A quick and easy cauliflower and butternut squash Thai style red curry with lentils and quinoa!
I’m kicking off the New Year with a quick and easy, light and healthy Thai style veggie curry! The base of a Thai style curry is the red curry paste, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce and palm/coconut sugar, which creates a magical balance of spicy, sour, salty and sweet that dances on your taste buds. From there you can add anything you want and for this curry I go with a base of cauliflower and butternut squash and I fill it out with red lentils and quinoa! This is a hearty curry that’s satisfying and packed with flavour!
With or without kale. Choose your veggies!
Cauliflower and Butternut Quinoa Curry
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Servings: 8
A quick and easy cauliflower and butternut squash Thai style red curry with lentils and quinoa!
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion (~1 cup), diced
- 2 carrots (~1 cup), diced
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
- 1 small head cauliflower (~4 cups), cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 small butternut squash (~4 cups), cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 small bunch kale (~4 cups), thinly sliced and optionally massaged
- 1 lime, juice and zest
- 2 tablespoons palm/coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or soy sauce or tamari)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
directions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and carrots and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the curry paste and cook, while stirring, until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the coconut milk and mix until the curry paste has melted into it before adding the broth, cauliflower, butternut, lentils, quinoa and kale and cooking until everything it tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Add the lime juice, sugar, and fish sauce. (Taste test here to make sure that the sour, sweet and salty aspects are balanced out nicely, adjusting as desired!)
- Add the cilantro and enjoy!
Note: If you massage the kale with your hands for a few minutes, it will turn from a pale green to a darker green, it will be more tender!
Option: I like to serve this topped with crispy fried onions!
Option: I like to serve this topped with crispy fried onions!
Nutrition Facts: Calories 304, Fat 13g (Saturated 9g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 0.3mg, Sodium 254mg, Carbs 38g (Fiber 6g, Sugars 7g), Protein 10g
Nutrition by: 
Sometimes I see a recipe online and I can’t stop thinking about it until I’ve made and consumed it. This was one and I’m so glad I did! Yummy! It’s great re-heated too. Thank you!
very nice alternative to my veg soup, thank you, haven’t made many curries!
I’m not a spicy curry person, but the other ingredients sound good. Is there a mild curry blend or spice that I might use in place of the spicy one? Probably the reason why I don’t like or use curry is that I’m highly allergic to ginger & that’s always put in curry dishes. Can’t use tumeric neither.
Thai style red curry paste generally does not contain turmeric or ginger, but it does contain galangal, which is in the same family. If you make your own red curry paste (by following the link in the recipe) you can omit the galangal. You can also use this recipe and in place of using the red curry paste, use a curry paste or spice blend that you enjoy!