Simple Mushroom Curry...Simply Full of Tomato

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1...2 if you have a tiny stomach
Overall Rating: 5...read on for suggested improvements

I am lucky to have a husband that knows his way around the kitchen well. After a little encouragement (okay, nagging) on my part, I was able to convince him to make me dinner on Friday. Ryan chose Simple Mushroom Curry from VegWeb.com, which was indeed quite simple; he commented that the most time-consuming part was chopping the onion.

Seeing as I sat back and enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio, while Ryan cooked, I don't have too many insights as to how to craft this meal. It did smell mighty delicious in the short time it took to prepare.

However, the final product did not taste like a curry. While still tasty, the recipe simply tasted like a mushroom marinara sauce. Due to its ease, we will likely make a variation of this of this meal again; however, Ryan and I both agreed that we would add a lot less tomato paste and more of the spices (cumin, chili powder, turmeric, etc.).

My deceptive cook serving up the curry

Okay, PAUSE. Ryan just confessed that he left out both the coriander and the cilantro. He has some strange aversion to buying spices. Well, that tanks the credibility of this entry. I suppose I will have to do my blog cooking by myself moving forward...

But I can still advise you to make at least a double batch of this recipe if you're looking to feed more than one person. We served the curry over big portions of quinoa with sides of asparagus. Despite the sides, we were both left hungry.

Red Lentil Thai Chili: Unexpected Combo

While I realize this meal seems, on the surface, very similar to the Rustic Winter Stew in my last post, I am a fan of all things Thai and decided I must try Post Punk Kitchen's Red Lentil Thai Chili. The author of the post said it was delicious and "blessedly easy", so why not?

Most ingredients in the recipe are common enough; however, those of you readers without an Asian market nearby may have trouble finding the Thai red curry paste and possibly the coconut milk. I actually had Thai green curry paste and coconut cream left over from a foray into Thai cooking after my trip to Southeast Asia in 2006. I substituted the green curry paste for the red and cut the coconut cream with water to make coconut milk.

In addition to these small changes, I also cut the vegetable both in half and used 2 cups of water to reduce the dish's sodium content (you'll find this to be a habit of mine).

Well, the unexpected combination of both curry and chili lived up to one of PPK's descriptions: delicious! The curry/chili is the perfect combination of both spicy and sweet--if you don't do well with spice, you might want to reduce the curry paste and/or increase the coconut milk. Pair the dish with some brown rice and a salad for a well-rounded, nutritious meal.

That said, the curry/chili was not exactly "blessedly easy". Fairly easy? Yes. However, preparation through cleanup lasted about an hour, with the vegetable chopping and dish washing as the most time-consuming. Preparing the rice and salad added another 10 to 15 minutes.

As stated on PPK's blog, this recipe prepare quite of bit of food...but I would certainly not say it's enough for 10 to 12 servings. As a main dish for hearty eaters, this dish would serve 4 at most.

Overall, I'd rate this the Red Lentil Thai Chili recipe as an 8.

Stay tuned for my next review of Hippy Gourmet's Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms.