spiralized vegetable tangle with black beans and panang curry

Forget about zoodles. Think about a potpourri of stir fried spiralized vegetables in an array of colors and flavors, poached upon a Laotian-style panang curry, punctuated with fried black beans, and topped off with crisp sweet potato spirals. This works well as a side dish. With the addition of your favorite protein (see ideas below) and some steamed jasmin rice, it transforms into a beautiful entrée.

The sauce requires a few ingredients that might not be readily available, so you might need to plan ahead. You’ll probably find the coconut milk in your local supermarket, but the curry pastes they carry tend to be kind of tasteless. You’ll need to look online if you want to find vegan/kosher “fish” sauce. The same is true for the kaffir lime leaves.

The kaffir lime tree is gown only for its leaves, as the fruit isn’t usable. I’ve got a kaffir lime tree that I’ve been nurturing for years, and it graciously offers me a few of its leaves whenever I need them for cooking. I’m hoping you won’t leave the lime leaves and the fish sauce out of the recipe, because they are responsible for the unique flavors of this sauce. Find the kaffir lime leaves here , and the vegan/kosher fish sauce, here.

So let’s begin by making the sauce.

The trick is to balance these four flavors—sweet, salty, sour, and hot—to your taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½  teaspoons coconut oil

• 1 can (or less, to taste) panang curry paste. This one is very good and authentic. Not too spicy. It’s vegan, but not certified kosher.

• 1 can coconut milk—not lite (Find a brand without additives. Most of the Thai brands are good.)

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 tablespoons palm sugar (you can also use light brown or white sugar)

• 2 tablespoon fish sauce

• 4 pairs of kaffir lime leaves

• 1 small yellow onion, sliced into very thin half moons

• 1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks

• Optional: 1-2 thai chilis, sliced thinly, or jarred Thai chili

Method:

• Heat the coconut oil in a medium sized sauce pan and add the garlic. Sauté for one minute until the garlic is fragrant and just beginning to turn golden.

• Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for two minutes.

• Add the thick cream from the top of the can of coconut milk and stir it into the curry paste for another 2 minutes.

• Add the rest of the coconut milk, the sugar, and the fish sauce and stir to combine. Separate the lime leaves and tear each leaf in half, down the center seam. Then squish them in your hand to help release their flavor, and toss them into the pot. Allow the sauce to simmer for about 15 minutes, until somewhat thickened.

• Add the onion and red bell pepper and cook for another 2 minutes or so. Remove the lime leaves and set the sauce aside, covered to keep it warm.

For the spirals

Ingredients:

• About 8 ounces each of spiralized zucchini, butternut squash, carrots (the bigger the carrot, the easier it is to spiralize), sweet potato, and beets. Keep the beets separate from the other vegetables, and keep the sweet potato separate as well.

• Neutral oil, such as avocado, as needed.

• Salt and pepper

• ½ can black beans, drained and rinsed

• Garlic powder

• 1” piece of ginger, peeled and minced

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425°

• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Gently toss your sweet potato spirals with just enough oil to coat them well, but not so much as to make them greasy. Spread them out on your baking sheet, salt them lightly, and bake them for 10-15 minutes, until crispy. Remove them from the oven and set them aside.

• Add a small glug of oil to a wok or a skillet, get it hot, and add the black beans. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt and garlic powder, and let them cook for a few minutes until they turn a bit crispy. Then remove them and set them aside. 

• a splash of oil in a wok or a large skillet.  Add the ginger and fry it for a minute. Then add the zucchini, butternut, and carrots with a bit of salt. You can do this in batches if they don’t all fit into the pan. They only need 2-3 minutes to cook. Set them aside when done. I find the easiest way to toss the vegetables in the pan is with tongs.

• Then, add the beets to the pan, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Give them a little sprinkle of salt and garlic power and let them cook, gently tossing them for about 3 minutes. The reason for cooking the beets separately is to prevent them from dying all the vegetables red.

  Put it all together:

• Combine the beets and the beans with the zucchini-butternut-carrot strings.

• Spoon some of the sauce onto 4 plates or shallow bowls.  

• Top them with the vegetable tangle and finish with some crispy sweet potato spirals on top.

  To turn this Vegetable Tangle into a main course, we can “bulk it up” with the addition of your favorite protein and a side of Jasmin rice. Some possibilities are (season your protein as you like):

  Chicken—You can add cooked shredded chicken to the sauce when it’s done—a great way to use leftovers—or begin the sauce by sautéing bite sized pieces of white or dark meat chicken in the oil, before adding the garlic and chili paste.

  Tofu—Cubes of firm tofu can be crisped in the oven or fried and added at the end, or you can add them with the coconut milk and let them simmer in the sauce.

  Salmon—Place a salmon fillet in a hot skillet with some neutral oil, skin side down. Cook undisturbed for 4-5 minutes until the skin crips, then turn the salmon and cook it on the other side for 2-3 more minutes. (longer, if you like your salmon well done.) Then set the salmon fillet on a plate or a wide flat bowl and top with the sauce, then the tangle, then the crispy sweet potato spirals.

  Or, try some ideas of your own!

  Try to get some of everything in each bite for the true experience!