Battle the "Big C" with Stuffed Mushrooms

I'm battling a small "c", which stands for computer. My computer fried. I think it's literal. I smelled hot plastic for several days, and the next thing I knew, my computer wouldn't turn on. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Fortunately, I have a computer guru who backed up absolutely everything including all my programs. Now I have another battle ahead of me with another "C" - and that stands for Costco. I don't have the original box, but I'm going to try and return it anyway. I haven't had any luck dealing directly with the manufacturer.

But all these battle pale in comparison to the battle with the Big C - Cancer. As an acupuncturist, I have many patients who come to me with cancer. Sometimes it's the nausea from chemotherapy that brings them to me. Sometimes they want adjunct therapy to their western medical treatments. Occasionally I'll get someone who doesn't want to do western medicine at all - just acupuncture and herbs. I never argue with my patients' choices - I just try to support them in what they are going through.

One of the things which I try to impress upon my
patients - all of them - is the benefits of eating well. I
heard an interesting interview on the radio yesterday with a man who was talking about diets. He has studied different diets of people around the world, and has discovered that there's only one which leads to obesity and disease - ours.

Couple that with the research I've been doing recently on chronic inflammation (a condition which underlies most chronic illnesses and can be a pre-cursor for cancer), and one of the things that seems to lead to a decline in health is over-consumption of red meat. Yes, there are many cultures which exist with diets high in meat, and they don't necessarily have high cancer rates, but there are too many other factors involved which come into play as well, making a direct correlation impossible. But the bottom line is that in industrialized, high-stress societies like our own, excessive meat consumption seems to lead to higher rates of disease. In many Asian countries, meat is consumed regularly, but the quantities of meat are pretty small.

Chris over at Mele Cotte knows something about cancer, and she also knows something about cooking. She's had the first one (knocked it out in the first round!) and has a passion for the second. This is her third year of hosting this event, but the first time I've actually entered it.

So what is a healthy diet? There is so much confusing information out there and it all changes so often, how do we know what to do? Here are some basics which seem to play out in the real world:

1. Don't eat processed foods. Food doesn't naturally grow in a box or a can, and definitely doesn't appear in styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic! Try to stay away from things that are sold that way.

2. Read the label. If there's anything there which you can't pronounce and don't know what it is, it probably isn't food. Don't eat it.

3. "Food" and "nutrients" are two different words with two different meanings. Eat food. Don't eat nutrients.

4. Stay away from anything with the word "Diet" on the label. You will not lose weight and it contains things which aren't food.

5. Don't consume high fructose corn syrup. You will only gain weight, increasing your risk of disease.

6. And finally, never, ever, ever microwave anything in plastic. Neither in a plastic container nor with plastic wrap over the top. The plastic will be broken down by the heat and produce a chemical which mimics estrogen in the body, but which is actually carcinogenic.

So - now that we're done with the "don'ts", what do you get to eat? One of the most amazing things on the list that I know of is mushrooms. Shitakes have gotten the press on this one, but it turns out that all mushrooms contain polysaccharides, especially Lentinan. Lentinan is a powerful compound which helps build immunity. Mushrooms are also a source of Beta Glucan and a protein called lectin which attacks cancerous cells and prevents them from multiplying. Pretty cool for a fungus!

Another wonderful food which we all know and love and which is a major cancer-fighting food is garlic. Do you love that, or what? Garlic will not only boost your immune system, but it also helps to break down cancer causing substances. There are studies which have linked garlic and onions (including leeks and chives) to decreased risk of colon and stomach cancer.

Now those of you who have read this blog for a while know that I love my chilis, but it turns out that they are also cancer fighting as well. Capsaicin neutralizes cancer causing substances and may prevent stomach cancer.

So it seems that this little dish I made last week packs a lot of cancer fighting food into one small plate. But the best part is that it tastes good!

Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Spinach and Goat Cheese

Marinated mushrooms

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup Marsala (optional)
• 4 large fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 large portobello mushrooms

Filling:

• 1 10-ounce package frozen spinach
• 1 pound button mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion (such as Maui or Vidalia)
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup unseasoned dry breadcrumbs
• 1 5-ounce package soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled

Preparation

For marinated mushrooms:
Whisk first 6 ingredients and Marsala, if desired, in medium bowl for marinade. Stir in thyme sprigs. Cut stems from mushrooms and place stems in processor. Arrange mushrooms, gill side up, in 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour marinade over mushrooms and marinate 4 hours, turning to coat occasionally.

