beauty:design:life

From the beginning, I planned to end soup week with this deliciously spicy curry soup. But as I was prepping to cook it last night, I made a fatal error: I looked at the nutrition information on my can of coconut milk. After learning that this innocent looking can had 110 percent of the recommended daily value of fat, I was having trouble reconciling this soup with the recipes I had previously posted. Because one of my goals for soup week was to present healthy dinner options at a time when most of us (or maybe just me?) have been eating mac & cheese and various other unhealthy comfort foods in order to cope with winter. So I stood there in my pantry basement stairway for a good five minutes, staring at the can and contemplating my options. 

And then I decided, what the hell. 

Like so many other things, if coconut milk is consumed in moderation, it is certainly not going to kill you. Plus, this recipe makes a seriously giant pot of soup (it's excellent for freezing and saving for later), so each individual serving is still relatively healthy.

Also, it's just really, really good. 

Red Lentil Thai Chili

(adapted from this recipe)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 tbsp chili powder

dash cayenne pepper

3 cups veggie broth

1 cup lentils

3 medium sweet potatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 can kidney beans

2 tbsp thai red curry paste

1 can coconut milk

2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes

cilantro and lime for garnish

Cook garlic, onion and bell pepper in olive oil until softened. Add sweet potatoes, lentils, chili powder, cayenne, salt and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until the lentils are softened (15-20 minutes). Add beans, curry paste, coconut milk and tomatoes and bring up to heat. Garnish with cilantro and lime, serve and enjoy!