rainbow chard, spinach, peas, two varieties of thyme, and chives
parsley, sage, chives, thyme, rosemary; peas and spinach in the background
squash, peppers, tomatoes, and romaine
I am going to be a very busy girl. The romaine and chard need to be harvested and now. So one of our first garden veggies made it into tonight's fish curry.
look at the monstrous size of that rainbow chard leaf--
I used just one for the curry
Tonight's curry had chard, onion, bunapi mushrooms, aromatics, talipia, and shrimp. Which is the great thing about a curry--it can take in a great variety of flavors--what you have on hand. There is no reason to squint over long, complicated recipes and scour Asian markets for exotic ingredients. If you really want to make an authentic Indian or Thai curry, sure. If you want to make Saturday night dinner, scour your fridge and the local supermarket. The only fairly unusual ingredient I used tonight was bunapi mushrooms. Those made the list because Whole Foods happens to carry them, and I love their silky texture and pretty shape. When I'm in WF, I buy some, and figure something to do with them later. So they were in the fridge. At the grocery store today, talapia was on sale, and it looked good. The shrimp were pricey, but local and fresh, so I bought just a few to up the interest in the dish.
grated lemon grass and ginger from the freezer and a dollop of curry paste,
along with kaffir lime leaves I also keep in the freezer along with a frozen hot pepper
from last year's garden, the mushrooms from the fridge;
onion and chard from this year's garden
Okay, I had to go to the store for the fish, but then I also had to go to the store for milk. And, the idea for the curry actually happened at the store, when I saw that talipia was on sale. It is always a good idea for a lazy cook to work backwards into a meal from what is on hand. Much easier than spending an hour looking for a recipe, laboring over an ingredient list, and then falling to pieces when they're out of fresh fennel and curly endive, and the red snapper looks four days old. Believe me, I have seen women standing at the fish counter, clutching their lists, eyes brimming with tears. It is those moments that make the existence of hamburger helper possible. It is wise to become the sort of cook, lazy or not, who laughs at the very idea of hamburger helper. But I digress.
Curry is simple to make. Everything goes into the pot. I admit, not all at once if one wants superior results, but one pot nonetheless. First a small glug of oil goes into a hot pan, then the aromatics--to bloom, which is chef-speak for "smell good"--then the veggies, in the order of how long they take to cook. Once the veggies wilt a bit, the liquid is next. In this case that was coconut milk, but if you are counting calories it could have as easily been a little water, or canned tomatoes. If your sauce of choice is yogurt, add that last over low heat, after everything including the fish is cooked. It will separate, and make a very unappealing though perfectly edible sauce.
those blooming aromatics take just a minute or two to become fragrant
veggies into the pool--they're pretty before they wilt,
but they taste better after
coconut milk and then fish go in--fish a few minutes before the shrimp--
keep this on a low simmer and make sure the rice is cooked
Damn! You forgot the rice. No worries. Just take the curry off the heat and cook the rice. When the rice is done, reheat the curry for a minute or two, and serve.
oops; forgot the cilantro garnish. no matter, I added a handful
to the pot at the very end of the simmer, so the flavor was there
And that is the final word for lessons in being a lazy cook and a happy eater at the same time. It doesn't matter that you forgot the final fillip of garnish or left the rolls in the oven until the smoke alarm went off. Things will still taste good, and even if they don't, never apologize. It just embarrasses others, and another meal is less than a day away.
