Okay, we’re back for another delicious installment of the 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative. In case this is your first time, the walking gardening encyclopedia, Shawna Coronado, is (obviously) the gardening pro. She grows veggies in her garden and then she sends them to me so I cook them. This arrangement works out well since if we were relying on my green thumb to feed us, well, we’d be ordering a lot of take out.
Forunately, we’re not. So to show off the fruits (well, vegetables) of Shawna’s labor, we’re making
Eggplant Green Curry
Why? Well, because when Shawna gives you eggplant, you make curry. It’s a rule. Look it up.
See, just yesterday she sent me the pic you see to your right. There is so much in that picture I want to cook with, I hardly know what to do with myself. But, first thing’s first. When I saw that eggplant, I knew I wanted to cook it and eat it. So I decided on eggplant curry.
Making Eggplant Green Curry
Of all the dishes in the 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative, this one probably lets the ingredients speak for themselves the least. But I really like curry, especially Thai green curry, and I knew I wanted to do something nice and cheap that I could work curry into. Here is what I made.
You will need:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic (20 cents)
- 1 eggplant, cut into 2 inch pieces
- Other vegetables you have from the garden, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2-100 dried Asian chilis (okay, I used about 10) (10 cents)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cans Coconut Milk (about $7)
- 2 Kafir lime leaves sliced very thin (about 50 cents)
- 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced (about $1)
- 2 tablespoons curry paste of your choice
Depending on the vegetables you use, you may need to do some precooking. I blanched the asparagus I put in my curry, but everything else I just threw in the skillet.
Over medium heat, add the vegetable oil. When hot, add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the eggplant and any other long cooking vegetables (carrots, onions, zucchini) and cook until they start to turn soft (usually about 10 minutes). Then add any quick cooking veggies and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the chilis and stir fry them for 30 seconds then add the water, coconut milk, the kafir lime leaves, the lemongrass, and the curry paste. Boil the curry until it has reduced by half.
Serve over rice and enjoy!
Oh, I love curry – will have to give this one a spin.
Do you have a good source for curry paste? I used to get the thai-curry-in-the-green-package when I lived in BC, but I’m not finding it here in TN, and since I hadn’t noted the real name, asking for thai-curry-in-the-green-package is kind of vague.
I haven’t read back very far into your blog yet, so apologies if this is answered: Um, “Nude and Eco-cheap cooking”…?
I used Thai Kitchen brand and liked it. My buddy uses their red curry and swears by it. I liked the green curry a lot, but I definitely want to learn to make my own. When I do, I’ll blog about it, so check back!
As for the Nude part, Shawna has a book called Nude Gardening and though she appears nude on the cover, in all her videos she’s fully clothed. The “nude” part refers to the fact she uses no chemicals and nothing artifical when she grows.
Eco-Cheap refers to the fact that all recipes in this series can be done for $11.50 or less for a family of four. 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Ah! That makes sense. I’ll have to look her book up (my tomatoes just got clobbered by yet another (!) week of rain). And cheap is good this season.
I’ll track down some of the Thai Kitchen. I’ve tried their green curry paste in the distant past but am on a red curry kick for the last month or so (thank you, Cha Da Thai).
Thanks!