Creamy Curry Butternut Squash Soup with Shrimp

The butternut squash combined with the lite coconut milk gave the soup just the right amount of creaminess. Let’s just say I was looking forward to the leftovers the next day…

Creamy coconut curry

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 cup light brown rice, pearl couscous, brown flaxseed, and black lentils (Rice Select Royal Blend with Flaxseed)
• 2 cups water (plus water to fill squash pan with)
• 1/2 onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1 lemon (zest and juice)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 16 oz (1/2 carton) fat free, 33% less sodium chicken broth (Swanson)
• 13.66 oz can lite coconut milk (Thai Kitchen, organic)
• 1 Tbsp ground curry
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 12 oz sliced white mushrooms (Publix)
• 24 cooked frozen medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (Publix GreenWise Market)
• 2 Tbsp fresh basil (my little herb garden)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut butternut squash in half. Place cut-side down in a pan filled with about 1/2 inch of water. Roast until tender about 40 minutes. Allow to slightly cool. Use a spoon to scoop squash from skin. Mash in a bowl with a fork. (You can do this step ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze and defrost the squash.)
2. In a small/medium pot, add rice blend and 2 cups water. Bring water to a boil, stir, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover with a lid and cook for 18 minutes. Remove from heat. (Rice can also be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen and defrosted).
3. Chop onion. Mince garlic. Chop bell pepper. Chop tomato. Zest and juice lemon.
4. In a large pot on medium heat, add extra virgin olive oil and onions. Saute until lightly brown, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic, and heat for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add bell pepper, then add butternut squash followed by broth, coconut milk, curry, ginger, tomato, mushrooms, and lemon juice. Add lid to pot.
5. Remove tails from shrimp and add shrimp to pot.
6. Chop basil. Divide rice among individual bowls. Pour soup on top. Sprinkle lemon zest on top and on the rims of the soup bowls along with fresh basil. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

• Nutrition note: Butternut squash makes the soup thick and creamy without adding extra fat. Choose a reduced fat coconut milk to cut back on the saturated fat.

Try out this YUMMY vegan recipe. And remember, peace, love, and coconuts!

Recipe

• 8 oz Brown rice noodles
• 3½ cups Vegetable Broth
• 1.5 oz Thai curry paste
• 1 13.5oz can coconut milk
• 2 cups sliced bell peppers
• 1 cup roughly chopped mushrooms
• 1 handful of cilantro

In a large pot, place coconut oil and allow to coat bottom. Add in bell peppers and mushrooms, and sautee for 1 minute.

Add in coconut milk, then curry paste, then vegetable broth.

When at a simmer, add in brown rice noodles .

Stir and let cook for 10 minutes. When you’re about to serve, add in cilantro. And now it’s ready to enjoy.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 534
Total Fat: 5g
Saturated Fat: 3g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 491mg
Total Carbs: 37g
Dietary Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 2g

ENJOY!!

- Nalani

- Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-1 T of cocoa powder
-1 packet of Splenda
-I cheated and put a little whipped cream on top… you can’t have hot chocolate without whipped cream!

Honestly, it kind of smelled like Play-Do, but it didn’t taste like it. I’d call that a win!

Hockey game just started- go Sharks! Time for me to get off the computer and go outside!

This lovely, hearty, slightly spicy soup warms the soul. I make this when I am needing a hug, or when I know the crowd is partial to Thai inspired foods. Simplicity in ingredients, very difficult to ‘mess up’, guaranteed to please. I made this a month or two ago and took to my daughter’s school. Everyone seemed to genuinely love it, and asked me for the recipe. I did the crock pot version for them, so I could take it completely cooked in the morning, and they could eat as they were able to. Shout out to the Farmington CO-OP! Amazing people, who lovingly and patiently take care of my daughter four days a week. I would feed this marvelous team of professionals everyday of the week if I could.

