Easy And Delicious Coconut-Curried Rice With Kale
I love recipes that are easy to assemble (15 minutes or less), taste delicious and have a nice presentation. In fact, if it were up to me, these would be the only types of meals I would prepare (just imagine how much more enjoyable Thanksgiving would be if you only had to spend 15 minutes on a recipe), but I digress. The neat thing about this recipe is that you can add anything you want to the rice. I have eggplant on hand from the farmers’ market, but you could use other veggies or even a protein (with chicken, shrimp or beef, cooking time would vary). The real trick here is to keep it simple and to taste as you cook, so that if you like, you can add more of this or that to individualize.
Coconut-Curried Rice Topped
with Sautéed Garlic Kale
Makes 2 servings (or double for 4)
Sautéed Garlic Kale
1 tbsp olive oil
3 stalks curly kale, rinsed, patted dry and thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1 turn fresh black pepper (from a pepper mill)
1 tsp store-bought chopped garlic
Coconut-Curry Rice
1 tbsp olive oil
½ long Asian eggplant, rinsed and thinly sliced (Asian eggplant is called many things, so look for 8- to 10-inch thin purple eggplants)
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp powered curry (or more if you like extra curry)
½ cup coconut milk (or more if you like extra creamy)
1 cup cooked jasmine rice (should be no more than 1 day old)
1 tsp powered chicken bouillon, to add flavor
To prepare the kale: In a medium wok over medium heat, add the olive oil and carefully add the sliced kale, salt, pepper and garlic. Sauté the kale for about 4 minutes, until it wilts. This might take longer, depending on how fresh the kale is. Move the kale around the wok to make sure it cooks evenly and doesn’t burn. Once the kale is the consistency you like, turn off the heat and scrape kale onto a clean plate.
To prepare the coconut-curry rice: Add the olive oil into the wok and let it heat up. Carefully add the sliced eggplant and sauté until it begins to turn golden brown, about 4 minutes. Once it’s cooked, sprinkle the eggplant with the salt and curry, and pour in the coconut milk. Move everything around the wok so that it cooks evenly. Add the rice and chicken bouillon. Give everything a big stir and let it cook together for 4 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Evenly divide the coconut-curry rice between 2 plates and top each with half the kale. Serve immediately.