For filling:
Cook spinach according to package directions. Drain; cool. Using hands, squeeze excess water from spinach. Place in small bowl.

Add half of button mushrooms to processor with portobello mushroom stems. Using on/off turns, process until coarsely chopped. Transfer to medium bowl and repeat with remaining mushrooms. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add onion; sauté until beginning to brown, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add chopped mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and increase heat to high. Cook until almost all liquid evaporates, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Season mushroom mixture with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl; cool to room temperature.

Add spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and breadcrumbs to mushroom mixture; toss to distribute evenly. Add goat cheese and toss gently to distribute evenly. Season filling to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover filling and let stand at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer marinated mushrooms, with some marinade still clinging, to rimmed baking sheet, gill side down. Roast until beginning to soften, about 15 minutes. Turn mushrooms over. Divide filling among mushrooms. Sprinkle remaining 6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese over and bake until heated through and cheese begins to brown, about 15 minutes.

Kitchen Notes:

I added green chili, of course. And I sprinkled some smoked Paprika over the top.

For more health information, visit Mission Valley Acupuncture

Cucumber Dill Soup after a crazy New Mexico trip!

Last week I was in New Mexico. Now, most people, when they hear "New Mexico", they immediately think "Santa Fe", but my house is in the mountains east of Albuquerque - about an hour south of Santa Fe. Santa Fe is lovely, which is why it attracts tourists and movie stars, as well as all kinds of people who are into New Age thinking - psychics and healers, numerologists and astrologists. Where my house is situated attracts people who have jobs in Albuquerque, but who prefer to "get outta Dodge" at the end of the day. There are also lots of artists living in the mountains, but it doesn't attract the publicity of Santa Fe - mainly because it lacks a real town. Santa Fe is old, has beautiful architecture, and real estate values high enough to attract people with money.

All of that being said, I spent more time in Santa Fe and Galisteo (just outside of Santa Fe) this trip than I usually do, and as a result, I met some pretty fascinating people. The weather was typical of this time of the year in New Mexico - one minute it was snowing, the next it was sunny. Mostly it was windy, but sometimes not. It sleeted one day, and then the sky put on a spectacular show of clouds - the clouds of Michaelangelo, as Joni Mitchell once wrote. I went for a long hike one day and needed no more than a long sleeve cotton top, and I sat outside and ate salad.

On Easter Sunday, we went to hear a talk given by a man named Paxton Robey. Paxton is an engineer who has, over the last ten years, been doing training for large corporations as well as the Department of Defense in computer networking. However, back in 1968 when he was working for a major U.S. airline, he became aware of the fact that he had psychic abilities, and ever since then he has been working more and more in the spiritual realm, working with metaphysical and spiritual seekers. Whatever your take on these kinds of things, Paxton's message is always positive and uplifting. If you're interested, you can check out his website at No Time For Karma.

That evening, we went to a meditation at the Light Institute in Galisteo. I head read about it back in the 70s in Shirley McClaine's book "Dancing In The Light". She mentioned the Light Institute in that book, and also talked about having worked with it's founder Chris Griscom. In those days, Chris was doing past life regressions using acupuncture, and Shirley McClaine was one of her clients. These days there's a free meditation every Sunday evening, and Chris led it on Easter Sunday. Following the meditation, there was a discussion whose theme was "transcendence".

And so on, and so forth.....That was my trip to New Mexico this time. Now, let me ask you something. Do you think that after spending days like that, you would be able to post recipes and photos of food? I mean, even if the food was spectacular? If your answer was "yes", then you are waaaaay ahead of me!! It was all I could do to keep my eyes open past 9:30pm!

Which is why I missed last Sunday's post. Sorry 'bout that.

Now that I'm back in San Diego, the weather has gotten beastly hot. I think it was in the 90s today. THE 90S, PEOPLE!!! That's ridiculous! It's still April! Supposedly it will remain quite warm until around Thursday, when it will be back in the 60s again. So when faced with weather like this, all those plans for roasting more veggies went out the window. I needed that window open and the oven off. It was time for cold soup. And for some reason, it needed to be green, so gazpacho was out.

In Chinese medicine, different foods have different properties. Cucumbers are a cooling food, which is why they're perfect for summer when you want to cool down. (Watermelon is another great cooling food.) I thought of cucumbers and scallions and dill.....and in my mind the soup was made. Now all I had to do was buy the cukes, dill and some buttermilk. I had the rest. I kind of winged it with this one, so proportions are approximate. But you guys are phenomenal cooks - you'll know how to adjust.

