Groesbeck/Uhl

DCL

While in Key West over the holiday season we found this wonderful little organic restaurant called Help Yourself. The hot spot provides "food as it should be," before the onslaught of chemicals, pesticides, and processed foods are so rudely introduced into the food chain. A dish called Key West Curry is my inspiration for this frugal green feast. In fact, the recipe is so easy that when I left the ingredients (along with precise directions) out for my husband, he was able to make the dish all by himself. That's a big deal. With a Thai inspired side, a rice bowl entree is always an inexpensive pick when feeding a crowd.

Key West Curry

4 cups short grain, organic brown rice

2 tbsp organic olive oil

4 large carrots, sliced into skinny strips

1 head broccoli, chopped roughly

2 heads Napa cabbage, chopped roughly

3 cups organic snow peas

1 bunch green onions, chopped roughly

3 cups shitake mushrooms, roughly chopped

1/2 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped

1 can organic coconut milk

1/4 cup organic soy sauce

1/4 cup organic soy sauce

1 tbsp red curry paste

2 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsp organic palm sugar (or brown sugar)

1 tbsp organic olive oil

1/2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Method

1. Steam the rice. I use a rice steamer, but use any method you want.

2. Shock the carrots and the broccoli by putting them in boiling water for about two minutes and then dropping them into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain them and put aside.

3. Saute the remaining vegetable ingredients down through the mushrooms, making sure that they remain crisp.

4. Add in the broccoli and carrots at the very end and then the cashews.

5. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk or a fork.

6. Pour the curry sauce over the vegetables making sure not to over soak them.

7. Top the steamed rice with the veggies.

Cost: About $35.00

- For a side check out Kelly Rossiter's recipe for Fast Pot-Stickers.

Cost: About $18.00

- Finish the feast with Chef Akasha Richmond's recipe for carrot cake.

Cost: About $35.00

- For a bottle of a good inexpensive organic chardonnay checkout Planet Green's guide to green wines. Have your guests bring wine as well.

Cost: About $10.00

Total: About $98.00

* My cost approximations do not take into account the whole portion of staple ingredients like olive oil, flour, and sugar which I presume most of you already have in your pantry.

Interested in hearing what celebrities have to say about green? Eavesdrop on their dinner conversations on Planet Green TV's Supper Club.