Introducing my new favorite dinner: the Green Curry Rice Bowl. I recently wrote about this meal for USA Triathlon (read the story here) and wanted to share the complete How To here on Athlete Food.
I'll admit, when Bec first sent me this recipe, I was almost scared off by its FIVE different components. But upon closer look, the four of the five parts were just our standby Athlete Food favorites, with slight variations. Things I can cook even on my busiest days.
I've included all five of the recipes here (with links to the originals) so that you don't have to go searching through our archives to find them. To save time, cook the broccoli and butternut squash at the same time, even on the same sheet pan, depending on how much you are making.
Assembling the bowls is simple: in a large pasta-sized bowl, mound a few big handfuls of shredded kale. Top with a big scoop of rice, the roasted vegetables, and the shrimp. Serve with a squeeze of lime and optional sprinkle of crushed red pepper.
--Laurel
Coconut Rice with Green Curry
1 tablespoon green curry paste** (we like this one)
1.5 cups short grain brown rice, rinsed
1 13.5 oz. can light coconut milk
water
Put rice and curry paste in a rice cooker. Add 3 total cups of liquid - the contents of the can of coconut milk, plus the remainder water. Cook according to your rice cooker settings. Mine actually has no settings, there’s just a on/off switch, so I just turn it on and go.
**A note about the spice level: A little green curry paste goes a long way! After a day of “training food” aka sticky and sweet, I like to amp up the the spice in my dinners. If you want to keep it tame, omit the curry paste altogether, but if you’re like me 1 tablespoon, or even a little more.
Roasted Broccoli (original recipe)
Time: 20 minutes
1 head of broccoli
1 teaspoons olive oil
big pinch salt
2-3 grinds black pepper
garlic powder
Preheat the oven to 425° F.
Grease a baking sheet with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil.
Cut off the broccoli stems. Use a pairing knife to separate the florets and leaves. Cut the large florets in half to create a flat side to increase the area that will touch the pan. This helps maximize browning. Drying the broccoli helps with browning, too. To do this, I spread the washed florets and leaves on a kitchen towel, roll it up, and let the roll sit for a few minutes while the oven heats.
Put the dried broccoli florets and leaves on the greased pan and drizzle with the other teaspoon of olive oil. Add the salt, pepper, and two or three shakes of garlic powder. Use your hands to coat the broccoli in the oil and seasonings.
Spread the broccoli on the pan, moving the larger pieces to the outside, the smaller ones inside for more even cooking. Make sure the flat sides touch the pan.
Roast for 15 minutes and then check to see if the tips of the florets have browned and crisped and whether the side of the florets touching the pan has browned. If you don’t see browning, roast for 1 or 2 more minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the broccoli to a bowl.
Roasted Butternut Squash (original recipe)
1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes
olive oil
salt
pepper
ground piquillo pepper (or other crushed red pepper flakes)
Toss the squash with 1 teaspoon olive oil and spread out on a large sheet pan. Or, spray the pan with olive oil, then spread out the squash, then spray again.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a few pinches of the hot pepper (or not, if you don’t like spice).
Cook at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Lime Marinated Kale (based on this recipe)
1 large bunch of Lacinato kale (it's the dark green variety with the flatter leaves)
juice from half a lime
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt & pepper
Remove the ribs from the kale leaves and slice into shreds.
Toss the shredded kale with the lime juice, olive oil, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Set aside.
Quick Shrimp in Coconut Oil (this one's a new one!)
6-8 large shrimp
Caribbean Green Seasoning Mix (optional)
salt
coconut oil
Peel and devein shrimp. Squeeze a little lemon or lime juice over shrimp and toss. Then rinse. This is Bec's Nanny Mamzie’s tip for making sure the shrimp smell fresh. Add shrimp to a ziplock bag with 1/2 teaspoon of green seasonings and a pinch of salt. We think the shrimp are better marinated, but if you don't have any green seasoning, you can skip this set.
Marinate for 15 minutes or longer if you are prepping ahead and cooking the shrimp later.
Add 1 teaspoon coconut oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook 1-2 minutes on each side (depending on how big the shrimp are), until shrimp are cooked through.