Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Mushrooms and Tofu

During the holiday season there is a lot of roasted, braised, baked and stewed food available. Rich, sumptuous decadence is the theme of the season. In fact, it was while making a sausage dressing and marinating a bird on Thanksgiving Eve that I made this light, yet satisfying soup for dinner.

I think subconsciously I wanted something fresh and light, and while this soup still packs plenty of flavor because of the spiciness of the Thai red curry paste, it didn’t leave us feeling weighed down. It is made of several of the same ingredients as the popular Thai soup Tom Ka Gai, or Coconut Chicken Soup, but it doesn’t require ingredients you may not typically stock, like fish sauce. Actually, instead of fish sauce, one of those condiments I always mean to purchase but always forget when I’m at the market, I used a generous splash of another fermented product, good old soy sauce. We all have about 20 packets of this stuff (and duck sauce) stashed in a drawer somewhere from all that Chinese take-out, right? Well here’s your chance to use it!

I have an organic miso tamari sauce would work really well here too, as would any similar fermented and salty flavoring sauce. Just a few splashes will do because the point isn’t to taste the condiment as much as to experience the depth of flavor just a dab will provide to the soup.

A note about the tofu: I used firm tofu and cut it into 1-inch strips, then added it in the last 5 minutes of cooking so that it wouldn't fall apart and crumble into the soup essentially making a mess of something that was supposed to be clean tasting. Also note that once the tofu was added I didn't boil the soup or do too much stirring. It can sit, warm, like this for a while if you need to do other things before serving your soup, but know that the longer it sits the higher the risk of the tofu breaking up. Even more so if you use silken tofu.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Mushrooms and Tofu

1 can coconut milk
½ cup water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 tsp Thai red curry paste
½ pound button mushrooms, quartered
1 pound firm tofu, cut into 1 inch strips
salt to taste
soy sauce to taste
cilantro
lime


In a medium sauce pan, combine coconut milk, water, garlic and ginger. Bring up to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. Stir in curry paste and mushrooms, season with salt and soy sauce to taste, and simmer for 5 minutes. Gently add tofu and continue cooking on a med-low heat for 5 minutes. Spoon into bowls, top with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Kale in a Spicy Sundried Tomato Broth

For this dish, I borrowed a little spiciness from Jamaica and some sweetness from the Mediterranean sun. This dish was darned tasty in the 10-15 minutes of preparation and cooking, but it was even better when re-heated and served for dinner the next day.

This dish is low in fat (almost non-existent), vegan (not just vegetarian) and ready in 10 minutes thanks to two prepared condiments stocked in my fridge -- mild jerk paste and sundried tomato puree. And thanks to kale as the main ingredient, it’s mind-blowingly healthy. But don’t worry, I wouldn’t bother mentioning it if it wasn’t delicious. Or as Michael described it (and he’s a Southern-bred greens connoisseur): “fantastic.”

I mention how much I love kale at least once a week. And today I’m excited to share with you a different presentation of the deep green leafy vegetable that provides more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost anything I can think of.

photo from Live Earth CSA Farm in California
Being from the South, greens are a staple on the table. Collards, mustards, turnips and kale turn up at ever major gathering from Sunday dinner, to holidays, to weddings and funerals. However, the typical boil-it-to-death approach of traditional Southern greens has gone out of vogue with the younger set, and greens have found themselves being used as wrappers for sausage stuffing, as parsley replacements in tabboulleh made with quinoa and collards (I’ll have to post that recipe eventually) and even quick sautéed with garlic and lemon juice (one of Michael’s favorites). And those are just some of my “nouveaux Southern” uses for greens.

Quick background on kale: it’s a leafy member of the Brassica family which includes cabbage, brussel sprouts and collard greens. Kale is one of those fantastic vegetables for new gardeners because the plants are very hearty, easy to grow and withstand frost.

It is considered one of the “winter greens” but is available year round in most markets -- even pre-washed and cut for those in a time crunch.

For in depth information and a detailed nutritional profile on kale visit The World’s Healthiest Foods website. For those taking certain medications or suppliments, or with thyroid problems or iron/calcium/vitamin K absorption issues due to prescription meds, you need to monitor your intake of vegetables such as kale, so please do your research accordingly.


Kale in a Spicy Sundried Tomato Broth

½ pound kale, washed, stemmed and roughly chopped
1 Tbsp mild jerk paste
3 Tbsp sundried tomatoes in oil, minced or pureed
3-4 cups water

Combine water, jerk paste and sundried tomatoes in a medium pot and bring to a boil. In batches, add the kale, adding more as the greens wilt down. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until desired doneness, at least 10 minutes or longer if you like more tender greens. This is delicious reheated and served the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to meld together.

