Thai Pineapple Curry

I love Thai food.  It all began back in highschool and the love has matured and grown since then.  With all that being said, though, and my love for cooking and trying new things, one would assume I cooked Thai food at home.

Wrong.

It scares me.  It's the one cuisine (and other authentic Asian foods like Chinese or Korean -- they are on my to do list!) I don't cook.  Or didn't.

One of my all-time favorite dishes to get at a good Thai restaurant is the Thai coconut milk-based curries. Panang and Masaman are good, but the Pineapple curry that melds the sweet and savory together is where it's at for this girl.  (If you don't like the sweetness of it, don't worry, you can still use this recipe, but omit the pineapple and add 2 cups of another veggie, like zucchini and/or mushrooms).

In the pot, all fragrant and ready to be ladled onto the rice 

I was surprised by how easy this dish was to make.  I used a jar of pre-made red curry paste (by itself not spicy), made sure to not add any additional spices, used some pre-chopped lemongrass (optional, but made it taste like the real deal), and then just chopped a few veggies.  In the future, I'll play around with what I add -- like the zucchini and mushrooms mentioned above.  There was a lot of broth there, which I happen to like (let the rice soak it up!), but some people like a thicker/chunkier curry, so those people may want to add some other veggies.

You can also add in a meat of some sort, or tofu.  I'm picky on my tofu, especially in curries, so I simply served some edamame on the side with a Raw Pad Thai Salad (no edamame or hemp seeds in it, and it made 4-6 small side salads) to go with it and called it good. It was delish.

Raw Pad Thai Salad from Oh She Glows

Thai Pineapple Curry
serves 6-8

• 2 cups almond milk + 2 tsp coconut extract
• 3 TBLS pre-made, jarred, red curry paste
• 1-2 tsp chopped lemongrass (opt)
• 2 cups cubed pineapple (save juice)
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1 14oz can baby corn, drained and chopped
• 1 cup deseeded/chopped tomato
• 1 large yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 2 TBLS brown sugar
• 1 TBLS vegetable paste (or 1 bullion cube)
• 1 TBLS lime juice
• 1 TBLS fresh chopped basil

-- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of the milk with paste.  Simmer 5 minutes.

-- Add remaining milk and lemongrass and bring to a boil

-- Add all remaining ingredients (minus basil and lime juice) and simmer 10 minutes until vegetable start to soften (if using zucchini and mushrooms, you may need to microwave them, or saute them a little before adding in.)

-- Stir in basil and lime juice

-- Serve over brown rice, OR mix 4 cups cooked brown rice into the pot and stir until it soaks all the liquid up!