Skillet Coconut Curry Shrimp Bake

Wild rice is simmered with vegetables, spices, and coconut milk before adding in shrimp and tossing it all in the oven together. Put this to your repetoire of exotic one pot wonders!

Shrimp Baked in Green Curry Coconut Rice | danicaliforniacooks.com I envisioned this recipe before I went to bed one night and leaped out of bed to write it down before I forgot it. I am the ultimate (read: scary) list person. I keep lists EVERYWHERE. On my computer, on my phone, in my notebook, on random post-it notes around my room, in my work notebook, in my Google drive, sent to me in e-mails…yikes, just listing those out doesn’t just read scary it IS scary. My dad and I have had long conversations about how we have several “priorities” of lists as well. The list goes on and on.

Shrimp Baked in Green Curry Coconut Rice | danicaliforniacooks.com Anyways, this recipe was certainly something worth writing down on a list somewhere, and I’m glad I did in my sleepy state. While it’s a bit time-intensive, this recipe only requires one-pot and in the end, you have a warming, healthy, and flavorful dish with plenty of leftovers. The flavors are exotic but nothing overwhelming, and is a great Sunday night meal with a salad on the side.

Shrimp Baked in Green Curry Coconut Rice | danicaliforniacooks.com The first step is to cook the wild rice. This requires a risotto-level style of cooking, which is why the recipe is a tad time consuming. Cook your onions, garlic, and ginger and then add the uncooked wild rice. Simmer in the coconut milk and green curry paste until the rice has soaked it up. You’ll then add a cup of warm water at a time, and let it come to a boil and then turn the heat off, to allow the rice to absorb. Every time the water gets absorbed, add in another cup until the rice is cooked. And do plenty of stirring. This takes about 30 minutes, I’d say. Turn on some music, put on a cute apron, and enjoy being in your kitchen! Shrimp Baked in Green Curry Coconut Rice | danicaliforniacooks.com Once the rice is almost fully cooked, stir in the peas and pepper. Take your shrimp and snuggle (yes, snuggle) it into the rice. Pop it into your oven at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes, or until the shrimp is fully cooked through. And then dinner is served! The risotto style way of cooking the rice provides a creamy texture, and the whole dish is exotic and flavorful. We enjoyed the leftovers for many nights.

Shrimp Baked in Green Curry Coconut Rice | danicaliforniacooks.com

Skillet Coconut Curry Shrimp Bake
 
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Wild rice is simmered with vegetables, spices, and coconut milk before adding in shrimp and tossing it all in the oven together. Put this to your repetoire of exotic one pot wonders!
Author:
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup wild rice, uncooked
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 1-inch knob ginger, grated
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 3 tbsp green curry paste
  • ½ cup peas
  • ½ red pepper, diced
  • 1½ dozen shrimp
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Warm water on the side
  • Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
  1. In a large cast iron skillet, cook the onions, garlic and ginger in a little olive olive
  2. While that is cooking, in a plastic bag, mix your uncooked shrimp with 2 tbsp of olive oil and a little salt and pepper, and place in the fridge to marinate
  3. Once translucent, add the wild rice, coconut milk, and green curry paste. Stir well to distribute the curry
  4. Turn the stove on high to allow the coconut milk to boil, and once boiling is met, turn on low to simmer
  5. Stir frequently until all of the coconut milk has been absorbed
  6. Once absorbed, add in a cup of warm water and repeat the boiling/simmer process above until all water is absorbed again. Repeat until rice is almost fully cooked through. This will probably take a half hour
  7. Once rice is almost cooked, stir in the peas and pepper
  8. Turn your oven on to 375 degrees F
  9. Take your shrimp and nestle it into the rice dish
  10. Put the skillet in the oven and bake for 20 mins. The shrimp should be pink and cooked through
  11. Stir in lemon juice and serve!


If you like this, you’ll love: Healthier Red Beans and Rice

Healthier Red Beans and Rice | danicaliforniacooks.com

Thai Red Curry

This coconut curry is almost foolproof to make, and is filled to the brim with complex flavors, tofu, and tons of vegetables! Thai Red Curry | danicaliforniacooks.com The first time I made this curry, my boyfriend proclaimed that it was the “best thing I’ve ever made”. So it is due time that I share this recipe with you all! Friends and blogosphere - I have some news. I’m not fully ready to discuss all of my thoughts on this subject yet because…I’m still formulating all of these thoughts! But over the last month, I have done some serious reading and research and move watching all around industrialized food and processed foods and meat industry, and I haven’t eaten chicken, beef or pork in almost a month. I definitely will eat those things again if I have a Portlandia-style conversation about the farm where the meat came from. But I’ve been experimenting with other protein sources, and decided to sub tofu for chicken in this recipe, and it turned out wonderfully. The best part of the meal? The brown rice that Nate gave me from his volunteer organization brought back all the way from Cambodia!

Thai Red Curry | danicaliforniacooks.com I’m sure that’s why my bag took a long time to come to baggage claim because security was curious as to why I would shlep a bag of rice from Phnom Penh, but I couldn’t wait to make a recipe and use this rice. Nate’s organization promotes sustainable and organic farming in Cambodia, and the rice was fragrant and creamy. I would definitely like to make Nate his favorite curry using this rice upon his return!