Ingredients:

3 cans of coconut milk plus 3 cans of water

8 ounces of mushrooms roughly chopped (I like the baby portabello)

4-5 celery stalks rough chopped

2 rough chopped onions

1 red bell pepper roughly chopped

1 green bell pepper roughly chopped

3-4 tablespoons red curry paste

3-4 tablespoons lemongrass paste

4-5 green onions rough chopped

2 Tablespoons minced Garlic

2-3 Tablespoons Siratcha

2 Tablespoons Bouillon or 4 cubes

2 bunches cilantro, rough chopped

Optional: 4-5 raw chicken breasts, rough chopped

Crock pot version: Add all ingredients to crockpot except cilantro, and green onions and turn on low heat for six to eight hours. Twenty minutes before serving, add cilantro, and green onions. Adjust seasonings as needed. Serve over rice. ESPECIALLY the sapatong rice in the previous post!

Stove top:

Add a few tablespoons of light tasting oil of your choice, and add to large soup pot. Stir in celery, onions, and peppers, and saute for about five minutes over medium heat.

Add in garlic and rest of ingredients except for cilantro and green onions. Simmer gently for about 45 minutes, adjust seasonings to taste.

Stir in cilantro and green onions and remove from heat. Serve over Sapatong rice if you can! If not, regular rice is great as well!

Speaking of running. I took 9 weeks off of running due to that ankle injury and then being sick. Last week was my first week back and I started back with a 3 mile run. Hardest. Run. Ever. Seriously, it was very humbling. I probably could have walked faster and then would have been much less sore, but I did it and that’s what counts.

Week 1 of half marathon training done, 11 more to go!

Soup time. When I was sick all I wanted to eat was curry because it felt good on my throat and cleared my sinuses. Sorry, that was gross. I really wanted a curry soup though. So I made one! I like this soup so much I made it both last week AND this week. It’s really good! And really fast and easy to make.

Coconut Curry Soup with Tofu

1 pound tofu, cubed and sautéed
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup red or green curry paste
2 cans light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
4 large carrots, sliced as thin as possible
1 1/2 cups french green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces

First prepare the tofu. Heat 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cube the tofu into 1/4 inch – 1/2 inch dice. Add the tofu to the skillet and cover with one of those splatter guards if you have one (I really recommend one). Cook the tofu, stirring occasionally, until it starts to turn a golden color. Then sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce over the tofu, stir and let it cook a few more minutes until it starts to brown and get a little crispy. (this is my basic tofu method I use for everything).

While the tofu is cooking, get started on the soup. Preheat 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the curry paste and cook for 1 more minute. Add the coconut milk, vegetable broth, lime juice and tamari/soy sauce. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the sliced carrots and green beans. Once it comes to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the carrot is softened. Add the cooked tofu and enjoy alone or served over brown rice.

Here is a picture of Lilly draped on me when I was sick. Sometimes we find it hard to believe this thing is a dog…

Here she is “blending in” to the blanket. Hard to tell where the blanket ends and pug begins!

Green Goddess

Breakfast: Coffee, Green Goddess Shake

Late Lunch: Roasted Acorn Squash with Carrots and Kale with Nutty Sprinkles, Cranberry Walnut Toast

Late Dinner at Penang: Gado Gado Salad, Vegetarian Coconut Curry Soup with Jasmine Rice—the curry soup was bit heavy for my stomach. Maybe it was because of the coconut milk. I’m mildly allergic to coconut. I used to make Gado Gado often. Just boil a potato/sweet potato and a carrot and an egg, mix it with some fresh greens and a cucumber, serve it with plenty of spicy peanut sauce. I like the dish but I can never eat this  a lot.

Roasted Acorn and Kale

Gado Gado

Vegetarian Coconut Curry Soup

My cousin and I recently made Chicken & Coconut Curry Soup (courtesy of Cooking for Seven). This recipe is delicious and really healthy. To make cooking it less work and more food, we decided to double the batch and split it. The great thing about this Thai inspired dish is that you can simply eat it as a soup, or top it on to jasmine rice and turn it into a curry. I froze ¾ of my portion into small freezer bags, so I can easily pop them into the microwave for a fast and ready to eat meal.

