Ohhhh my lordie! Is this ever good! No boos around the dinner table for you (if you can get past the whole green thing)!! Your friends will be positively green with envy at your culinary skills! Ramp up the scary and put some roasted fingerling potatoes in the bowl before serving! They look just like scary fingers emerging from the goo!
Seriously, this is a fun stew that tastes similar to a Thai green chili base. It is so flavorful. I got the recipe when I attended a recent cooking demonstration at Native Foods given by Chef Tanya Petrovna. She shows you how to have fun and flavor that is beyond measure. One of my favorite restaurants! I haven’t had much experience with Thai cooking and I was surprised at how easy it was to recreate those flavors at home with her recipe. Soul satisfying green goo!
Try to use organic products wherever you can. Be good to you.
Ingredients for Paste:
1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
½ teaspoon whole black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1-2 jalapeno, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 lemongrass stalks, trimmed, finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 Tablespoons peeled and chopped fresh ginger (about a 2” piece)
Zest from two limes
2 Tablespoons lime juice
Ingredients for Goo Stew:
1 cup chopped spinach
2 cans coconut milk (I use light, just make sure there is no sugar in the one you buy)
1 cup water
1 zucchini, medium, sliced in ¼” half moons
¼ pound green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1” pieces
12 ounce package firm tofu, drained and sliced into ¼“ chunks
1 ½ cups whole cashews (raw, unsalted)
¼ maple syrups (use the real deal, no Aunt Jemima here!)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 cup fresh basil (for garnish)
Lime wedges (for garnish)
First, make the green goo paste:
In a small skillet (no oil) hit the coriander, cumin and whole black pepper to toast slightly.
Grind the freshly roasted spices with a mortar and pestle (get creative with a meat tenderizer or something if you don’t have a mortar/pestle).
Add the salt, jalapenos, cilantro, lemongrass, green onions, ginger, lime juice, zest and continue to mash the mix with the mortar and pestle until it becomes a paste. Set aside. This makes enough paste for a couple of batches of the stew. You can freeze half of the paste for use another day.
Turn the paste into a stew:
In a blender put in 6 Tablespoons of the paste, 1 cup chopped spinach, and one can of the coconut milk and puree.
In a stock pot, pour in the spinach coconut milk puree, the second can of coconut milks, water, zucchini, green beans, tofu, and cashews and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the maple syrup, soy sauce, and sea salt and simmer for another 5 minutes.
I pureed a few cups of the goo, then added it back to the pot to thicken it up a bit.
Serve over a little rice or pasta and garnish with fresh basil and lime wedges…..and maybe those roasted fingerling potato “fingers”……Boo!
Get creative! Any green veggies will do in the goo!
This recipe isn’t available in Tanya’s book, but she’s got lots of other great, healthy options. It’s available from: Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook
Try one of Tanya’s restaurants: www.nativefoods.com
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