In case youve never tried adzuki beans let me tell you that youre missing out.  They have the texture of a black bean and a flavor along the lines of a sweeter version of a kidney bean.  You can use them in place of any similar sized bean for something different. 

The only problem is these pretty pink beans are a bit hard to track down.   I get mine in the bulk pins at Whole Foods (I know its a gluten free no no but I wash then thoroughly and have never had a problem.)  Eden Organics also has them canned flavored with seaweed at all the local groceries I go to so they are out there if you look.

Putting beans regardless of how unique they are with mango in a curry might sound odd.  I thought so too until I actually gave it a try.  The sweetness of the mango mellows the spices and gives this curry a really interesting mouthfeel making it seem much richer than it really is.  With the coconut milk included this either becomes a weight maintenance only dish or a curry to eat while skipping the rice.  To make this for a low fat/high fiber meal just sub out the coconut milk for some vegetable broth and add a bit of tomato paste to get a thick sauce without the fat.

I found this Adzuki Bean and Mango Curry recipe over at the City Life Eats blog along with a handful of other really tasty ideas for recipes for us picky allergic eaters.  Its sometimes a hard blog to navigate but this recipe is perfect so Im just sending you over there to check it out since I didnt change a thing.

Read More..

Another recipe for an Indian dish. Whos surprised? No one would be my guess since I came out as a curry lover who isnt even going to pretend by cooking many snotty French recipes anymore.

Its been a long week and this is the first night Ive been home to cook since Monday so in my overly tired state I dont have much to say. Just that this is one of my favorite dishes to order when we go out so I was thrilled to find a recipe for it that emulated the dish rather well at home. The added bonus is its super simple. Cut up a few veggies, hunt down some spices, get your amazing boyfriend to plan ahead and crockpot a huge bunch of beans over the weekend and youre all set. This took about 20 minutes to make, it is filling and flavorful and made me especially happy to be eating at home for the first time in a while.

With this we drank a random bottle of Rioja called Faustino VII the fella picked up on his last wine run. This was totally something he bought just for the bottle which in this case was not a bad thing. Its not brilliant enough to sell your sell your soul for but it was a nice light bodied Spanish wine. I like the huge super spicy Spanish red a lot but this was a decent digression from those monster wines. It definitely went nicely with the curry.

As with most recipes I upped the spices significantly from the original version. So you might want to halve the ginger and chili pepper portions if youre not into that sort of thing.

Red Kidney Bean Curry (Rajmah)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger (I grated a medium sized knob and called it good enough)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large green chili, chopped
8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

3 cups boiled red kidney beans and one cup water or 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, undrained
1 plum tomato, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat for one minute. Add ginger, garlic, onion, green chili, and let sizzle for one minute.

Add the tomato sauce and spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the kidney beans and tomatoes. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve over brown rice. A dollop of plain yogurt on top added extra flavor.

Original recipe from Smitten Kitchen Blog.

Read More..

The fella and I love spicy food especially of the Indian variety but this recipe was something else.  He was actually pretty okay with it but I made the mistake of trying it for the first time while I was at work.  I wasnt expecting it to be that overly spicy because Im no wimp.  Boy was I wrong.  Gladly the lunch room was empty that day because this curry was so hot I was crying.  In a very good and happy way its just I dont exactly make a habit of sitting alone in public at work weeping over my food.  It gives people the wrong impression I guess.

This curry is so good it manages to both be very very hot and tasty at the same time.  So if youre not big on spice I would suggest making it with the least amount of chilies suggested in the recipe and it should have a nice bit of kick to it.  If you really want to challenge yourself go ahead and add all the chilies and be prepared to have a pleasant fire in your mouth. 

And dont be put off by the long list of ingredients, they are mostly spices that require no effort on your part other than tossing them in the pan so it is actually a really quick meal once the beans are cooked.  I even cheat by making my beans in the crockpot while Im at work so I can start cooking as soon as I get home.  With that short cut this very hot meal takes almost no effort.

So there you go all my friends that are fans of insanely hot food, give this a try and let me know if its hot enough for you.  If not Im scared of but impressed by your idea of spicy.

