Thai Red Curry

When I was pregnant with my baby boy, the only thing that I really craved in the first trimester was this - delicious, sweet, mildly hot Thai red curry (or green curry). I would've never thought I could make this at home... If I had known, I probably would've made it for every dinner when I was pregnant. Well, I guess, it's for the better. Otherwise, it would've taken me much longer to lose my baby weight, right? The best way to serve this dish is with jasmine rice. I can't imagine eating a Thai dish without flavorful jasmine rice. I love dipping the rice in the soup.... Mmmm.... Just thinking about it makes my mouth water...

Thai Red Curry

Ingredients:

Cooked Jasmine rice
2 tablespoons oil
2-3 tablespoons red curry paste (or more if you want it to be hotter. We used a whole bottle because we LOVE hot stuff!)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 - 1/2 lb tritip beef (or flank steak), thinly sliced (You may replace it with chicken if desired)
2 tablespoons cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4-6 large fresh min leaves (or basil leaves)

Vegetable- (A good thing about curry is that you can put whatever vegetables you like, really. You can use zucchinis, peas, squash, maybe even broccoli... but these are the vegetables we normally use and it was fantastic!)

1/2 acorn squash, peeled and cut into cubes
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 can bamboo shoots

Direction:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and the curry paste and cook, stirring, for a minute.

Add the coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, sugar, and salt, then bring it to a boil.

Add the vegetables (squash, red and yellow bell pepper, bamboo shoots) and reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 12 minutes.

Add the beef and simmer, covered, for another 8-10 minutes or until the beef is cooked.

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water together, then pour it into the curry, stirring frequently, until the curry thickens. Stir in the lemon juice and mint leaves.

Serve with/over rice.