Easy Veggie Curry with Shrimp!

When it comes to cooking, my clients know I am all about making it easy. No cooking challenges or competitions here.


I recently took a recipe I've posted before and amended it. Why? Because I didn't have everything I needed in the house and rather than order a pizza, I would just do the best I could with what I had.


What a great way to live life, eh?


Ok, so here it is. The blog and the message for today:

Don't worry about making it "perfect" or the way you did last time--

just do the best with what you have.

two notes:

1) the spices are what make this go from a simple dish of frozen veggies to something that actually tastes pretty good! Don't skimp on your spices. I suggest you buy them fresh in bulk in small amounts over getting them in those glass jars and then letting them sit on your shelf for years. If they've been there a while, toss them and get some new ones. Remember my Food Has a Shelf Life post?


2) don't look down on frozen veggies. They serve a good purpose in your life and I consider you (and myself) a success if you're cooking with them over a stove instead of microwaving a frozen dinner or ordering take-out. Ideally, fresh vegetables are making up the bulk of your diet but even fresh veggies aren't as nutritional as frozen organic ones if they are being sprayed with pesticides and sitting out in the open for days at the local grocery store after sitting on a truck for even longer. This is my opinion. What's yours?

Easy Veggie Curry with Shrimp!

buy this:

• 1 fresh onion chopped into wee pieces
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 1 tablespoon each: curry powder, ground cumin, turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon each: ground cloves, cinnamon, ground coriander
• 1 package frozen veggies; carrots, corn, lima beans, green beans
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach
• 2 cups frozen shrimp
• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 and 1/2 cups fresh strained/Greek plain yogurt

do this:

• add the ghee to a stainless steel or copper pan over low heat and let it melt down. I don't use Teflon because it scares me. If food doesn't stick to it, what's it doing to my body? Yikes.
• add in the onion and stir it until it begins to soften. Add the spices and stir. You may find you need to add more ghee. By all means, do this. ;)
• once the onion is soft, add in the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the shrimp and yogurt.
• cook everything until it is soft-about 15 minutes.
• add the shrimp--be sure to defrost the shrimp first by bathing them in warm water and remove the tails! I didn't and they broke down in the sauce. Fail. ;(
• let everyone hang out in the pot for a bit (5 minutes).
• stir in the yogurt and oooooh and aaaahhhh over the smells, colors and textures revealed!
• serve over brown rice or quinoa. Store leftovers in tightly sealed glass containers and feel proud of yourself of making something delicious with lots of ease.

Feeling more ambitious? The real recipe isn't much harder--check it out right here! Madras Vegetable Curry. It's perfect for this time of year as it uses several root veggies--they are plentiful right now.