The spring equinox elicits feelings of hope. Although the days have been getting longer since December, winter still delivers a season of cold, damp, windy, and gray weather. Upon the first day of spring, it’s easy to look forward to sunshine, budding trees, and singing birds. Everything becomes a little more green, including our foods.

Now don’t get me wrong; I love potatoes and winter squash, but when spring arrives it’s time for something fresh; something that hasn’t been sitting in cold storage for six months. I am eager to eat spinach harvested the morning of the farmers’ market or radishes from my own garden. Asparagus is a welcome side dish, as are fresh peas in the late spring. One vegetable that calls my name once the weather starts warming is tatsoi. Tatsoi is commonly harvested in the fall but can be planted in the spring and harvested after around 40 to 50 days, or an even shorter 30-day period if you plan on harvesting baby leaves.

Last fall, I was picking up my weekly CSA at Flying Carrot Farm in Dartmouth—a CSA where members can choose which items they will take home each week—and an interesting vegetable, tatsoi, intrigued me, as I had not ever eaten it. Small, spoon-shaped leaves topped the end of stalks that are roughly half the width of bok choy, a relative. Unsure whether this was something I’d cook or throw into a salad, it turns out you can do either. Leaves are soft and buttery and are a common addition to salad mixes but also can be cooked and substituted anywhere you might normally use spinach. Even the stems are edible.

After arriving home, I decided to prep a menu for the week based on my CSA scores. Squash would be roasted and top pre-dinner salads; carrots and potatoes would make a nice cottage pie; and tatsoi would go into… ? What on earth was I to do with this new-tome vegetable? Then a light bulb went off—throw it into a curry.

Curries, stews, and stir-fries are some of my favorite dishes to cook. It seems like whatever you have lying around the house can be thrown into a pot or a pan and turned into a delicious dish. This time I opted for a Thai green curry, a staple in my house. If you haven’t had a Thai curry before, you are missing out! Green curry gets its color from green chilies included in the curry paste. Other notable flavors are lemongrass and garlic. It has a delicious heat to it and it definitely is not for the faint of heart.

When cooking a Thai curry, creating a flavorful sauce can be as simple as adding a can of coconut milk to a pre-made curry paste. I tend to add some additional herbs to my curries, but if you’re in a rush, two ingredients can be the base of a perfectly delicious dinner. However, the quality of the ingredients matters. Most well-stocked grocery stores will carry curry pastes in their ethnic food sections, but some pastes are better than others. It’s worth trying a few varieties to see what you like. Some are sweeter and others offer more heat. If you can get to an Asian market, there are many possibilities. The Maesri brand was recommended to me by a Thai friend, and it is very flavorful and spicy. However, I have had grocery store brands that have knocked my socks off as well.

Additionally, not all coconut milks are created equal. There is an enormous difference between the can of coconut milk that costs $1.79 and the can that costs $3.99. The cheap brands are usually fairly thin and tend to separate, producing an almost grainy texture. Spend the extra money and get a higher quality brand and expect it to be thick and rich. That is the desired result, of course.

The following recipe uses shrimp as its protein source, but chicken, beef, or white fish also works. I highly recommend using tatsoi if you can find it, but spinach or bok choy are also great substitutes. As noted, making curries and stews is a great way to help clean out the fridge, so feel free to add other seasonal ingredients like broccoli, asparagus, or peas.

Eliminate all the herbs and spices for an easy, yet flavorful and spicy, weeknight dinner. And, as the old adage goes, if you can’t stand the heat…don’t make Thai Green Curry for your dinner!

Thai Green Curry with Shrimp

Serve curry over hot jasmine rice with fresh squeezes of lime juice.

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons avocado or vegetable oil
  • 1 onion cut into slices
  • 1 jalapeño or other hot chilipepper diced (omit for less heat)
  • 2 carrots sliced on a bias
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 red pepper cut into slices
  • 1 bunch of tatsoi stems chopped (leaves chopped if large, canremain whole if baby)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemongrass finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons green curry paste (depending how spicy you like it)
  • 1 14-ounce can of coconut milk
  • 1 cup of vegetable broth optional
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 pound large shrimp (peeled, deveined, tails removed)
  • 1/2 cup Thai basil
  • Fresh limes
  • Jasmine rice, for serving

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in a large, high-walled skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add onion, jalapeño, and carrot and cook until slightly softened.
  • Add garlic, cook until fragrant about one minute.
  • Add red pepper and tatsoi, cook until slightly softened.
  • Push vegetables to side of pan.
  • Add lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, and curry paste, cook and stir to bloom spices and release fragrance, about 1 minute.
  • Stir in coconut milk, broth if you prefer a thinner curry, and fish sauce. Add shrimp, and cover with sauce.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until shrimp is cooked. Stir in Thai basil.

Notes

Kendra Parker spends her spring reconnecting with nature and soaking up as much sun as she can get before the next rainy day. Preparing her garden and enjoying fresh food again is a spring pastime.