Thai-inspired green curry shrimp with coconut milk, fish sauce, lime leaf, and a nightshade-free curry paste

Most curry pastes on a grocery shelf lean on chili and pepper for their heat, which means the nightshade-free version here probably meant either a longer shopping trip than usual or an afternoon spent making your own. Either way, once that paste exists, the rest of this comes together faster than it takes to read the recipe. Some nights, that is exactly the return you need on effort you already spent.

Selenium is linked to thyroid function, and a couple pounds of shrimp is a genuinely concentrated way to get it into a meal. The coconut milk turns the whole pot into a sauce rich enough that the herbs and aromatics read as bold rather than thin, curry built entirely from what is actually available to you on this protocol.

Scatter the extra cilantro over the top right before you serve it. It takes 10 seconds and it is the difference between a pot of curry and a bowl that looks like it came from somewhere you would pay for.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced scallions (green onions)
• 2 tablespoons homemade nightshade-free green curry paste
• 1 can (15.5 ounces) coconut milk (no gums or fillers)
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut sugar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 dried kaffir lime leaves or 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves, plus more to garnish

Method

Warm the coconut oil in a large skillet or wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and the scallions and cook until they soften, a few minutes.

Add the nightshade-free green curry paste and stir it into the aromatics, letting it bloom in the oil for a minute or so until it smells fragrant. This step wakes up the herbs in the paste.

Pour in the coconut milk and stir to loosen the paste into the liquid. Add the coconut sugar, the fish sauce, and the lime leaves or lime zest. Bring to a gentle simmer and let the flavors come together for a few minutes.

Add the shrimp and let them poach in the simmering sauce, turning once, just until they are pink and opaque all the way through. Take care not to overcook them - they need only a short time. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

Serve right away, with extra cilantro scattered over the top. This is lovely over cauliflower rice or on its own as a brothy bowl.

*Adapted from gutsybynature.com*