Thai Red Curry and Sticky Rice for Dinner – For Both of Us!

Our new sticky rice cooker took a long time to get here from Thailand, but is totally worth it. We used it to make sticky rice last night to go with yummy tofu red curry.

I thought I was dreaming last night when my meat-and-potatoes husband said he was feeling a little Thai food for dinner. He knows it’s going to be vegan, and yet, he asked for it.

I had our new sticky rice cooker (which took a long time to get here from Thailand!) out and on the stove in a minute. We made some tofu red curry with green pepper, onion, lemongrass, garlic, and mango. It was amazing, and there’s leftovers for lunch today!

I’m really favoring Thai over Indian food lately. It’s lighter and fresher, and there’s lots of lime and mango involved. I adore both. Lemongrass is another favorite of mine, and that appears a lot in Thai food. Don’t get me wrong – I will always love Indian food! But I’m definitely feeling a draw to lighter nourishment.

My husband, who hates Indian food, is warming up to Thai. This would be great: no more making two different meals at dinner. And if he starts enjoying vegan meals, I would call that an enormous win.

My husband’s culture is about meat consumption at every meal. I wasn’t raised that way. My parents were 60’s-era hippie intellectuals, and Dad hated meat and animal products. There were foods he simply wouldn’t allow on the dinner table. But my husband was raised in a different environment, and was taught that each meal should orbit around a serving of meat.

I love that, after almost 5 years of marriage, and without me nagging – or even suggesting - he’s altering his eating habits for the better, if just a little. I’ll never push him, and never make it an issue. But he’s not hard of smelling, and when that glorious Thai food is simmering on the stove, it’s hard to ignore the fragrance.

I’ve been hearing lots about high-quality organic foods appearing at Costco. I never thought I’d buy a membership to Costco, but I did. The cards should come in the mail soon.

Organic gets expensive, we eat enough organic that we could buy in bulk without waste, and California’s droughts have virtually guaranteed a big price hike for fruits and veggies this winter and beyond. Trying to stretch a dollar once the food garden has gone to bed for winter is a challenge. I’ll let you know what we find at Costco.

This month, I return to Buddhist studies at Wesleyan. Very happy and excited for it. I love the fellowship, discussion, meditation, and teachings. The Buddhist Faith Fellowship is wonderful, and we in Connecticut are so lucky to have it here.

My husband and I are talking about our annual trip to Vermont next month. I’m psyched for lunch at the Moon Dog Café, and there’s a sangha in Southern Vermont I’d like to visit. He’s looking for fresh Vermont maple syrup (I’m down with that!) and a few glass-blowing studios to visit. And we’ll need fresh apples for apple pie.

Live in peace.