If you peeked into my fridge right now, you would find about ten half opened jars of various goodies.
For example, I can see some home made pickles. A half used jar of preserved lemons used in a recent tagine and even the remnants of tomato passata.
It was the semi used jar of Thai red curry paste that I forced myself to use on this occasion.
I say "forced" because I didn't want it ending up like the rest of the jars in the fridge.
Pin itI just hating wasting food.
It's something I try to be conscious of and at least a few times a week I try to get creative with leftover ingredients and other bits and pieces from the pantry.
I had also purchased some white fish fillets to test a home made Thai fish cakes recipe and let's just say that for now, my local Thai restaurant has nothing to worry about! Still a work in progres…
So with over half a kilo of fish still remaining I went into "quick thinking mode".
I wanted the dish to have some kind of Thai style flavours so I smothered the fish fillets with the curry paste. Admiteedly it was a little strong so in future I might add a few tablespoons of coconut cream to the paste for a milder taste.
With the quinoa cooked in fifteen minutes, I combined it with a few handfuls each of cooked green beans and snow peas. A quarter of a sliced red onion, a chopped chilli, some coriander (cilantro) leaves and before you knew it dinner was served!
The dressing for the quinoa salad was a mixture of sunflower oil, lime juice, fish sauce and a little palm sugar. Garnished with a few crushed peanuts for added texture, it was filling and quite healthy.
I'm curious to know. Do you get creative with leftovers in your kitchen?
Pin it- 6 white fish fillets each weighing approx. 100 grams
- 2-3 tbsp Thai curry paste
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (red or white)
- a handful of cooked green beans
- a handful of cooked snow peas
- 1 whole chilli sliced
- 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup sunflower oil
- juice of half a lime
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp grated palm sugar
- 2 tbsp crushed raw peanuts for garnish
- Preheat your oven to 180 deg C and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
- Prepare your fish fillets by covering them liberally with the red Thai curry paste, place on baking tray and cook in the oven for 12-15 mins.
- To make the salad combine the quinoa, beans, snow peas, onion, coriander and chilli and toss with the dressing.
- Top with crushed peanuts if desired
*I blanched my greens for approx 2-3 mins and refreshed them in iced water, before draining them and adding them to the quinoa.
*Adjust the dressing to suit your palate. If you like it more salty add 1 tsp of fish sauce at a time.
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