Cucumber Dill Soup

3-4 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
4 scallions, white parts and some of the green
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 bunch of dill weed
3 cups of buttermilk
1/2 C plain yogurt
juice of 2 meyer lemons
salt
1 tbs chopped green chili

Thinly slice some of the cucumbers and scallions crosswise and save for garnish.
Coarsely chop the rest of the cukes and scallions and toss into the blender
Add the rest of the ingredients and blend
Taste and correct the seasoning.

Chill. This is important, because it tastes so much more refreshing when it's chilled for at least an hour.

Kitchen Notes:

If you don't have green chili, I would recommend using something spicy. You could use pepper or hot sauce, but be judicious. You don't want the heat to overpower the flavor of the dill, and this is coming from a woman who loves spicy food!!!

I was telling a friend the other day that I believe the secret to living well is having a good Asian grocery market nearby. There was a large one not too far from me which had been closed for months for remodeling. It recently reopened, and I'm back in heaven again. Large bags of longan fruit, huge bags of snow peas, loofah - a wonderful vegetable as well as a decent sponge - green veggies with no English names, exotic tapioca desserts with things like corn in them, every conceivable sauce and some inconceivable ones too, and some of the freshest fish and meats you'll ever see behind a counter. And all of this sold at recession prices.

Like I said........heaven!

I was in somewhat of a daze by the time I reached the fish counter in the back of the store. But the large tiger shrimp selling for $5.99/pound made me snap out of it in a hurry. I had already picked up a bag of snow peas and another one of baby bok choy. The shrimp practically winked at me, whispering "Hey, honey, how about taking me home with you?" I looked into my cart and back at the shrimp and decided that they had a point. Who was I to argue with perfection?

As usual I just started assembling a meal without thinking about amounts. But you who read this blog are better chefs than I am, so you can pretty much guess at the amounts. Besides, if you're wrong, there's always hot sauce!

After heating up some canola and hot pepper oil in a pan, I added sliced onions and some garlic. When the onions had wilted, i put in the bok choy, which I had cut in half length-wise. After they were lightly seared, I threw in the shrimp and continued to toss the ingredients. The last veggie to go in was the snow peas. I love snow peas in salads and I prefer them very lightly cooked. After the snow peas were in, I added some seasoned rice vinegar, about a teaspoon of sugar, lime juice and a touch of soy sauce.

There's precious little chopping involved in this recipe. The bok choy was only sliced in half. The onions only need slicing. Only the garlic needed to be minced. How simple was this? Simple enough that you could fix it mid-week and still have time for your favorite TV show. Enjoy!

Working the Sides

I have a friend who recently moved to San Diego from Seattle. Now, having been to Seattle, I understand that the definition of "foodie" is different in that city than it is in this one. I'm thinking now of Pike Place Market, and just the thought of it is making my mouth water. I had never seen a market like that in my life before visiting a friend who lived in Seattle. Wandering through stalls which offered fresh morel mushrooms next to piles of the freshest herbs and veggies was heaven. And of course there was the flying fish. My friend and I picked out a fish for our dinner that nite, the man scooped it off the ice and tossed it to someone behind the counter while screaming something like "incoming salmon!!" The man behind the counter looked up at the last minute, raised both hands just in time to catch that sucker. The miracle was that he didn't drop it! For those of you who have been to this market, you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who haven't, you have a good reason now to go to Seattle. Seriously. It's worth it for the entertainment value alone, let alone the quality of the food.Anyway, my friend found a downtown loft which he liked and moved in. For a serious foodie, I'm amazed that this loft suits his needs, as the kitchen is incredibly small. But he assured me that since he's spent lots of time cooking on boats, it didn't matter. And judging from the meal he produced that nite, I would have to agree with him. I am working on getting the recipe and will post it as soon as I've re-created it.

