Coconut Curry Veggies

"The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk."  Dustin Hoffman

This recipe was the result of an experiment with coconut butter and a restaurant dinner that I enjoyed.  The restaurant dinner was coconut curry veggies with noodles which I wanted to try and duplicate.  Perusing such recipes online I noted that most of them contained coconut milk.  I am the proud owner of a jar of coconut butter, which is simply ground up coconut.  Not wanting to purchase coconut milk when I already had a coconut product in the house I decided to experiment.

I figured that I could melt the coconut butter, add a thickener along with spices and liquid, and have the sauce for my dish.  Well, Sparky, it worked!

Ingredients:
  Carrots, peeled and chopped
  Onion, peeled and chopped
  Celery, sliced
  Mushrooms, any kind, I used baby bella 
  Peppers, red or green cut into strips
  Broccoli, steamed and added just before serving

Distructions:
  Saute the veggies in a bit of olive oil.  Cover and let steam on low heat to the desired dente while you whip up the sauce.

Sauce:
  2 T coconut butter
  1 T cornstarch
  1 T curry powder
  1 T grated, fresh ginger
  1 1/2 cups water or veggie broth
  Dash of salt

Distructions:
  Melt the coconut butter, add the cornstarch, curry powder and grated ginger.  Ginger powder will also work.  Stir in the liquid and cook until a creamy consistency.  Adjust seasonings, including the coconut butter, curry powder, and ginger.  Play around with this until it's just right for you.  I added a bit more coconut butter to get more coconut taste into the sauce.  You could also whip up the coconut butter in water or broth in your blender.  This gives you a white liquid with a wonderful coconut flavor.

Finally, add the sauce to the veggies, top with steamed broccoli, and serve with rice.

DID YOU NOTICE?  I didn't give any measurements for the veggies.  Well, that means you can use as many or few as you'd like.  You could also include sweet potatoes or regular potatoes if you'd like.  Don't you just love choices!

CONFESSION:  I was in the middle of enjoying this dish with my son, who was visiting, when I realized we had consumed almost the entire dish and I hadn't taken a picture for this blog.  I gingerly shoved what was left on my plate to one side, spooned on a bit of rice, and snapped away.  I really need to get a bit more organized!

Loveya
The Mom