor adventure. One I willingly will travel.