A dish ...

Okay, it has been a long time for which I apologise... this little gem will surely make it up to you.

It comes, like many of the recipes on this blog, from the kitchen of my Aunt Lucy. She got it from the New York Times. There is no name attached to the photocopied clip she sent my way (complete with four stars penned on the side of the recipe), but a quick google tells me that it's Mark Bittman's recipe. No surprise. The man is a genius.

It is "Roasted Vegetables, Thai Style," and it goes something like this: (it actually goes exactly like this... at the end will tell you some of my wanderings from the printed page).

1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
1 medium-to-large potato, peeled and diced
1 medium-to-large eggplant, diced
1 red pepper, cored, stemmed and cut into strips
1 cup peas (frozen are fine)
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
4 peeled shallots or 1 onion, quartered
8 to 12 cloves garlic, peeled
Salt & freshly ground pepper
2 tomatoes, cut in to eighths

(and for the sauce)

1/4 cup green, yellow or red curry paste, or 1 tablespoon chili paste, or cayenne to taste
1 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup crunchy "natural" peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Chopped fresh cilantro, mint and/or Thai basil leaves for garnish

Heat your oven to 450 degrees F. Place a deep ovenproof skillet or casserole over medium heat and add all but a tablespoon of oil. A minute later, add all vegetables except the tomatoes; sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir. Put pan in oven and roast, stirring once or twice, for 30 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir, and continue to roast until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 45 minutes to an hour total.

Put remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste and stir; whisk in coconut milk, peanut butter and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Keep warm.

When the vegetables are done, stir in coconut milk mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more soy sauce or curry paste if necessary. Garnish with herb and serve hot or warm.

As a main dish, serves 4, as a side, 6 to 8 servings.


The reason I decided to try this recipe was because I was having a party. When I first decided to have said party I decided I was going to do a "treasure island chicken," (one of my mum's specialities), with basmati rice and an arugula salad. I was going to have hummus on the side, some warm almonds and some cheese puffs too, which I thought would surely satisfy all in the room including the vegetarians. Then, I realised that the night of said party, it was going to be blady freezing... i.e. down in the teens. I wasn't sure that I wanted do be serving Treasure Island for (about) 40 people... and I sure didn't think a salad would a) stand up to a full evening, sitting on a counter in a warm apartment, wilting away and b) be in any way substantial enough for anyone on such a cold night. And so I switched. Jamie Oliver's lamb curry (from "The Return of the Naked Chef," an absolutely stonking recipe!) and this here dish which I had never made before (and yes, I know you are not supposed to do that), but which I thought looked so easy that how could it possibly go wrong.

I doubled the recipe (except for the curry paste. I probably used a little over a third of a cup), and I didn't use tomatoes. Can't explain it, but they just didn't appeal to me. I used a lot of green beans and a lot of peas. (Frozen peas are the business as far as I'm concerned). I also added a few more potatoes. (I am Irish after all). I used two full cans of coconut milk (what the blady hell do you do with the rest of a can if you don't use it, I ask myself... save it for another time by which time the milk has gone off?!) (At least that's what happens in my kitchen), and I forgot about the garnish. I had the garnish (cil-ANN-tro! as y'all americans like to call it). I just forgot the garnish... whateva! It was delicious. Really, really good.

A couple of things to remember if you are having a party. Don't forget the preparation takes time too. And that when you are doubling a recipe, 12 cloves of garlic becomes 24 cloves of garlic and you have to peel them all. (Don't tell me about the garlic cloves peeled and prepped and sold in plastic containers... I'm a purist!). And that maybe your plan to be absolutely done and relaxed and sipping some cava at 7:30p (i.e. a full half hour before the party is due to begin) might not come true, certainly not the first time you decide to throw a supper party for (about) 40. Thank God I showered earlier in the day that's all I'm saying...

But yes, the party was fun, and this here dish was a super star. Impressive... and very, very easy. Try it out. Tell me what you think.