Thai Coconut and Lemongrass Soup (Tom Kha)

This is SOOOO YUM!

Adapted from recipe by Tyler Florence

• 1 quart organic chicken stock
• 1 stalk lemon grass, white part only, cracked open with the flat side of a knife
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or dried, hand torn
• 1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• Red onion, sliced extra thin, about 5 slices and separate them out
• 2 small Thai chilies, halved lengthwise
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 (13-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk (don’t use light, you will be sorry!)
• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons raw sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, rinsed
• 3 limes, juiced
• 1 package of brown rice noodles cooked al dente or slightly undercooked
• 1/2 c of both steamed carrot sticks and steamed snow peas
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• bean sprouts for garnish

Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, chilies, onion, and garlic. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and gently simmer for 10 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth.

 Uncover and stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, mushrooms, and lime juice. Simmer for 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup broth into individual serving bowls filled with your brown rice noodles, lightly steamed carrots, and crunchy snow peas. Garnish with cilantro and bean sprouts. Be careful to avoid chewing the lemongrass, ginger, or lime leaves (I removed these entirely by straining the broth)

Thai Green Curry Salmon

This  spicy and sweet coconut curry is creamy and absolutely delicious with a delicate salmon filet!

The Recipe

2 5oz sustainably farmed salmon filets

Set oven for 350

Now, it’s time to wash and chop the vegetables.

After all your vegetables are chopped, set them aside.  Take salmon  and place skin side down on some a foil-covered pan  and drizzle with EVOO.  Season with sea salt, pepper, and some green chili paste. Stick fish in your preheated oven  for 15 minutes.

Now it’s time for the sauce!

2-5 TB Thai green chili paste (depending on how spicy you want this to be)

1 can of lite coconut milk

1 can of organic chicken stock

2 kaffir lime leaves (if you dont have these just use a tsp of lime or lemon juice)

2 TB tamari or soy sauce

3 Tsp raw brown sugar

1 handful of chopped cilantro

cornstarch to thickenen

Put  the can of coconut milk into a heated pan and whisk in green chili paste TB by TB until you achieve desired spiciness. Now, whisk in stock, soy sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and sugar. Once this starts to simmer, add vegetables(I didnt add the snap peas until last minute becasue I like them crisp) and cook for 10-15 minutes. Adjust flavor as desired and add cornstarch if needed to thicken the curry. Add chopped cilantro when it is just about ready.

For the vegetables,  I used a variety:

1/2 c cremini mushrooms

1 can chopped baby corn

1 c chopped snap peas

1 c of yellow squash

1 c of eggplant

1/4 c green peas

1 bunch of green onions for garnish and crunch

Pour sauce on top of cooked salmon filets. Garnish with diced green onions and diced red pepper if you have it.

I served this with  quinoa and it soaked up the flavors wonderfully.