Ingredients

[ source ]

Apparently I was not the only one who found the recipe enticing. The reviews were also glowing. Out of 77 reviews, 71 people had given the dish 5 out of 5 stars. Wowza! This quickly moved to the top of my Recipes To Try queue!

–

Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

This recipe does involve a fairly large quantity of ingredients, but once everything is ready to go, the soup comes together rather quickly. I had to do a bit of hunting for the light coconut milk, as my grocery store was sold out this weekend. The only change to the ingredients that I made was to use minced red onion in place of shallots.

A delicious combination of spices! I only used a tiny pinch of turmeric instead of a full 1/2 teaspoon since I am not a fan. I use McCormick’s curry powder and am happy with the quality (it smells glorious and adds wonderful flavor), though I don’t have much life experience testing other brands. Red curry paste was an easy find in my grocer’s international aisle.

"She put the lime in the coconut, she drank ‘em both up."

Actually I added coconut milk to the broth mixture, and fresh lime juice was added as the final ingredient to the dish.

Getting’ there!

This picture most certainly does not do justice to this incredible soup!

Recently, Bev made this comment about a (different) soup recipe that she tried.. which I would apply to THIS soup recipe!

“Um, I took one bite and had to put on a wet suit so that I could snorkel in the pot for the next 5 hours.” – BevCooks

The husband has maintained for years that he will eat anything as long as it doesn’t contain curry. This past weekend, when planning the weekly meals, I summoned him into the room (me: “come look at this recipe!” – busy huz: “does it have curry?” [sarcasm] – me: [hesitantly] ….yes…), and after brief inspection, he agreed that the recipe sounded like it was worth a try. And oh, was it!

Shortly after tasting the dish, the huz was raving and told me it deserves a 10 out of 10 rating. I concur.

This was most definitely restaurant quality, The broth is mildly spicy, creamy, and complex, while the shreds of chicken, noodles, and snow peas added texture. Plus all the green ingredients – spinach, scallions, snow peas – add loads of veggie nutrition.

I couldn’t get enough of this Thai-inspired soup and can’t wait to make it again. Plus it only has 314 calories per two cup serving.

My rating: 10/10

Recipe from Cooking Light.

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Currently listening to: Let Go – Frou Frou.

It all started off at Soupalicious on October 1st…with our South Indian Coconut Vegetable Curried Soup with Coconut Oil Infused Curry Leaves. This was a spin on a traditional South Indian vegetable coconut dish that we turned into a soup. Although I was serving a wide audience with 20 litres of our soup, I didn’t want to tame the Indian flavours down by making the dish mild. South Indian cooking is the hottest of the Indian subcontinent, so I kept it authentic using Arvinda’s Madras Masala. Those who sipped our soup were indeed the curry lovers looking for authentic and bold flavours!

Here's our South Indian Coconut Vegetable Curried Soup with Coconut Oil Infused Curry Leaves I served at Soupalicious 2011.

Eat to the Beat is an annual charity event we’ve been doing for the last 15 years to benefit Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada. Partnering with the World Crops Project this year, we served up 925 pieces of my most favourite Indian street food—Pav Bhaji (which I’ve over-bragged about in previous posts!). Mmmm…what a delicious night this was sampling savouries and sweets from 60 top women chef – treats galore!

Eat to the Beat is Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada's gala fundraiser, which we've been involved with for the last 15 years.

For our Eat to the Beat appetizer, vegetables were donated from the World Crops Project.

Next, off to the Delicious Food Show, Toronto’s premier food show in its inaugural year. The most memorable of the sampling moments of the show was actually a beverage—Maker’s Mark Mapled Bourbon. For food, I tried Tiffinday’s Patra—a traditional appetizer or brunch food from Gujarat which is a hard find even in a city as diverse as Toronto! The appetizer is made from the leaf of a taro plant stuffed with a spiced chick pea flour paste, rolled up and steamed. When we make these at home we pan fry and temper them with mustard seeds, dried coconut and sesame seeds.