Extremely Spicy Bean Curry

1/2 cup of dried chickpeas
1/4 cup of dried kidney beans
1/4 cup of lentils (puy lentils or black lentils are best)
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 generous teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoons of agave nectar
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of turmeric
dash of cayenne
2 - 4 dried red chilies
1 large tomato, finely chopped

1 small clove garlic, minced
2 - 4 fresh red or green chilies, finely chopped

Rinse the chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils in a strainer. Soak overnight in enough water to cover. Drain, transfer to a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the beans are tender - roughly 1 hour.  Or put beans in crockpot covered in water at low heat for 6 hours.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, toss in the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop. Add the cumin seeds, ground cumin, agave nectar, salt, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and dried chilies. Stir quickly and add the tomatoes, garlic, and fresh chilies. Stir a few times and cook until the tomato is softened - roughly 5 minutes.

Drain off some of the water from the cooked beans and add the tomato mixture to the pot. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for another 10 - 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Garnish with the fresh parsley or cilantro.  

Original recipe from Lisas Kitchen blog. 

Read More..

Im apparently little bit obsessed with my newest culinary discovery.  My article over on Forkful of News today is a review of two of Judith Jones books and now Im posting for your cooking pleasure one of my favorite recipes of hers.  

Its just that shes a great writer, has had a jealousy inducingly interesting life and she also has amazing taste in food.  Most of the things the fella and I have eaten recently have come from her cookbooks.  She takes something simple like a steak or a curry and adds a little something extra to it that will make you rethink the way youve been cooking things all along.  And for someone like me who likes to know why something works instead of just being told what to do, I love that her recipes always include the reasoning  behind the instructions she provides.  I learned a lot about cooking just from reading her recipes.

Her book the Pleasure of Cooking For One was a lot of fun to cook out of the last time the fella was out of town.  She is a big proponent of cooking well for yourself and makings something special when youre alone, to make dinner a treat instead of a chore.  With that in mind she scales down huge feasts like Julia Childs Beef Bourguignon or tells you how to cook a whole duck and use every part of it to make meals for yourself for the week.  

And the recipes are amazing, I ate really well that weekend while cooking alone.  I had scallops and butternut squash risotto and this lamb curry.  Both were somewhat fancy but very simple, I defiantly felt treated and enjoyed my food which is sometimes hard to do when youre alone.  

I upped the scale on the portions from her original recipe to post here so that it makes dinner for two or dinner with left overs for the next day for one person.  Either way this is one of my new favorite curry recipes.  There is just something about lamb and curry that appeals to me and I could probably eat it everyday.

Simple Lamb Curry
 
4 tablespoon veggie oil
1 1/2 pounds lamb, cut into 1 inch piece
1 onion or 2 shallots, chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
4 tablespoons curry powder
salt and pepper
lemon juice, to taste
1 1/2 cup broth of your choice
2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
1 small tart apple, cut into wedges

In a frying pan over medium high heat add 2 tablespoons of the oil until warm. Add the lamb pieces to the pan without crowding them. Brown the meat on all sides briefly without burning the meat or cooking the meat all the way through. Once browned set the meat aside.
 
Add the the other 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and saute the onion, pepper and garlic for about 8 minutes or until softened but not browned. Add the cooked lamb, fennel seeds, and curry powder. Salt the lamb lightly then squeeze several drops of lemon juice into pan. Add broth of your choice, cover pan and cook at a decent simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat and add more liquid if it evaporates too quickly.
 
When the sauce is your desired consistency add the coconut and apple slices, tossing them in the pan for about 5 minutes to warm through. Taste the curry, re-season with salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed then serve over rice or with flourless naan.

From Judith Jones The Pleasures for Cooking for One. 

 

Read More..

Apparently the winter has finally gotten to me and Im starting to snap.  In the midst of my Monday cooking frenzy I realized everything on my recipe list this week leaned toward Mediterranean foods.  Not that there is anything at all wrong with that.  It was just an odd moment to realize I had totally subconsciously arranged for myself to eat delicious slightly summery light foods.  You know you need a vacation when your taste buds create one for you.

The big hit of the slew of things I made today was this salad.  Ive made it before but this time I played with the dressing and changed up the proportions to fit what I was in the mood for to make the salad just that much better.

Ive already raved about quinoa but Ill do so again for a couple seconds in case there is still anyone that hasnt tried it.  Quinoa is similar in texture to couscous and is prepared in much the same way but is a grain from a grassy South American plant rather than processed wheat.  It has an interesting slightly bitter taste that makes it a great contrast to a bright citrusy salad like this one.  And its perfect for the Montignac Method because at 35 it has the lowest GI of any of the grains Ive looked into.

