veggie coconut curry
January 26, 2012 Three ingredients we’re big fan of in this house:
Brown rice.
Curry.
Coconut.
Mix them all together, and you have a trifecta of deliciousness.
I love playing around with curry in the kitchen. I really have no idea what I’m doing with it. Definitely not creating authentic Thai or Indian cuisine.
Definitely just winging it.
Definitely just judged by my taste buds.
taste. taste. taste.
That’s how I create dinner recipes.
I have a handful of curry recipes but this one is the simplest to prepare. And it’s quite possibly my favorite. It was inspired by a favorite dish of mine at a local restaurant, Crown Pub. It’s not a Thai restaurant at all. They have a menu overflowing with meaty dishes and one vegetarian + gluten free option.
King’s Curry.
Having only one option may seem like a drag, but I actually like it, especially when it’s this good. I’m the person that cannot for the life of me make up my mind on what to pick from the menu always begging Chris to “split with me!!”
What I’ve created below is a lightened up version of this comforting restaurant meal. Although a bit lighter the sauce is still rich + creamy with a nice kick of heat, complimented by the chewy coconut brown rice [I like using short grain brown rice the best!].
Veggie Coconut Curry [serves 4]
- 1, 15oz can light coconut milk
- 1.5T unrefined coconut oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped [~1c or a little more]
- 2 orange/red/yellow peppers, sliced
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 6c spinach
- 2c broccoli
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2T curry powder
- 1/2t turmeric
- 1/4-1/2t garam masala [spicy!]
- 1T honey
- 3/4-1t salt
- black pepper
- Melt the coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat.
- Add the onion + peppers and cook for 3-5min, until beginning to soften, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the minced garlic, curry, turmeric, garam masala, salt, + pepper, and cook for 30sec – 1min until fragrant.
- Add the coconut milk + honey, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer + cover for 10min.
- Remove cover, continuing to simmer and add carrots, spinach + broccoli. Cook another 8-12min, until the veggies are tender and the sauce has thickened, stirring every few minutes.
tips/substitutions: Another high heat cooking oil can be subbed for coconut [sunflower, safflower, etc]. Garam masala is quite spicy but is packed with flavor. Start by adding 1/4t and add more as desired. I used 1/2t. To make vegan, maple syrup can be subbed for honey.
To round this meal out, I made Sprouted Kitchen’s Lentil "Meatballs".
These are going to become a staple around here.
Incredible flavor + texture.
I made a few ingredient changes, for what I had on hand and to make them gluten free. There are so many different meals you could make using these “meatballs,” but even popping them in your mouth straight from the fridge works!
Here were the changes I made.
- 3/4c 2% cottage cheese instead of ricotta
- 1/4c sharp white cheddar cheese, grated instead of parmesan
- 2t dried parsley instead of fresh
- 1.5t oregano added this
- 3/4c GF oats, ground 1/2 way to flour instead of breadcrumbs
Check the original for the full recipe + instructions.
A great weekend meal, that won’t keep you in the kitchen all day long. I started with the rice, and then got to mixing the lentil-balls, which needed to sit for 20min. While sitting, I started the sauce and got it to the simmering stage, then rolled the lentil-balls and baked for 15min. Before I knew it the lentil-balls were done, the sauce was thickened, and the rice was fluffed.
Do you have any fun kitchen plans this weekend?
Or just any fun plans in general?
I will be photographing + eating myself crazy at the Pea house!
Happy Friday!
Ashley
Reader Comments (64)
Cottage cheese in meatballs :O That's a pretty cool high protein idea. I wonder how does it change the taste and texture and if it could be subbed with tofu :P
Oh that sounds so good. I can almost smell the fragrant curry and coconut wafting all the way over here. You make it look so delish!
This looks amazing! Saving the recipe!!
This looks delicious! I love vegetable curries with coconut in them :-) Your photos are always so gorgeous, you've captured the colours beautifully!
Yum, yum! I have a half open can of coconut milk from a soup I made this week, might make this in order to use it up! I love the green bowl by the way, so pretty :)
Lentil meatballs? Those sound really good! I don't think I could trick the Husband into eating those though. I swear he gave me the silent treatment for like 3 days for making him turkey burgers made with flax. haha!
YUM! i love coconut curry - and i love how simple this is!
You are just like your Mom, always wanting to split. I think it's so you don't miss out on something....the men'ses want foooooood. What we order and allllll of it!! Hard for me to split.