At the show, I did an Indian spice discovery workshop at the Chef’s Table serving up Indian street food.

Here I'm talking up turmeric - as usual!

Another special treat from the Delicious Food Show, was meeting the beautiful Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi in the VIP lounge for a meet n’greet before her talk. With career roots in modeling, Lakshmi immersed herself in food and cultures of fashion capitals of world including Italy, France and Spain bringing about her passion for food. She spoke about her start into the food business and her relationship with food, which was inspiring–captivating a full house audience. Definitely an honour to meet her in person! Read a short review of her talk here on the blog post “Model A Cook and Two Chefs So Delicious!”

Had a meet n' greet with the beautiful Padma Lakshmi before her talk at the Delicious Food Show in Toronto - it was an honour!

Another new food product on the scene at the show was Kimberley’s Own Granola—homemade, all-natural and packed with 40% seeds, dried fruit and nuts. Chef turned entrepreneur Kimberley Lugsdin whom I’ve worked with in group cooking classes before, started selling her granolas to the retail market since last year. At the show I had one taste of her Homemade Granola Bar recipe reminding me of Indian mithai (sweets)—but way healthier! With Diwali just days away, Kimberley’s recipe saved me!

Kimberley's Own homemade granola bars. They were reminiscent of Indian mithai (sweets), just in time for Diwali!

I made my own Indian mithai using Kimberley's Own Granola.

Although not authentic, my mithai were way healthier than traditional Indian sweets. I spiked mine with Arvinda's Chai Masala.

==================================================================================================================================
Granola Bar Diwali Mithai
(recipe courtesy of Kimberley’s Own with the exception of *)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup hazelnut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup organic brown rice syrup
1 tsp. Arvinda’s Chai Masala*
250 g Kimberley’s Own Granola

Method: Place the granola in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Place hazelnut butter, honey and brown rice syrup in a pot. Fold in Arvinda’s Chai Masala. Place pot over low heat and gently stir mixture until combined. Pour mixture over the granola and thoroughly combine. The mixture is thick so this is a bit difficult. Pour the mixture into a 9″ square pan. Even mixture out using a spoon and cover with plastic wrap and allow to set for a minimum of three hours. Cut into squares.
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Lastly, for Diwali I also served warmed Gulab Jamuns (you HAVE to serve and eat Gulab Jamuns for Diwali!) over Arvinda’s Chai Spiced Coconut Ice Cream. Quite decadent and very festive!

A must try! Warm Gulab Jamuns over Arvinda's Chai Spiced Coconut Ice Cream - yum!

The month ended with Hallowe’en which we all know is full of treats. That day I visited Niagara Culinary Institute at Niagara College as a guest chef for India week at the culinary school. The day ended with a scrumptous fall harvest meal from Benchmark Restaurant – what a great way to end a feasting month!

Quinoa Crusted Pumpkin with Golden Beet Chips, Sauteed Mushrooms and Puree of Cauliflower paired with the Teaching Winery's 2007 Merlot. That is one wine you should pick up if you're in the Niagara region.

Wow, that was one month of indulging and tasting!

So now into November I’m blown away that our 2011 year is almost coming to a close. I’m reminded about my 2011 goal for the year of living, acting, being in the present. For November I’m choosing my goal as getting superconnected. Not just connected, but superconnected!

Not superconnected in the digital sense, but rather superconnected to the senses and ‘feeling’ all moments and actions of the day, listening to the body and hearing what it has to say. Ayurveda, India’s ancient healthcare system meaning the science of life, is based on knowing the needs of our own individual body, understanding our bodies and keeping things in equilibrium and in check before any illness begins to manifest.