But in the meantime, he made a rice dish which sent me into orbit. My relationship with rice has always been a pleasant one. Sometimes it's the perfect background for a spectacular entree. Sometimes it has a bit more personality than that and can share the stage as a supporting actor. I don't know why this particular version of rice hit a home run with me. Maybe it was the fog that was coming in, making the sweetness of the dates feel so comforting. Maybe it was the Cline's Zinfandel we were drinking. Seriously good Zin for $7.99 at Trader Joe's, and more expensive elsewhere.But whatever it was, the rice dish stuck in my mind, so I decided to try to re-create it. There's no recipe here, of course, just some guidance and possible ingredients. And even though it amazes my sister-in-law, I never measure my rice or my water. I just pour some rice into the pot and cover it with water to about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch above the rice. Then I bring it to a boil without the lid, turn the heat down and put the lid on. It seems to work every time.
Brown Rice With Dates and Lemon

1 C rice
2 C water or chicken stock, or some combination
6-8 dried dates, chopped
zest of 1 lemon, slivered into "matchstick" pieces
seasoned rice vinegar
pepper

Cook the rice in the usual manner, adding the chopped dates and lemon about half way through the cooking process. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork and sprinkle some seasoned rice vinegar over it. Toss and sprinkle some more so that all of the rice will have a little of the vinegar. It won't make your rice soggy, just tasty. Grind some fresh pepper and toss.

Now, if you're like me, there are times when you don't feel like eating a whole dinner. Sometimes you just want to graze. (I'm a champion grazer!) I've had days like that recently, and I've just eaten some of the leftover rice and nibbled on these incredible olives from Whole Foods.
They're called Castelvetrano, and they have (temporarily, at least), replaced Luques as my faves. If you can find them, I highly recommend them!

A Trip to San Juan Capistrano

I drove up to San Juan Capistrano a couple of weeks ago to do some photography. I hadn't been there in years and years. My memory of it was that it was a quaint town, and that there was a mission where the swallows returned year after year.
What I had forgotten - or maybe I wasn't there at the right time of the year - was how beautiful the town can be when the trees are in bloom...
This time around, I saw it with different eyes. I began to piece together a part of California's history as I exited the Starbucks and walked across the street to the mission. The mission was built in 1776 by Spanish Catholic Franciscans, and is part of the chain of missions stretching through California.












The history of this mission is similar to many such missions in the southwest: The building of a mission, the subsequent conversion of the indigenous people, the destruction of the mission and then the subsequent rebuilding. This history repeats itself over and over. I have seen it in New Mexico and it is here in California as well. What usually happens is that the mission eventually falls into disrepair and is left as ruins which become a tourist attraction. In the case of this mission, there is actually a chapel which is still in use.
But the small entrance fee is worth it just to stroll through the grounds and duck into the restored rooms.






































And of course, there's the wonderful fountain in the central courtyard, with it's resident fish, and exquisite leaves floating peacefully....






















I was grateful to spend a day with the sole purpose of seeing. I needed that respite from the hectic days that speed into each other, blurred by necessities and phone calls. There in the gardens of the mission, a golden fish glides by with nothing more than the next morsel to think about. It is his inheritance, just as the freeways are mine.

Next week I will have a recipe to share. This week without my lens was given to finishing up all the "gotta-dos" on my list!

My Secret Obsession Revisited

My camera lens is off being repaired. This leaves me feeling completely out of sorts. I mean, I don't know what to do with myself! It also means that I cannot photograph anything that I've cooked recently. So while I was sipping my morning chai, I decided that maybe it was time to revisit this old post that I did back in March of 2007. I don't have a clue how I did such a good job of formatting the original post - this one's been fighting me for hours!! Hopefully, my lens will be back in time for next Sunday's post - I'm in no mood to spend my Sundays in battle.

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When I was growing up, every time any of us felt sick, my mother always made us tea and toast. Lipton, of course. It was supposed to make me feel better, and I suppose the simplicity of it made sense, but the effect was always the opposite her goal. One lump or two made no difference - I would sip the tea and immediately feel nauseated. I guess it had a Pavlovian effect on me in later years, when the smell of tea would make my stomach queasy. I loved watching English actresses pouring tea into china cups and passing around lumps of sugar. It was all so civilized and lovely. I would have loved to have lived that civilized and lovely life, I thought, wearing those dresses, pouring that.....tea? Oh dear. I needed a substitute.I really cannot remember when it happened. Honestly, I don't recall if I was still living in New Mexico, or if I had moved to California, but at some point in the distant past, I was with some acupuncturist friends who offered me a cup of bancha tea. "Um....I'm not really a tea drinker...." And before I could explain my Pavlovian response, they insisted that this was not like black tea, and I should try it. "Well.....OK...." It was not in my nature to argue with my hosts, after all.
I said a silent prayer and took my first sip. This is tea? Really? For those of you unfamiliar with it, bancha is a traditional , daily use, Japanese green tea variety that is made from mature leaves, plucked in the summer or autumn. Bancha's like a mature samurai - the extra time it's had to mellow in the sun makes it a bit toastier in color, with a sweet, earthy taste. It has nothing in common with the black tea favored by Europeans. It's ability to strengthen the metabolism and aid in digestion, makes it a favorite among those following a macrobiotic diet. All I knew was that it was delicious. Bancha led to sencha and matcha - all from the same tea plant, but picked earlier in the year. These familiar green teas are slightly more arrogant - they have an edge to them, and an astringent quality. As long as they're not steeped too long, they are delicious. Leave the bag in the water for too long and you're probably not going to like the bitterness. Of course, it's easier to put up with the attitude when you know their antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties.

