Go with the flow and fight fire with fire. Those of you who know me a bit better might gather from these few words that the ongoing heat has taken its toll on my headspace, scrambled it even – since usually I give phrases like these a wider berth. However, right about now these two figures of speech strung together actually sum up todays recipe quite nicely!

It’s hot in the good, spicy way, it’s filling in the good, light-yet-cozy way, it’s colorful matching the scenery outside and it actually works a good deal to counteract the insane temperatures out there! Oh! And it replenishes all of the nutrients the heat is draining off of you – and then some~ A bowl of win, win…win, win, win curry for a really hot day when cold soups, salads and watermelons just don’t do it anymore. Here’s what you need for 4 dinner-portions:

The Coconut-Lime Curry with Salmon and Sweet Potatoes
150g Brown Rice, cooked to your liking – pop 1 lime leaf into the cooking water along with some salt
1 Red Onion, finely diced
3 Garlic, finely diced
1-2 Red Hot Chillies, finely diced – 1 Habanero or Scotch Bonnet usually does the trick for me…
25g Ginger, finely diced
500g Sweet Potatoes, cut into 1cm dice
600g Salmon Fillet, skin removed and sliced into bite-sized pieces
250g Long Stemmed Broccoli, also in bite-sized bits
Alt: 250g Green Asparagus, woody bits removed and sliced into bite-sized bits
1 Bunch of Coriander
4 Limes, Zest and Juice
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves
2 Stalks of Lemongrass, white and light green parts grated
1 Tbsp Coconutflower Sugar
1 Tsp Fine Sea Salt
1 Tsp Coconut Oil
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
1 Tsp Ground Coriander
1 Tsp Turmeric – fresh or dried/ground, both works fine for this one
400ml Low Fat Coconut Milk
150-200ml Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Sriracha Chilli Sauce
4 Tsp Sesame Seeds

Disclaimer #1: It’s Summer, it’s way too hot for long cooking times. This is actually quite the quick fix, curry wise!
Disclaimer #2: If you’re wondering about the time it takes to fry the salmon up like the cubes in the pictures – just ignore me trying to add some chef’y (read: unnecessary) eye-candy to the pictures. No need for frills today, though, really~
Disclaimer #3: This one also works spiritlifting, heartwarming wonders in the cold, dark, rainy or even snowy winter months, when summer seems way too far away… mmmh glorious snowy winter days… Erm. I digress, let’s move on!

1) Heat the oil on medium heat in a wide and heavy pan – I use my cast-iron pan of the do-I-need-a-heavy-weapon-license-for-this? kind for this one.
2) Add the diced onions, garlic, chilli and ginger heaps and allow them to sweat and soften for for 2-3 mins, then swirl in the lime leaves the lemongrass.
3) After about 2 more mins, sprinkle in the salt and spices and wait roundabout 1-2 mins for the essential oils to release and waft up to you.
4) Deglaze the lot with the coconut milk and stock and make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan with the help of a wooden spatula.
5) Turn the heat to medium-high for a moment and bring the liquids to to a boil
6) As soon as it bubbles up, turn the heat to low and add the lime zest, juice, coconutflower sugar, your choice of broccoli or asparagus and the sweet potato dice.
7) Leave the lot to simmer for 6-8 mins – or until a test bite of both tells you they’re just before done.
8) Add the pieces of salmon and allow them to simmer to juicy perfection for 4-5 more mins depending on your definition of “bite-sized”~
9) Gently stir in the fish and sriracha sauce just before it’s done.
10) Have a taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve the curry with the rice on the bottom and a gentle sprinkle of sesame and coriander on top~

Enjoy~!