With December holidays on the horizon it is fitting to start November on a good foot with being superconnected to how we feel, to recalibrate our bodies in tune to the winter season. To help with this, for November I’ll be doing a cleanse once a week as a good practice to flush out toxins from the body, helping to build immunity for the colder months ahead. On cleansing days, I drink warm water with lemon juice, consume plant-based foods, one serving of lentils at lunch and no dairy. One day a week should do the trick!

For as long as I can remember November was my least favourite month. The weather changes, darkness falls earlier and it takes time to adjust and embrace the winter season. November always felt long, slow and a little boring. These days time flies and November doesn’t phase me anymore. It can be just as enjoyable as the other months in its own unique way.

For example, today with our balmy 16 degrees Celsius weather, I took a walk through the forest to see the fall colours which will only last a few more days. I noticed how brilliantly bright blue the sky was on the backdrop of the glorious colourful leaves, reminding me sometimes it’s very easy to be on a treadmill, taking life’s littlest details for granted without ever noticing them, like the blue sky I so admired today.

The brilliantly blue sky I admired today made me realize how many of life's littlest details can be taken for granted.

So for this month of November I’m making an agreement it’s all about being superconnected to the body–for optimal health!

Happy November!

Do you ever feel disconnected to your body and your state of health and well-being? If so, how do you get back to feeling optimal?

P.S. Half the photos from today’s post were taken from my phone or my friend Laurie’s phone. Sorry for the poor resolution!

A teaspoon of: Broken Social Scene. Listening to: Superconnected.

Shredded Chicken and Coconut Ginger Soup

This shredded chicken and coconut ginger soup looks pretty good huh? Well to be honest, it was just that…pretty good. So why am I posting about it? The shitake mushrooms, red peppers, and onions were great. The shredded chicken and chicken broth that I worked on this past Sunday were even better. And the ginger, garlic, and lime really added a burst of flavor. But one thing was missing: the coconut.

So did I forget to add the coconut? Nope! Instead I fell for the oldest trick in the book. I bought low fat.

To be quite honest, I rarely face this issue; 95% of what I have been buying these days is meat, fish, and veg. But this time, there I was, standing in front of the coconut milk, two cans in hand, mind wrestling over which to buy. 65% less fat! Wowee! Stupid…

The reality is, and we all know this, low fat (particularly for products like coconut milk) means less substance and more water. And trust me, that water doesn’t taste nearly as good as the coconut milk. So would that extra fat really have killed me? Of course not! Particularly because of how balanced and healthy this soup is. Fresh vegetables, homemade chicken broth, shredded chicken and citrus sound great. Just a little bit of richness would have balanced it perfectly. Oh well, there is always next time!

Have you found yourself in a similar predicament? What do you think are the worst low fat substitutes?

Also, don’t forget to vote for the birthday dessert recipe you want me to work on this coming weekend!

Spiked sparkling cider: Super easy, we threw our favorite Minea Farms local cider (this week’s variety: cranberry apple) in a pitcher with some sparkly local Washington wine and just a touch of cinnamon Schnapps. Delicious!

Coconut Curry Soup with Chicken and Rice. We did not make this ourselves; we got it fresh at the u-district farmer’s market, by a company called Got Soup? Delicious! All the ingredients are real food, and it’s sold in freezer containers so we can cook it any night we don’t want to make something elaborate.

Red pepper frittata squares: At least—they were meant to be cut into little squares as an appetizer or hors d’oeuvres for a large party, but since there were only four of us, we cut it into big wedges. I could only eat about four bites before the richness overwhelmed me! Quite tasty, and it made a great breakfast left-over the next morning.

Thanks for coming over, A and D! We always enjoy hanging out with you guys.

Spiked sparkling cider: Super easy, we threw our favorite Minea Farms local cider (this week’s variety: cranberry apple) in a pitcher with some sparkly local Washington wine and just a touch of cinnamon Schnapps. Delicious!

Coconut Curry Soup with Chicken and Rice. We did not make this ourselves; we got it fresh at the u-district farmer’s market, by a company called Got Soup? Delicious! All the ingredients are real food, and it’s sold in freezer containers so we can cook it any night we don’t want to make something elaborate.

