Every year at this time, those dang winter blues start to get ahold of me. This year, I’ve got an entire plan of action to try and beat them! For starters, I’ve decided to invite friends over for weekly lunches. Good, healthy food and great conversation always give me a pick-me-up. I find myself hibernating and isolating myself during the winter months, and that almost always leads to feeling more down. Today I invited some neighborhood friends over for some homemade curry and build-your-own Vietnamese spring rolls. And you know what? I feel enriched and energized from a great discussion we had about mimimizing stress in the new year. So for today at least, my plan worked!

This curry recipe is THE BEST! I figured I’d share it with all of my friends out there.

Basic Curry Recipe (serves 1-2):

1 T. Oyster sauce

¾ C. coconut milk

1 ½ – 2 T. fish sauce

½ t. chili powder

½ – 1 T. sugar (red less sweet than yellow)

1 T. curry paste (mix with a ladle of chicken broth) (for Panang, use less paste as it is spicy.)

Kaffir lime leaves if desired

Meat of choice

Vegetables of choice (I love red and yellow bell peppers, onions, sweet potato, bamboo shoots (canned), and broccoli

1. Saute raw meat with curry paste and broth for about 2-3 minutes or until meat is almost done.
2. Add coconut milk, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar and chili powder.
3. Add vegetables last and cook 1-2 minutes.
4. Add broth as it boils for desired consistency
5. For Rama Curry, add 1-2 T. JIF peanut butter at the end of the cooking.

This is the curry paste I use and it makes all the difference!

With the exception of the curry paste, you can find all the ingredients you need at the local grocery store, but it’s even more fun to go on an adventure to a local Asian market! Yesterday the girls and I stocked up on ingredients at Ocean Mart.

Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we do.  I’d love to hear how it turns out!

 

xoxo,

Jamie