Thai Red Curry | danicaliforniacooks.com

The first step in making this curry is to sautee all of your vegetables with the curry paste. I always buy the premade curry paste because, as we learned from my Cambodian cooking class, making curry paste using a mortar pestle is hard work and takes lots of little ingredients! If you cook your vegetables with the paste from the start (rather than stirring it in with the coconut milk at the end), the flavor is much more concentrated. After you sautee your veggies and tofu, add your cans of light coconut milk. The key next ingredient is 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, which adds that complex flavor of asian dishes that you can’t always identify in a restaurant. Let simmer and serve in a bowl with brown rice - it will have more of a soup-consistency than your average curry. This dish is warming, healthy, satisfying, and almost fool-proof to make.

Thai Red Curry | danicaliforniacooks.com Double the recipe and eat it the next day! For a green curry version of a similar dish, check out Peanut Butter Runner’s recipe. I think hers was the original inspiration for this dish back in the day!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Thai Red Curry
 
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This easy thai red coconut vegetarian curry is chock full of veggies and oh-so-easy to make.
Author:
Serves: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
  • 4 small zucchinis
  • 2 small yellow squashes
  • 2 red peppers
  • 1 head of swiss chard
  • ½ white onion, chopped
  • 1 jar pre-made curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen Red Curry)
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 block of extra firm tofu, cubed
  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped
  • 2 cans light coconut milk
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • Olive oil
Instructions
  1. In a large pan, sautee your onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent (about 5 minutes)
  2. Add the rest of the vegetables and tofu, and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the full jar of curry paste
  3. Let cook for 10 minutes
  4. Pour in the coconut milk, and let simmer for up to 3 hours
  5. minutes before serving, cook your brown rice
  6. Serve over brown rice and enjoy!
Notes
There are many vegetables that you can substitute or add in here - I love using eggplant or mushrooms as well as what I have listed above.

To keep this vegan, don't include the fish sauce in the final step.
Thai Red Curry | danicaliforniacooks.com

Paradox Farms and Vegan Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Paradox My boyfriend’s wonderful family owns Paradox Farms - an organic vegetable (and egg) farm right outside Lexington, VA. It has quickly become one of my favorite places in the world! Beyond just being some of the prettiest land, the farm also grows the most delicious and fresh produce. And their eggs put store-bought eggs to SHAME. Whenever I go to the farm, I truly feel healthier and better after being put to work (look at me collecting chicken eggs above!) and getting to eat all of their leftover produce. Over the last year I have become much more passionate and an advocate of purchasing and buying local, and there’s nothing more hyperlocal than growing and eating your own food. Nate’s parents set amazing examples for this lifestyle!

Paradox Farms3

Collecting produce with Mitch!

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Love that view

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Collecting dinner

So I was thrilled when I returned home from Cambodia and Nate’s family had sent me a box of goodies from Paradox Farms! It included a bunch of large sweet potatoes, some garlic, and some homemade jams and apple butter. (ZOMG - their apple butter. I went through the entire jar in a week just putting it on toast!) I knew I needed to create a recipe that was inspired by these ingredients and was wholesome and warming, just like the farm itself. Here’s introducing this Vegan Curried Sweet Potato Soup. Made with a small amount of coconut milk, this recipe is gluten free, paleo friendly and vegan!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to receive produce in my birthday box. And these photos don’t really do them justice, but these were some massive sweet potatoes. As I was photographing them, I noticed that these veggies had a little personality and I decided to play with my food a bit…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA But, on to the recipe. This one starts like any simple pureed soup - chop and roast your veggies for extra flavor. Look at the color of those potatoes!

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Next step is to sweat out your onions in just a little butter. It’s a known fact that you don’t need to add cream to your pureed soups if you just add a little butter to your onions and let them cook very slowly at the beginning. I promise you, the flavor will be amazing with just this one little extra step! I chopped up some Paradox Farm garlic and included it in with the onions. Then you add the sweet potatoes, ginger, and vegetable stock. Let simmer until vegetables are even more tender.
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Then, puree using a food processor, blender or immersion blender! I used a food processor, and kept the soup chunky. I hate that word - chunky - but there is no other way to describe it. It was my first (!!) time using a food processor and I have to say, not as intuitive as a blender or immersion blender! Definitely a kitchen tool I want to get used to using. I have big plans for homemade granola bars and hummus. Your last step is to stir in a half cup of light coconut milk and a tablespoon or two of curry powder, depending on how much intense curry flavor you want. Then your soup is done! This dish is comforting, warming, and the fact that my produce came from Paradox Farm made it all the more special. Looking forward to making this all winter!

5.0 from 2 reviews
Paradox Farms and Vegan Curried Sweet Potato Soup
 
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Roast and puree sweet potatoes with coconut milk, ginger, and curry powder for the most warming and comfortable vegan soup.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 small knob of ginger, finely chopped
  • Large box of vegetable stock (48oz)
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • 1-2 tbsp curry powder
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Set your oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Lay out your chopped and peeled sweet potatoes on a baking dish, and spray with olive oil. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and roast for 25-30 minutes
  3. In a large pot on low to medium heat, sweat out your onions until translucent. This should take 10 minutes, so if they are starting to burn, turn the heat down lower. Add garlic halfway through
  4. Add in the finely chopped ginger
  5. Once the sweet potatoes have roasted, add them to the large pot and the vegetable stock
  6. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 10-15 minutes
  7. Puree/blend to your consistency of choice using a blender, food processor or immersion blender
  8. Add back to pot if using a food processor or immersion blender and let simmer on very low heat
  9. Stir in curry powder and coconut milk
  10. Let simmer until ready to serve (I recommend 1-2 hours)