From there, I branched out into Earl Grey. The Earl was a huge step for me, as the basis here is black tea. But it is flavored with bergamot oil, which lends a distinct citrus flavor and aroma. With citrus as it's leading edge, I managed to sail past that black tea flavor without my stomach noticing it. I was making progress. The Earl and I are friends now, but we don't see each other too often.

Then I discovered Spiced Chai, or Spiced Chai Tea, as Trader Joe's calls it. Funny name, that. Since chai is another name for tea, it means that this tea's name is Spiced Tea Tea. Be that as it may, I used to take a teabag and pour boiling water over it, letting it steep for a while until it reached the right color. Then I'd add milk.
But back in 2000, a friend of mine who is a photojournalist went to India to photograph the first Kumba Mela of the new millenium. The Mela is an enormous Hindu festival, and that year it was held in Alahabad. There were about 75,000,000 people from all over the world who converged on Alahabad for the celebration, and my friend was swept up by the colors and sounds and smells of it all. He told me about drinking tea from a street vendor, who would have a pot of water with milk boiling over a fire. When someone ordered some tea, he'd throw a handful of tea and sugar into the pot, then ladel some into a small, low-fired ceramic cup. The cup was "disposable", meaning people would throw them away when they were done.

I was intrigued by the idea of boiling the milk in with the water, and wondered if it would make a difference. I don't eat much sugar, but I figured a teaspoon of it wouldn't make all that much difference.

With my first sip, I became a convert.

Ever since then, this has become my standard morning drink. Yes, I will still have a cup of coffee from time to time, but my morning chai has become my morning comfort. Different brands of chai will have different spices in them, but ginger and cardamom are fairly standard additions. In Chinese medicine, both of those spices are used to benefit the digestive system, and there is a whole school of thinking in Chinese medicine which says that all chronic diseases stem from a poor digestive system. As a student of mine once pointed out to me as I sipped my chai in an herbology class, declaring that my digestion was actually quite good, "Yes, but you self-medicate every day!"

She was right. I do. And intend to continue to do so, enjoying every sip!

I now have an entire pantry shelf devoted to teas. I don't know how that happened. Do they breed in there? And I've discovered something about me. I'm fickle. I'll fall in love, it will last for a while, and then I move on. So while bancha was my first love, my relationship with Earl Grey was more of an affair. Spiced chai is my steady partner in life. But I confess to having a few flings from time to time. There's genmai cha, a green tea with roasted brown rice in it. Genmai has a kind of popcorn flavor, which is appealing from time to time, but not as a steady romance. His first cousin houji cha, a handsome brew made from roasted bancha leaves. With a chestnut color and light, almost sweet taste, I flirt with him in the summer. (He's the most decafinated of the green teas.) And then there's a very special, decafinated rooibos (Afrikaans for "red bush") tea, which a local pastry maker calls Marco Polo Rouge. Marco is from the legume family, and he's oh so sweet and slightly nutty. Someday, I hope we travel together to his homeland. So far, he's been silent on the subject.

Leftover Curry

What was it that I made that used coconut milk? Did I post it here, or eat it before I had the chance to photograph it? My memory isn't what it used to be!

But there's this small jar in the fridge of coconut milk, so whatever it was, it didn't take the entire can. It's been sitting there staring me in the face every time I open the fridge. I knew I was going to do something with it before it went bad, but I didn't want to get locked into an idea and then go shopping for the ingredients. I wanted to let the dish evolve out of what I had in my refrigerator and my pantry. Most of my best meals happen that way.

I want to digress a bit here. There's a story which goes with this post, and I don't think I've told it before. When I was married and living in New Mexico, Bob did most of the cooking. I thought I was a pretty good cook when I met him, but I was a complete amateur. He had a pantry that could have supplied a batallion for at least 2 weeks. At first I found the whole thing overwhelming. Why did we need to keep all those weird ingredients in the pantry when we never used them? Lotus root? Odd pastes from Indonesia? Or Thailand? Why did we need 10 cans of green chili? How come our freezer was packed with everything under the sun?