Very Pretty. I always think of curry as food aromatherapy.
ok so YESTERDAY I was going to say, about your pink blood orange smoothie bost, "THIS is my favorite, most BEAUTIFUL post you've ever written Ashley..." (since I've been reading, of course...and since I've stalked each one of your archives - that's a feat ;) ) and then before that, your Mama-pea-prep-smoothie-shoot, I was going to post, "now THIS is the most beautiful blog I've seen you write Ashley, and it's my favorite" but I think THIS post is! Ashley..........SO PRETTY! I am blown away by your work. I hope you publiushed this post saying: "Yea, I'm a badass"
and sorry for cursing. but you're just that awesome
Wow I've never seen a recipe like that for "meatballs" before. Definitely HAVE to try it!!:)
Those lentil meatballs look amazing. This whole meals looks amazing. Coconut rice is one of my favorite dishes, especially with pineapple!!
Can you come make dinner for me? That'd be great, thanks ;)
i made something similar to this using a recipe based on pf changs coconut curry veggies. sooooo good! though i burnt the tofu a bit lol.
love love love!! I can just smell this right now! Haha :)
Oh man, I am so making that curry dish this weekend! That is right up my alley - thank you!!!
This is random, but I LOVE that bowl!!
bookmarked this recipe! i love curry so i can’t wait to make this!
I haven't experimented much with curry, but this looks awesome!
Lentil meatballs...mmmm...we have tried them at Whole Foods before..so tasty!
I've made dishes with Thai red curry paste + coconut milk often and they always turn out to be nothing be delicious. It would never cross my mind to pair them with a lentil meatball though... hmm!
This is my first low-key weekend in a while and I have no "set" plans, but stuff always seems to come up. A trip to Whole Foods + Sephora might be the highlight of the weekend, because I live a wild, crazy life.
Have fun with the peas!! Can't wait to see the photos!
My plans for the weekend now include making this curryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. mmmmmm. good.
I love simple veggie curries - this one looks super tasty. I'm planning an enthralling weekend of cooking, baking, and running :)
Sounds like a fabulous weekend to me!
I hope you like iiiit!! If you need to you can steal the garam masala from my kitchen!
I wasn't sure how the meatballs would go with it, being Italian seasoned, but it totally worked. You could also change around the spices for sure. A low key weekend sounds great. Enjoy!
Awesome! Let me know what you think!
Haha, thanks Cait! PIer 1!
Hope you enjoy! Welcome :)
The last time I made tofu, I burnt it a bit too...woops!
Wish I could!
They blew me away! Great texture!
I was thinking adding pineapple to this dish would have been the icing on the cake!
I completely agree!
I'm also not like my mom....because I like curry!
Hahaha, that's hilarious. :) These were really really tasty though! I was seriously eating them straight from the fridge.
I would have used ricotta but didn't have it on hand. I don't think it really affected the flavor or texture. I've subbed cottage cheese in lasagna before and can never tell the difference! I've made "ricotta" with tofu before and it's insanely delicious!! http://edibleperspective.com/2011/12/dinner-not-cookies/
I know what I am making on Sunday night!!!
so... yea.. i'm about to dig in to some yummmy veggie curry! I added some red kale and tempeh.. put over some "sketti" squash.. YUM! Made some blueberry banana cereal cream for my puffed kamut tomorrow morn! (i'm a little scared veering from my oats.. but i'll give it a try!)
DEEEEE-LICIOUS!!
Awwwesome!! You rock!! Kale would be a fabulous addition as well as tempeh. Hope you enjoy the cereal sauce. ;)
You are the first to let me know!! THANKS!!! :)
Dang, my "winging it" meals neeeever look like this. Color me impressed. And salivating.
I packed 2 cups of puffed kamut ( 50 cal for 1 cup) .. I like my big bowls of breakfast! Side note - I tried popping amaranth 3x but burnt. Even tried turning gas way down. The cereal sauce tasted good straight from the vitamix! Did blueberry banana chia w raw meal. Hoping it holds me over til my veggie curry leftovers for lunch! Mmm mmm mmm.
I love curry and coconut milk. It's a great flavor combination. Definitely going to give this a try.
This looks so good! I wish I could make it but I just discovered in the past few months that I've developed an allergy to one of the spices in curry! I'm so bummed. :(
This looks amazing! I love curry, but I've never tried making it at home. I think I'll make a double batch this weekend so I can take leftovers for lunch during the week.
Doubling the batch is a great idea! :)
Hmm, interesting...there are a ton of different blends of curry. I guess it could be a pain to try and narrow it down though. Just thought I'd let you know!
The gas needs to be way UP! :) The key is making sure the pan is super hot. The amaranth should start popping within 1-3 seconds and only take about 10-15sec max to fully pop.