Thai Shrimp Curry

I love Thai food. I’ve been craving good Pad Thai for months now. I’ve tried several recipes at home to share with you that have all turned out poorly. But if I was to go get Thai food, I would be torn. Should I get Pad Thai? Or curry? Thai curry is so yummy. Either way I lose, because in the end I wish I also had some of the other.

Well, problem almost solved. While I can’t seem to make decent Pad Thai at home, I did find this awesome curry recipe. It was pretty straightforward, simple, and fast. All good things for a week night with crazy kids making time of the essence when cooking. This really made me feel almost like I’d gotten take out. Especially when my husband did the dishes.

Thai Shrimp Curry (Serves 4)

6-8 ounces whole wheat linguine
1 tablespoon canola oil
12 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp
1 cup vertically sliced onion
1 cup diagonally sliced celery
1 cup juliene carrot
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup light coconut milk
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (see notes)
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
½ tablespoon fish sauce
1 cup bean sprouts
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
¼ cup unsalted, dry roasted cashews
2 tablespoons lime juice, or 1 fresh lime sliced into wedges

1. Cook noodles according to package directions for al dente, not using oil or salt. Drain.

2. While noodles are cooking, heat oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add shrimp. Stir-fry about 4 minutes, until turn pink and cooked. Remove from pan without draining the oil.

3. Add onion, celery, carrot, ang ginger to the pan. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes. Combine coconut milk, curry paste, brown sugar, vinegar, and fish sauce in a small bowl or measuring cup. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add to pan. Cook 3 minutes, or until sauce thickens slightly.

4. Add noodles, shrimp, sports, basil, and lime juice (if using) to pan. Toss to coat. Divide into bowls. Sprinkled with cashews. Serve with lime wedges (if using).

Nutritional Information (Amount per serving):

Calories: 440
Protein: 22 g
Fat: 16 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 161 mg
Carbohydrates: 59 g
Fiber: 7 g
Sodium: 534 mg

Recipe Notes: If you wanted to use rice noodles, it would be delicious here. I just prefer to buy as few special ingredients as possible. I have regular whole wheat noodles on hand pretty much all the time. Make sure you slice the veggies very thin, as they don’t have long to cook. I did not find the red curry paste at my regular grocery store. I made my own, with ingredients I had from online recipes, such as this one. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, just kind of eyeballed it. The original recipe also called for sliced mint along with basil. I don’t love fresh mint in savory dishes, so I omitted it here. Please remember that shrimp is high in cholesterol when looking over the nutritional information and that dietary cholesterol is not the best indicator of what to eat.

Source: slightly adapted from Cooking Light