Red pepper frittata squares: At least—they were meant to be cut into little squares as an appetizer or hors d’oeuvres for a large party, but since there were only four of us, we cut it into big wedges. I could only eat about four bites before the richness overwhelmed me! Quite tasty, and it made a great breakfast left-over the next morning.

Thanks for coming over, A and D! We always enjoy hanging out with you guys.

PRINT Tom Kha (Thai Coconut Curry Soup) recipe from MS Word

Tom Kha (Thai Coconut Curry Soup)

Yield: 4-6 servings

2 large skinless and boneless chicken thighs cut into thin strips
1 ½ lb. 41-50 tail on cleaned and deveined shrimp
5 1/2 cups of water
6 large white mushrooms ¼ inch sliced
1- 5oz. can bamboo shoot strips
4 cups broccoli slaw
1- 14 oz. can lite coconut milk
1 medium red bell pepper julienne
2/3 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon sucralose or raw cane sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons powdered galangal or ginger
2 teaspoons Thai red chili paste
8 fresh basil leaves cut into ribbons (chiffonade)
1 kaffir lime leaf chiffonade

Prep chicken, mushrooms and shrimp and set aside. Dissolve chili paste and cornstarch in the coconut milk. Heat water and add all of the ingredients except for the shrimp and coconut mixture. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Reduce to medium and add shrimp and coconut mixture. Cook for another minute or two and serve
©2011 Aron David Bradley
http://www.boomercuisine.com

So, this hasn’t been my favorite weekend in NYC.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen much of the bf this weekend because he’s been working so much (yep, on a weekend )

Luckily (?) I have a lot of GRE studying to do which has been taking up a lot of my time.

Since the bf has been working so hard, he hasn’t been feeling well lately. So I opted out of going to Pickle Day to take care of him before he left for work …again.

I made him a hybrid comfort/healthy lunch:

A bowl of Back to Nature Harvest Wheat Mac & Cheese, a side of vitamin C packed fruit (mango, strawberries and  orange slices) and a frothy glass of grapefruit juice.

I had an unpictured lentil salad, a handful (or 2) of almonds, and stole a bunch of his fruit

I love almonds. I usually snack on them throughout the day. A tip I got from my mom was putting them in the fridge, I really like the way they taste cold.

Coconut Curry Sweet Potatoes and Shrimp

Before I moved to NYC I was at home for a couple weeks. I’m the reisdent chef when I’m home and my dad had bought the Eat Shrink and Be Merry cookbook. I’ve watched the show before and I was a bit skeptical of their recipes, which, on the show, don’t really look like my style. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the recipes tasted AMAZING!

My favourite was the Coconut Curry Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Shrimp. I wanted to make it for the bf and I tonight, but unfortunately he had to leave for work. So I made a deconstructed version (everything but the soup) for myself and served it over quinoa.

Sorry the picture quality is so bad.

It wasn’t nearly as good as the soup version so I won’t share the recipe with you. But I will share my adapted recipe of the delicious Thai soup HERE!

My 2nd Celeb Sighting

So I didn’t get a chance to blog about it till now, but remember my first celeb sighting of none other than Jim from The Office? Well, I saw my 2nd celeb! 
The other day at the gym I was doing an elliptical workout. After the workout I got off and went to get a towel to clean the machine. As I turned around to get off I saw a woman who looked strikingly like Claire Danes on the elliptical behind me. The gym was pretty empty, and we were pretty much the only two people in the area. I went, got my towel and tried to, as discreetly as possible, stare at her glance in her direction. Yep, it was definitely her, I mean, if that wasn’t Claire Danes then it was her identical twin. She was SO much more beautiful in person than in movies. And she is FIT! Like whoa. Jealous!
I looked online after, and it checks out! She’s been spotted there before
So yay for celebrities!

Off to study… booo.  Have a great night!