Prawn Curry: Guest Post from Recipes from a Pantry

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today I'm teaming up with fellow blogger Bintu, who writes at Recipes from a Pantry. She has a lot of great recipes on her site that utilize staples from the pantry for fast, fresh meals -- be sure to drop by and see what she has to offer! Today she's sharing her recipe for Prawn Curry. Personally, I cannot wait to give it a try!

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Hi! I’m Bintu from Recipes From A Pantry and I’m delighted to be guest posting here today.

I love curries especially easy to cook ones that are ready in less than 30 minutes. Plus the fact
is that I loooooooove cinnamon, coconut milk and cardamom so combining these three in a
delicious dish is my idea of heaven.

This is one of my basic curry recipes and you can tweak to your heart's content. In fact I used
this base for a wild garlic and chickpea curry. So feel free to add in whatever is in your pantry or
in season for a fast, fresh curry. You can easily omit the chili if you don't want the heat.

So try this easy prawn curry recipe and don’t forget to leave a comment below to tell Kristyn
what you think.

Prawn Curry

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 cardamom pods crushed
4 whole cloves
1 shard (stick) cinnamon
1 onion, finely chopped
2 (bell) peppers, chopped
2 tsp. minced ginger
1 mild red chili, deseeded and chopped
1 Tbsp. curry powder
400ml (1 3/4 c.) coconut milk
300g of cooked jumbo prawns
Salt
sugar or honey (optional)
Chopped coriander (cilantro) to serve

Directions:
Heat oil in a pot, add in the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and stir fry for about 30 secs until fragrant.
Add in the onions, peppers ginger, chilli and 2 tbsp of water and cook until the onions are soft and the
water dried off.
Then add in the curry powder and stir fry for about 30 secs.
Pour in the coconut milk, mix well, bring to the boil and let the curry simmer for a few minutes.
Then add in the cooked prawns gently and let the curry simmer for another few mins before adjusting
seasoning and any sugar if using.
Take the curry of the heat and serve topped with fresh coriander and rice.

Serves 4.

Broiled Tilapia with Lemon Artichoke Pesto

This week is a "detox" week, having gorged ourselves on fast food on our recent road trip to the Redwoods. My toddler actually begged for "nugget" and "fry" on multiple occasions today. Multiple!

Honestly, just the thought of eating French fries right now is enough to send me in search of some veggies to crunch just to get the idea out of my head.

I've planned some light, mostly vegetarian and seafood dishes to get us through the withdrawals. Though we're not having it this week, this dish is one of my favorite ways to eat through the giant bags of tilapia I pick up at Costco. I love tilapia because it is quick-cooking and versatile. I picked up some lemon artichoke pesto from the store on a whim. It was so fabulous, but spendy. I knew I could recreate it for ever so much cheaper. All you need are a few things you probably already have in the pantry! (That is, if, like me, you have marinated artichokes in your pantry most of the time...)

It's a wonderful meal for a buy weeknight. The fish cooks in just a few minutes, and you will love the pesto. We've used the pesto in panini with chicken and fontina cheese -- delectable! I'm excited to find other ways to use it up.

Broiled Tilapia with Lemon Artichoke Pesto

Ingredients:

for lemon artichoke pesto
6 oz. marinated artichokes
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
pinch red pepper flakes (I like Aleppo Pepper)
2 tsp. parsley flakes (or fresh parsley, chopped)
salt and pepper

oil as needed (olive, canola, or a blend you like)

4 tilapia fillets

lemon pepper seasoning

lemon wedges, for serving

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine artichokes, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pulse until finely chopped and well combined, about 10 pulses. Add oil as needed, mixing well either by hand or in the food processor, to loosen the mixture to an easily-spreadable consistency. Set aside.

Pat tilapia fillets dry with a paper towel. Coat evenly in a light layer of lemon pepper seasoning, and drizzle lightly with oil. Place on greased baking sheet under broiler set to high. Broil on one side for about 2 minutes, then gently turn over and continue to broil for another 2 minutes or so. Fish is done when fillets are opaque and flake easily when gently pulled with a fork.

When ready to serve, top each fillet with a good portion of artichoke pesto. Provide lemon wedges on the side, if desired.