Showing posts with label curry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curry. Show all posts

21 October 2009

Curry Thing


I could live the rest of my life eating nothing but curry. I prefer Indian curries, but never make them because they require ingredients that I'm either not familiar with or am intimidated by. Most of the curries I make at home utilize one of those bottled pastes or powders and coconut milk. Knowing that I love curry so much, I don't know why I hadn't made it in such a long time. So when my son asked for curry last night, I eagerly obliged. Yesterday we picked up our bi-weekly produce box. I used the potatoes, carrots and lovely red onion from the box along with some curry flavor Small Planet tofu. Yum. I had leftovers for lunch today.I don't know what I had planned for dinner tonight, but when Ben asked for curry again, how could I say no? Again I looked for inspiration in the vegetable crisper. This time I found celery, carrots and onions. (What's that French term for the trinity of these three aromatics? I've watched enough cooking shows in my life to know that these ingredients mean something together, I just can't remember what it is.) I threw in the rest of the tofu, more coconut milk and this time added a little tahini and some garbanzo beans. Looks like I'll have leftovers for lunch again tomorrow. There really aren't any major flavor differences between these two (or four) meals, but I don't care. That's how much I love curry.

I served a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA a few years ago and I had to go to a few three or four-day training conferences where we stayed overnight in another city. They always had the meals catered and much to my surprise, always had vegan offerings. On one of these trips, the first veggie meal served was a delicious peanut butter curry that was subsequently used in each of the following meals for the duration of our stay - even as a topping for baked potatoes! After day two, everyone was complaining, but I was in heaven. Food at a catered event like that can be iffy, even if it is vegan. But I feasted on delicious curry for the better part of that week.

09 February 2009

Curried Split-Pea Soup

I love soup. I also love curry.

So, one of my co-workers subscribes to about five different magazines. She brings them to work and leaves them in the lunch room with a few of those trashy celebrity magazines that someone else likes to read. What's my point? Well, since the mega-corporation that I work for decided that a subscription to the newspaper is an extravagant expense for our office, I end up reading a lot of home and garden magazines on my lunch breaks. In the Jan/Feb issue of Country Home, I came across this recipe for Curried Split-pea Soup. I was so excited to find a recipe in a main stream magazine that was already vegan! We tried it a week ago at my mom's house and it was a big hit. I changed things up a little because I don't follow directions well. I have a problem with authority. But that's OK. Baking is a science; measurements and method are important. Cooking, on the other hand, is an art. So be creative!

Here is a comparative list of ingredients called for in the recipe and my substitutions. (Follow the cooking instructions found in the recipe.)

Recipe/Substitution

2 14oz cans vegetable broth/32oz vegetable broth (Imagine aseptic package)
1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk/SAME
2 1/3 C dry split peas/SAME
1 bay leaf/2 T dried sweet basil
2 medium sweet potatoes/SAME
1 LB shiitake mushrooms/1 LB cremini mushrooms
1 medium red sweet pepper/SAME
3 green onions/SAME
1 T soy sauce/omitted
2 t curry powder (add more to taste)/SAME
1/4 t crushed red pepper/1 bulb fresh roasted garlic
1/4 C fresh basil/1/4 C fresh cilantro

09 November 2008

Curried Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

We visited my friend and her boyfriend in Richland a few weeks ago and my friend's boyfriend made us stuffed peppers for dinner. I don't know that I'd ever had a stuffed pepper before and if I did, I probably didn't like it. But my taste buds have developed a lot over the years and I really enjoyed the classic stuffed peppers with rice, tomato sauce and veggie sausage. I enjoyed it so much that my mind started racing with variations on this humble classic. So here is my take on the stuffed pepper, with some of my favorite flavors such as coconut milk, cashews, curry and cilantro. (Sorry about the poor picture quality - I really need a new camera.)

You will need:

4 green bell peppers, cored and seeded
1 C quinoa
1/3 C currants
1/3 C cashews, roasted, unsalted
1/2 C mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C cilantro, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 t cumin
1 t ginger powder
1 T curry powder
1 C coconut milk
salt to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°. Add quinoa to 2 cups water and bring to boil. Cook covered at a simmer until all water is absorbed and the germ has separated from the grain. Stir coconut milk, spices and garlic into quinoa and combine thoroughly. Toss in mushrooms, cashews, currants and cilantro. Fill peppers with quinoa mixture and place in a deep baking dish filled with 1/2 inch of water. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until peppers have softened but are still firm. Let sit for 5 minutes and enjoy!