Garlic Stuffed Pork Roast with Cranberry Glaze

This is an easy roast, especially for those who don’t cook. I mean, let’s face it. Just the word “roast” sounds impressive, reminiscent of some long-lost housewifey tradition or closely guarded chef’s secret stuffed in a kitchen vault somewhere. But don’t be intimidated. A roast is just a big piece of meat that can pretty much take care of itself while you take all the credit.

Say you have guests coming over. You can’t cook and you were thinking of grabbing a rotisserie chicken from the local market. Don’t do it. With this roast you can look like a pro, and it takes no skill whatsoever, yet it’s delicious and smells divine.

This is a 2 pound pork ribeye roast, and can feed 6 adults if sliced and served with sides. If you’re just two guys eating, you’ll probably both eat half – go on, admit it. I picked it up at Wally World of all places, so you know we’re not talking anything that’s hard to find or a special trip to a butcher. If you get a better cut of meat, good on ya, but it’s not necessary.

You can see the little blue pop up thermometer in there – it makes cooking this thing foolproof. When it pops up, the roast is done. That’s it!

Ok now here’s how we take this blank slate and “trick it out” so to speak. I worked from the bottom of the roast, not the side with the popup thermometer, and using a sharp knife I essentially stabbed the roast. Or more specifically, in regular intervals about 2 inches apart I cut deep slits into the roast, and inserted large chunks cut from about 5 healthy cloves (not heads) of garlic (peeled, of course). The end result is the meat is studded throughout with chunks of garlic. Use less if you don’t just love garlic, because 5 cloves for this little roast is a LOT. You have been warned.

Now here’s where we Pimp My Pork. Thickly slice one medium yellow onion and place it in the center of a roasting pan to make a nice bed for your roast. I like to use a perforated pan or rack placed in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet. The roast does drip but not much. To make clean up easier you can line the pan or sheet w/ aluminum foil but I never think to do this until I’m washing the darned thing after the fact. Anyway, top the onion “bed” with plenty of fresh thyme sprigs, and don’t even bother “stemming” the thyme; just lay them as-is on top of the onions. Now place your roast on the “bed” and season generously with salt, pepper and cumin (don’t have cumin, don’t worry about it). Top with “stemmed” thyme, about 1 teaspoon. Don’t have fresh thyme? Don’t sweat it. Use dried. Use some of that groovy ubiquitous “Italian Herb Blend” that goes with everything. Remember, this is easy and foolproof.

Ok into a 350 degree oven she goes for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the pop up thermometer pops up. Resist the urge to open the oven door for at least an hour if you have a roast in the neighborhood of 2 pounds (or 1.79 pounds, as in this case). This is the best part, because while it’s cooking away, you have an hour to do something else. Make side dishes, go get dressed and set the table, clean up the kitchen so it looks like you never broke a sweat, wash the car, call your mother, start some laundry, read some books to the kids … whatever you gotta do. Set your oven timer and you’re off the clock for an hour. When the hour is up, make the glaze. It takes all of five minutes.

This glaze, and others like it, is the best use of that cranberry jelly that’s stocked sky high in supermarkets around Thanksgiving. This time of year Michael starts buying this stuff like it’s going out of style, although I’ve never seen him actually EAT it, so it’s usually in my pantry and I just have to check for expiration dates (does it expire?). Put 3 tablespoons of cranberry jelly (or orange marmalade if you have it instead) in a small pan, add ¼ cup of orange juice and over medium heat, stir until it all blends together. It should have a consistency slightly thicker than pancake syrup. That’s it. If you want, you can add some dashes of ground ginger, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper etc. But I wanted the garlic and thyme to really stand out on this roast so I left it as is.

Once your pop up thermometer pops up, spoon this glaze all over the top of the roast, and put it back in the oven. Crank up the temp to 500 degrees for 3-5 minutes. The roast is probably done to about medium now, or possibly a little more. (From my restaurant experience of serving hundreds of pork loins I can speculate that most people don’t eat medium rare pork, but if that’s your preference, glaze it at one hour and pull it from the oven as soon as the thermometer pops up.) Pull the roast out of the oven and let it sit on the cutting board for a good 5-10 minutes so the juices distribute evenly throughout the meat, or at least that’s what we’re taught in culinary school. Discard the onion and thyme “bed”.

