Red curry salmon chowder

I picked up this month's Living Naturally at Vitamin Cottage and saw this recipe. Sounded great although I had to go to Talin to pick up my red curry paste! I have already amended the recipe to how I will make it next time- more veggies and less fish.

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 small red onion (thinly sliced) 

3 cups mushrooms (sliced)

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste

1 tablespoon fresh ginger (grated)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

14 ounces (1 can) light coconut milk

1 cups low-sodium vegetable

2 teaspoons low-sodium fish sauce

2 teaspoons honey

3/4 pound skinless salmon fillet (cut into large chunks)

3-4 small heads bok choy (thinly sliced crosswise)

1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves (thinly sliced crosswise)- Served with this

1/2 cup cilantro leaves and thin, tender stems- Served with this

2 large limes (cut into wedges)

 Heat coconut oil in a medium-large saucepan; cook onion and mushrooms for 3–5 minutes, until just softened. Stir in curry paste, ginger, garlic, and Fresno pepper(if using); cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, and honey; bring to a boil and add salmon and bok choy. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 3–6 minutes (depending on salmon thickness), until bok choy is tender. Divide among four bowls, sprinkle with basil and cilantro, and serve with lime wedges on the side. 

 **Delicious and pretty fast to make. Next time, I will add more mushrooms and bok choy and less salmon. (I've already amended the recipe above- so I won't forget!) This is best way I've ever made bok choy! We all laughed when we ate it- because none of us could remember having salmon in soup!

Cuban Green Rice

This recipe comes from a cookbook I received many years ago from my sister. It is a great vegetarian cookbook with recipes from all over the world, World Food Cafe: Global Vegetarian Cooking. Normally I would serve plain rice with the aloo gobi, but I felt like this week's menu has been short on greens, so I thought to try this rice. If it isn't green enough, I might saute some spinach as well. I didn't make it in time to save the parsley from the deep freeze, so I ended up buying it.

Serves 4-6
3 T oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded de-ribbed, and finely chopped*
large handful of fresh parsley sprigs, chopped
large handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 C rice, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 C vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and saute the onion and bell pepper until they start to soften.
Stir in the parsley and cilantro. Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains in oil. Add just enough stock to cover the rice and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until all the moisture is absorbed. Add salt and pepper.

*I don't like bell peppers, so I'll skip this ingredient. I'll use Basmati rice.

** No picture. But I can tell you this was a great rice dish. It went well with the aloo gobi. The flavors were great. You'll need to keep your eye on it at the end of the cooking- it didn't take very long. I was surprised the rice cooked through with just 2 1/2 C of liquid, but it did.