Swasdi! Welcome to Thailand, and welcome to the home stretch of the Global Grub month. Only a week left until this culinary tour around the world comes to an end. I'm hoping that from here on out it's only good stops and good food.
Elizabeth and I love Thai food. One of the restaurants at the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon in Jamaica was a Thai place, and it was fantastic. While we were there, I got to try things that I normally don't get at other Thai places (where I rarely branch out from the "Pad Thai" side of the menu). Things like tom yang goong soup and spicy curry dishes. So when planning out this tour stop, I wanted to do something in that vein. Instead of the typical noodle dishes that I am most familiar with in Thai cuisine, I decided to go in another direction.
Thai Curry Pumpkin Soup
2 cans pumpkin
1 can coconut milk
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 large red chili, seeded and sliced
1 tablespoon cilantro
This was a very easy soup to make, and it smelled great while it was cooking. First, I heated the red curry paste in a pot until it became very fragrant, about 2 minutes.
I added the pumpkin...
...and then the chicken broth. I mixed well, and let that simmer for about 5 minutes.
Once it started bubbling, I added most of the can of coconut milk, reserving about a tablespoon in the can. I mixed well and let it all simmer again for about 5 minutes.
To serve, I ladled the soup into a bowl and topped it with a drizzle of the remaining coconut milk, some of the red chili slices, and a pinch of the cilantro.
Chopped Thai Kale Salad with Garlic Ginger Dressing
4 cups kale, chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1 orange bell pepper, sliced
1 tablespoon cilantro
2 green onions
1 cup cashews, crushed
For the Dressing:
1/3 cup blended oil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons low sodium teryaki sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 inch fresh ginger, peels and sliced
Squeeze of lime juice
For the salad, I added all of the ingredients together and then let it set in the fridge while the soup cooked.
Similarly for the dressing, I added the ingredients together and mixed well. This was the first thing that I made tonight, and I let it set for the longest to the let the flavors mix.
The result...
...was fan-Thai-stic! Elizabeth elected to skip the peppers on her soup because of my reaction to them (they were hot!) but I actually think they brought some great tastes out in the soup. It was not overly pumpkiny, but I expect that the flavors will come out even more after a few days.
The salad (and specifically the dressing), however, was the real star. Elizabeth was quick to point out that "This tastes like something we would get at a Thai place." Lots of different flavors going on with each bite, and it provided a good counterpoint to the milder taste of the soup.
This was a quick and easy night, which I think is okay actually. It showed me that you can still go to another country through cooking or spice up a dinner without having to get so involved. Some of the recipes this month have taken a lot of time and a lot of love. Those have been great, but they also have been a production and basically take up all of the time I have with Elliot and Elizabeth when I get home.
It's nice to have a balance. It's nice to have some recipes that you can make after a long day of work when you don't have a lot of time but you still want to do something out of the norm. These one pot/quick recipes don't have to be bland rehashes of things you already make. Instead, they can transport you to Thailand, or anywhere else around the world you might want to go.
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