I really do want to work through the Avoca Cafe Cookbook one recipe at a time ... but my friend says her daughter will kill her if I don't return the book soon.
Last night I took a look at the Green Bean and Coconut Soup. We were late coming home from work, and Tuesdays are always complicated because of piano lessons, so we usually just grab pizza. But I had all the ingredients for this soup, and oddly it had snowed yesterday (on April 15) and was cold out, so this seemed like the right choice. With this cookbook, I never quite know how much the recipes will make, and I decided to vary the quantities as I went and try to bulk up the meal. By adding tofu and rice I turned the "soup" into an easy green curry sauce that was delicious. Next time I'll make double so that we can have some leftovers.
Easy Green Curry Sauce for a Quick Meal in a Bowl
2 T. butter
a bunch of scallions, chopped (whites and greens)
2 carrots, cut into fine strips
2-3 t. finely chopped lemon grass (on the advice of our Vietnamese friend we have frozen chopped lemon grass in the freezer on hand all the time)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 t. grated fresh ginger
1-2 t. ground turmeric
2-3 t. ground coriander
2-4 green chiles, chopped (or just some pepper flakes if you don't have these)
a large handful of fresh green beans, roughly chopped
2 cans of coconut milk (13.5 oz.)
vegetable stock cube, crumbled
To add in the bowl:
1 cake of tofu, cubed and stir-fried
cooked rice, white or brown
For garnish: fresh bean sprouts and chopped fresh cilantro
Melt the butter in a small soup pot. Add scallions, carrot, lemongrass, garlic and ginger and stir over medium heat for about a minute. Add the turmeric, coriander, chiles (or pepper flakes), green beans, coconut milk and stock cube and mix well. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Season with salt and/or black pepper to taste.
Cook the rice and the tofu separately and then mound them into the bottom of a soup bowl. Pour the sauce on top and garnish with bean sprouts and cilantro.
Yum. This smelled so good cooking that my son was ladling it out of the pot before running off to his lesson. Holding the bowl between bites, and the creamy filling sauce/soup itself, was just the thing on a cold evening.
Will spring ever come? Today I'm baking zhavoronki, the Russian bread-larks, to hasten it. Stay tuned.
Last night I took a look at the Green Bean and Coconut Soup. We were late coming home from work, and Tuesdays are always complicated because of piano lessons, so we usually just grab pizza. But I had all the ingredients for this soup, and oddly it had snowed yesterday (on April 15) and was cold out, so this seemed like the right choice. With this cookbook, I never quite know how much the recipes will make, and I decided to vary the quantities as I went and try to bulk up the meal. By adding tofu and rice I turned the "soup" into an easy green curry sauce that was delicious. Next time I'll make double so that we can have some leftovers.
Easy Green Curry Sauce for a Quick Meal in a Bowl
2 T. butter
a bunch of scallions, chopped (whites and greens)
2 carrots, cut into fine strips
2-3 t. finely chopped lemon grass (on the advice of our Vietnamese friend we have frozen chopped lemon grass in the freezer on hand all the time)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 t. grated fresh ginger
1-2 t. ground turmeric
2-3 t. ground coriander
2-4 green chiles, chopped (or just some pepper flakes if you don't have these)
a large handful of fresh green beans, roughly chopped
2 cans of coconut milk (13.5 oz.)
vegetable stock cube, crumbled
To add in the bowl:
1 cake of tofu, cubed and stir-fried
cooked rice, white or brown
For garnish: fresh bean sprouts and chopped fresh cilantro
Melt the butter in a small soup pot. Add scallions, carrot, lemongrass, garlic and ginger and stir over medium heat for about a minute. Add the turmeric, coriander, chiles (or pepper flakes), green beans, coconut milk and stock cube and mix well. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Season with salt and/or black pepper to taste.
Cook the rice and the tofu separately and then mound them into the bottom of a soup bowl. Pour the sauce on top and garnish with bean sprouts and cilantro.
Yum. This smelled so good cooking that my son was ladling it out of the pot before running off to his lesson. Holding the bowl between bites, and the creamy filling sauce/soup itself, was just the thing on a cold evening.
Will spring ever come? Today I'm baking zhavoronki, the Russian bread-larks, to hasten it. Stay tuned.
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| Image from gotovim-doma.ru. Will mine be as attractive? |
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