Well, not only was he an amazing cook who taught me how to be creative in the kitchen, but he was also a magnet for all kinds of people from all over the world. I have no idea how we collected these people. They just showed up, like flies on the screen door before a summer rain. I remember one day a Chinese man showed up and he saw our kitchen with a selection of woks and 3 or 4 different soy sauces as well as shrimp paste and all the other necessities of a well stocked kitchen, and he offered to cook us a meal. We were delighted. "But do you have any ____?" (I've forgotten right now what it might have been.) "Sure!" "And what about lotus root?" "Oh yes, we have that." With each ingredient requested, his eyes got bigger and bigger when our answers kept coming back "Yes, we have that." So he set to work in the kitchen and produced a phenomenal meal for us.

And this type of scenario happened more than once, with people from various countries around the world and various states in the U.S. So whether or not it was a local from New Mexico wanting to prepare his favorite version of chili rellenos with home made flour tortillas and some beans and chicos, or someone from Indonesia wanting to make some Gado Gado for us, we always had the ingredients on hand. The only thing which might have necessitated a trip to the store would have been the fresh ingredients - we might have been out of mushrooms, say, because we had used the last of them. (I can't remember ever running out of onions or garlic, though.)

With a steady stream of interesting meals comes a steady stream of leftovers. Bob was a master of leftovers. I've met people who never ever eat leftovers, and I wonder if they are the same species as I am. I don't know how I would survive without them! On the days I see patients, I work until 7pm. I absolutely do not want to come home and start cooking at that time, so if I don't have anything in the fridge, I eat popcorn for dinner. Leftovers rule.

So now back to the coconut milk.... When I looked at that jar, I knew it was going to be a curry. It was either going to be that or that wonderful Thai soup made with coconut milk and galangal. But my favorite Asian grocery store is closed for remodeling, so I am left without a store close by to score some galangal. Curry it was.

When Bob made curries, he was quite creative about the process. He didn't feel constrained by tradition, and so his curries contained ingredients which people from Asia would probably look upon with some skepticism. But since they always tasted great, I adopted the Bob method of curry. The recipe I have here is my own, the amounts are an estimate and should never be considered written in stone. And by all means, if you've got something leftover in the fridge, unless it's a chocolate bar, try throwing it in - just for grins! Mine started with leftover coconut milk and a leftover, store-bought roast chicken....legs, thighs and some breast meat eaten for lunches. Bones reserved for stock...

1 3/4 C leftover chicken meat, diced
1 onion, sliced
2 tsp garlic, diced
1 1/2 TBS canola oil
1/2 C chicken stock
3/4 C coconut milk
6 asparagus spears, cut into 2" pieces
1 apple, cut into cubes
1/2 to 1 TBS Thai Green Curry paste
1 TBS brown sugar

In a saucepan, combine the chicken stock and the curry paste and simmer, stirring, until the paste is melted into the stock. Add brown sugar, stir until it dissolves and set aside.

Heat the canola oil in a pan, add onions and garlic. Saute until the onions are translucent - about 2-3 minutes. Add chicken and stir until chicken is coated with the oil and has absorbed enough of it to flavor.

Add the stock and the coconut milk and stir. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce has reduced somewhat.
Add the asparagus. If your asparagus was previously steamed, you will want to add it at the end. If it's fresh, it will need an extra minute or two to cook lightly.

Kitchen Notes

You can add some fresh basil if you've got it. It's always a lovely addition to Thai curries.
The sugar in the recipe offsets the spicy of the curry paste. It's the same principal as serving sopapillas with honey in a New Mexican restaurant - the honey will cut the spicy of the chili. You can drink water all day long and it won't put out the fire on your tongue if you've overdosed on chili. But something sweet will help douse the flames!

The Thai Curry Paste was a small jar I bought from Trader Joe's. I didn't photograph the jar because, quite frankly, I forgot to do so. And now my camera lens is having seizures and I must send it to be repaired. But you can find these kinds of pastes these days in many stores. The brand is not as important as the taste, and you'll have to experiment to decide which one you like best.

The apple was thrown in at the end because I had bought 3 apples, and none of them were great. The middles had begun to turn brown, so I used this last one in the curry, cutting out the brown parts.