I tested an adaption of a lovely red lentil soup from the new Plenty More by the inimitable Yotam Ottolenghi (recipe will go up on the Seasonal Recipe Collection soon) but that undertaking left me with about 1/2 cup of leftover coconut milk. I’ve had leftover coconut milk go bad on me before. To avoid that I made this simple braise with cumin and mustard seeds, a bit of turmeric and ground cumin, potatoes, kale, said coconut milk and a handful of chopped roasted tomatoes. Paired with warm cornbread and a radicchio, beet, parsley and walnut salad it was a typically random dinner in this household. I may well make this combination again and might even devote more than 1/3 of can of coconut milk to it to make it saucier and serve it with naan or rice or some such.
Potatoes and Kale with Mustard Seeds, Tomato and Coconut Milk
You can play with the spices here. . . add ginger and/or garlic if you want. Add coriander or hot peppers of some kind. .. use other root vegetables or other greens. . . you get the point!
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut, sunflower, etc.)
1/2 onion, finely diced
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (you can use 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin if that’s what you have)
1 teaspoon black/brown mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Salt
2 large potatoes, scrubbed and cut into smallish dice (or 3 smaller ones)
1/2 cup roasted, canned or fresh tomatoes
1 bunch kale, washed and chopped, stems chopped very finely
1/2 cup coconut milk (full fat preferably), or more
1/2 cup water (or more or tomato juice if you’re using canned tomatoes)
Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the spices and salt and cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly. Add the potatoes and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the kale, coconut milk and water. Bring everything to a simmer, turn down and cover and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, adding a bit of water, more coconut milk or juice from canned tomatoes if things dry out too much) or until the potatoes and kale are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.
Sarah Deumling says:
Well, I think it sounds mighty fine and I imagine one could substitute broth for the coconut milk if one had to and it still might be delish. I have some garden rabbit broth in the freezer that needs using.
Love from HQ/Gr
cookwithwhatyouhave says:
Exactly!Hmm, … Garden rabbit broth. ..
nmharleyrider says:
Make more soup.
Patricia Borba says:
Made this for dinner tonight as a side dish for steaks. Super yummy! Plus, I feel great not letting my leftover coconut milk go to waste. Thanks for sharing!
Jane Pellicciotto says:
This is great. I love the combo with tomato.
I’ve always added leftover to a smoothie.
But this is way more interesting.
janet @ the taste space says:
Looks like a great way to use leftover coconut milk. I usually just freeze anything extra and pull it out when the next recipe comes along that wants it. 🙂
Shari Sirkin says:
I’ve been cutting out dairy in an attempt to let my tendonitis heal (I understand dairy is inflammatory), so I’ve been using coconut milk in my coffee. It make such a great replacement, I might not go back to cream!
sunflower says:
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browsing through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m definitely pleased I came across
it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!