Now when you slice this, use a long sharp knife and cut across the grain using long slow strokes. Not only do you get nice slices that way, but it’s more dramatic when you’re slicing at the table for presentation. All eyes will be on you, and each slice will fall down dramatically, studded with garlic and filling up the room with fantastic aroma. You will look like such “da man” or “da wo-man” and your guests will actually start to introduce you as a “great cook” at parties.

Grilled Lamb in Rosemary-Tomato Broth with Crispy Curry Chickpeas

Around here we love our grill. What a great way to cook meat. Honestly, if it weren’t for our grill – a little cast iron kettle-style job – we probably would be vegetarians. Well, almost vegetarians.

What makes grilling so fantastic (besides being a low-fat cooking method that just happens to keep the house cool in the summer months and lets you keep an eye on the kids playing outside as you simultaneously knock out dinner) is the infinite flavor possibilities present when you learn how to marinate meat. Experimenting with fresh herbs, fruit juices, vinegars, oils, and a plethora of aromatics, condiments and spices is the part we look forward to most.

And we’re such grill nerds that we eagerly look forward to that first slice of still-warm meat that’s resting on the cutting board after a stint on the grill. Will the gentle acid of pineapple juice be enough to tenderize the meat? Did the hint of fresh oregano disappear into the tang of lemon zest? Were the coals hot enough to sear off the fat leaving lean, tender flesh behind without charring? Only that first bite will tell…

Sometimes, the next day there isn't enough leftover meat to make it fair for one or the other of us to eat it without feeling guilty. Especially if it was a particularly good marinade, cut of meat or grilling job. That was the case with this one lonely lamb shoulder chop. Michael made the marinade this time and described it as “a light jerk.” I have no idea what all went into it, but it was delicious. Today, however there was only one lonely lamb chop left and it would’ve been wrong of me to eat it in Michael’s absence. What to do? Make “stoupili” – my silly word for soup-stew-chili dishes.

I actually bought the lamb to make a stew, so I went ahead with my plans knowing that the lamb now had a delicious smokiness to it from being grilled and just the hint of spice from the marinade.

That inspired me to make some Crispy Curry Chickpeas to adorn the stew, which has a light yet rich tomato broth, given depth from the shortcut of caramelizing just a couple of spoonfuls of jarred spaghetti sauce (something that’s always in my fridge).

Some staple veggies went into building the base of the sauce as well, you know… carrots, onions, garlic. And at the end, for freshness’ sake I threw in a scant amount of thinly sliced kale leaves and a thickly cut zucchini. When it comes to adding zucchini to soups, sauces and the like, I like to add it toward the end and cut it larger than the other ingredients because few things are less appetizing than wimpy, slimy overcooked squash. Ew.

With only one cup of water added to this stew, it’s another thick and hearty batch of goodness, but with distinct, clean flavors, thanks to the addition of fresh rosemary and the short cooking time – from first slice to plate up it probably took me 30-45 minutes and that’s because I was ad-libbing, I’m a slow improviser. The body and depth of the shortcut tomato broth really compliments the smoky grilled flavor of the lamb.

Serve with a nice earthy grain like bulgur or brown rice and this is one solid meal that is low in fat, particularly if you are moderate with the Crispy Curry Chickpeas.

Grilled Lamb in Rosemary-Tomato Broth

1 yellow onion, small dice
1 medium carrot, small dice
1 healthy sprig rosemary, stemmed and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 roma tomato, diced with juices
2-3 Tbsp spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
1 ½-2 loose cups cooked, diced lamb
2 large kale leaves, ribs removed, sliced into thin ribbons (chiffonade)
1 zucchini, medium dice (to retain firmness when cooked)

Sauté onion with carrot until onion starts to become translucent. Add rosemary and garlic and cook until garlic is tender. Add tomatoes and spaghetti sauce and cook until the mixture begins to caramelize slightly. Add water and lamb. Season with a little salt and pepper and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add kale and zucchini and cook 10 more minutes. Serve with brown rice or cooked bulgur and top with generous amount of Crispy Curry Chickpeas.

Crispy Curry Chick Peas

1 can chick peas, rinsed and dry
curry powder
cinnamon
crushed red pepper
cumin

Heat 2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil over med-high heat. CAREFULLY add the chickpeas (any residual moisture will make the hot oil splatter) and the spices. Fry the chickpeas until crispy being careful not to burn them. It should take 5-10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel and season with salt while still hot. These make a great snack. Salty and crispy like nuts, but with a spicy warmth and peppery kick!