Thai Fish Curry

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Chatelaine Magazine?  It's great Canadian content - awesome recipes and lots of good articles!  The December issue is great and surprisingly not overloaded with millions of "Christmas Dinner" recipes, and includes a very interesting recipe for Thai Fish Curry.  I made it, with a few changes though ;)  One thing about it - looks like a soup in the picture, but turns out more like a chowder - I think that's because the butternut squash melts down and thickens up the dish.  I also added a little stack of rice noodles, so this could have also contributed to the creaminess of the dish.
Anyways, the flavour was amazing - check out the changes I made to the recipe (bolded):

Thai Fish Curry
Ingredients:
250 g or 1/2 lb frozen cod (I used the High Liner Market cuts because Todd's not home - he would die if I showed up with frozen fish lol)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped fine
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp Thai green curry paste
2 cups butternut squash pieces
400ml can coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp lime zest
small pkg of clear rice noodles
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp sliced basil leaves

Method:
Remove fish from freezer and let stand for awhile; cut into 1 inch pieces.

Heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, until melted.  Add the onions, garlic and curry paste and cook for about 2 minutes. 

Add the squash, coconut milk, broth and fish sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add fish and cook uncovered until fish is cooked through ~ 5 minutes.  Add the rice noodles and cover - cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the noodles have softened. 

Stir in the lime juice and zest.  

Spoon into bowls and top with cilantro and basil.   ENJOY!

Watermelon Feta Salad & Grilled Chicken

The heat wave is still sticking around in Red Deer: SHOCKER!  All day I was craving a nice cool watermelon salad, so I went to Superstore and picked up a few items... all except the one item I really did need (I remembered the watermelon!) something I've been out of for a few days: olive oil.  Argh I hate when I am forgetful like that, but I'm blaming it on the heat!  Anyways, being a forgetful Jones forced me to use alternative oils, but you know what?  Everything turned out really good!!  I was worried that Todd was going to be freaked out by this salad but he LOVED IT!!  Hope you do too!

Watermelon Feta Salad
Ingredients:
2 tbsp avocado oil
2 tbsp cranberry balsamic vinegar (or a red wine vinegar - not a heavy balsamic!)
1 tbsp agave syrup
1/4 cup finely sliced fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup finely sliced thai basil leaves
salt & pepper to taste
4 small shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup crumbled feta
4 cups cubed watermelon

Method:
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, agave, salt & pepper until emulsified.  Add the herbs and shallots.  Add the feta and watermelon and lightly toss.  Cover and chuck into the fridge to keep cool.

Grilled Lime Chicken
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
juice of one lime
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
dash cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Method:
In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients and pour over top of your chicken in a glass dish.  Get the grill med-high, around 400 degrees.  Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes per side, depending on the size of the pieces, and depending on your grill, basting with any reserved marinade.

Once chicken is cooked thru, remove from the grill and let rest on a plate for 10 minutes.  Slice chicken on the grain and serve with the salad - DEEEELISH!

A "Hot" Night with Erin...

Today I dropped off my sweet little dog at the vet to have a tumor removed from his paw.  Jasper is 11 years old, so this was a big decision for me to make!! 

Poor Jasper!

To get my mind off things, I went for a run at Heritage Ranch, came home and ate some of the delicious left-overs from last night!  Erin came over with a bottle of Cupcake and we had a spicy thai meal, complete with Stuffed Peppers with Thai Curry Rice and Mushrooms (adapted from this month's Food & Wine Magazine) and my version of the green mango salad you get at Thai Express fast food chain.  The stuffed peppers turned out great but super spicy and ended up being a major undertaking on time - for sure don't bust this recipe out on a weeknight but for sure make for someone who's awesome (like Erin)!

Stuffed Pepper with Green Mango Salad

The green mango salad, on the other hand, was easy peasy:

Green Mango Salad (a la Thai Express)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup sugar (could easily replace regular sugar with agave or honey)
2 green mangos, peeled and julienned
2 large carrots, peeled and julienned
1 jalapeno - chopped finely - if you don't like too spicy, then take out the seeds and membrane first, otherwise keep and burn your mouth off!
handful each of cilantro, mint leaves and thai basil, washed and coarsly chopped

Method:
In a glass bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar until sugar is dissolved.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Leave at room temp for about 20minutes so that the flavours can "marry" then drain and discard the excess juice. 

So this afternoon, as I wait for my pup to get out of surgery, I think I am going to try Lindsey's Coconut Mango muffins to cheer me up!!