Can you Curry?

After work on Wednesday, I picked up my CSA share -- lemongrass, garlic, apples, butternut squash, red kale -- and headed to the Teeter for a few more things. I needed to get some kind of protein for dinner and wanted to make a big enough meal that it could be used for lunch today and tomorrow. With my CSA share and some wilting veggies at home in mind, I decided to venture into the realm of the unknown: Asian cooking.

I grabbed some organic chicken tenderloins, a can of coconut milk, and fish sauce (which is made from anchovies - whaaaat?) for a more Thai-inspired dish. After a quick sweat sesh, I headed downstairs with iPad and random recipe in hand.

I sauteed onions, mushrooms, kale, broccoli, and sweet potatoes in coconut oil with some random spices. At this point, I knew I was making curry but couldn't find my curry powder anywhere, so I threw in ginger and other "asian" spices with crossed fingers and prayers to the Thai gods. The rest was easy: wash and cube the chicken, then sautee with the veggies until cooked. Add a can of coconut milk and some fish sauce. At this point, I found the curry powder tucked away and added a generous amount. I let everything simmer together for about 15 minutes while I cooked rice noodles that Hilary gave me. Everything was smelling pretty good, but I was suspicious: I've never used coconut milk before, and to be honest, it looked pretty nasty coming out of the can. Luckily, it tasted pretty good, but I'm the first to admit that (yet again) my dinner was ugly. Topped off with a little unsweetened coconut:

I had to add a couple squirts of Sriracha, but I was surprised with how everything blended together. I'll definitely make curry again in the future, but I want to experiment with curry paste instead of powder.

And yes, there's Sriracha and Texas Pete in the picture above. And Mom, that box in the upper-left corner is now empty! Thanks for the ten-pounds of shortbread that went straight to my tushy.

I spent the rest of the night alongside Richard, my soon-to-be-ex-roommate (so sad), watching the X-Factor and educating him on all things pop culture. Speaking of which...the three movies I can't wait to see this fall:

1) Pitch Perfect, featuring the fabulous Rebel Wilson as "Fat Amy":

2) Silver Linings Playbook:

3) And Trouble with the Curve:

Rob, I hope you've been saving your pennies because I have lots of movie dates planned in the next few weeks!