May 24, 2017, Updated Mar 10, 2024 I feel like I cycle in and out of spontaneous dinner posts depending on what else is going on in my life. When I’m very busy, I get anxious about having enough to share with you, so I get myself into hyper-planning mode. Having recipes planned out means that I can relax knowing I have stuff already lined up. Then when I have time to take a few breaths, I tend to relax the planning and share more what’s-on-my-table recipes. Especially now that the sun stays out late so I don’t have to worry about setting up lighting for photos. I’m always happy and zen when I am blogging this way. And at its core, I think a food blog is meant to just feel like an intimate peek into a friend’s kitchen. This curry is a typical weeknight dinner for us and it doesn’t really matter what goes in. It’s the base that matters – curry paste, coconut milk, a splash of soy sauce. Everything else is flexible. I throw in peppers, zucchini, eggplant, any greens, corn on the cob, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash – any in-season vegetable from the farmers market or my crisper drawer/freezer. And then I round it out with some protein. That’s how I like to eat, with meat adjacent to vegetables and not the other way around. It’s cheaper, too – a more economical way to feed a family. Here, two thin tilapia filets from the freezer stretch to make six meals. Keeping the meat/fish part (the most costly part) in check offsets my enthusiastic produce spending (because me at the farmer’s market). Vegetarians, feel free to swap in tofu (very yummy here), and celiacs can use gluten-free tamari in place of soy sauce. Something for everyone, and the kids love it. I accompany it with rice, and for the little ones I mix a spoonful of natural yogurt in – this binds the rice together and helps them feed themselves, it quickly reduces the rice to a kid-friendly temperature, and offers a cooling counterpoint to the slightly spicy meal. Mamas, try it. I always keep a few Thai curry pastes in my fridge. They last a really long time. Green is my favourite but is the spiciest, too much for the littlest mouths I’m feeding. Yellow is mild and red is medium. Try them all and find your favourite. If you adore Thai recipes as much as I do, you must also try my Red Curry, Pad Woon Sen, Peanut Sweet Potato Soup, Sweet Chilli Noodles Salad, Thai Scallops, Meatballs in Sweet Chilli Sauce, and Thai Basil Pork.