I buy mine in the bulk bins at Whole Foods where its about $3 a pound which is a pretty great deal considering my mother said a couple ounces of it is around $5 at her local grocery store.  Its just nice to have around for quick salads, a rice substitute or as an oatmeal type breakfast with a much better texture.

Unfortunately not everything I made today came out as well as this salad.  Next time I will share with the world how I failed at my fourth soufflé in a row.  It wasnt meant to be I guess and I now know not to try again.   Ill stick to less high maintenance food thank you very much.

 

Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water

1 cup pomegranate seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup pinenuts, toasted
1/ 4 scant cup cilantro leaves, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

Bring quinoa and water to boil in medium pot.  After allowing to cook on a rolling boil for a couple minutes, reduce heat to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until quinoa is al dente.  Set aside off heat to allow quinoa to cool.

Add the pomegranate seeds to the cooled quinoa in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, agave nectar, and mustard until blended. Drizzle over quinoa mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and toss. Season with salt & pepper to taste. 

Modified from Enlightened Cooking blog. 

Read More..

This is me trying something new in the hopes of posting more often.

When I cook something unfortunate or something that didnt work for me Im going to post it and link to the recipe in case you want to give it a try and in the hopes youll have better luck cooking it than I did.  Maybe you will cook it and love it then tell me where I went wrong.  I make plenty of mistakes I just dont usually take the time to post about them unless they are particularly epic.

And when I make something fabulous that was amazing but the recipe was perfect Ill just do an easy cheater post and point you in the direction of the talented blogger that created it.  This Mexican salad which is a knock off of a dish at Chipotle restaurant is a perfect example.  It comes from the Healthy Irishmen Blog  where chef Gavan Murphy, and sometimes his wife, post fabulous healthy recipes using fresh organic produce.  They  have some great recipes to browse through and aside from the potato and bread dishes most of his recipes are French diet friendly.

The recipe for Vegetarian Mexican Salad is especially worth checking out.  This is the kind of salad that always looks appealing at restaurants but I never think to try to make at home where I can control the fat and salt content.  Now that I know how I will be making this beauty all summer.  The super spicy and tangy dressing is my favorite part but if you arent into breathing fire youll want to take the amount of peppers down a notch.  I also cheated to make this salad even easier by buying some jarred salsa (because the fella wont eat raw tomatoes and I was lazy), mashing an avocado on my lettuce rather than making guacamole, and then sprinkling organic canned corn and some cilantro on the salad rather than making the corn salsa. And if youre on the weight loss phase youll want to skip the corn all together since it has a high GI but there are so many other tasty things on this salad you wont be missing anything.

Read More..

If you were to walk around our place of employment you would probably think to yourself... "Dont drink the water" because there is definitely several of us ladies who are pregnant and waddling around the building. One of the good things about this is that we have a lot to celebrate and recently we did just that for our Assistant Director of Nursing!! Here are some pics of her "work" baby shower.

Our building is very large and often times you really dont get to build relationships with your co-workers because you are constantly on the move and just dont see one another. It was nice to take an hour and celebrate Baby Logan and him coming into the world soon! Plus his soon to be momma is super sweet! Love you Jenny!

Read More..

By now we all know Ill use any excuse to put curry on anything so curried poultry with a side of apple salsa screamed “make me now” and “oh my god perfect cold weather meal” all at the same time.  The original recipe called for duck legs which Im sure would have been delicious but Im simple and cheap so substituted in less fatty and far less pricey chicken parts with just as amazing results. 

And as the fella, the chef, and I found out before our wacky wine party last weekend this is the perfect recipe to make just before a get together because it is the gift that keeps giving.  The fella and I ate the chicken and a bit of the salsa for dinner the night before, the three of us ate the left overs, there was a gloriously large amount of salsa left over to serve the guests with some blue corn chips, and the curried chicken fat that we poured off the meat got added to a polenta the chef threw together.  Which isnt even to yet mention how amazing all of the parts of this meal were. 

The spicy tender lightly curried chicken is crispy and delicious.  The salsa is mind boggling in its greatness.  Its just spicy enough and the crisp apples mixed with the crunchy walnuts is something we all loved so much we were slapping our foreheads at not thinking of it before.  Walnut and apple salsa may be my new favorite condiment.  I cant recommend it enough.  And that polenta the spicy chicken fat went into was amazing not to mention purple.  I highly approve of all things purple.  But thats for Jacob to blog about (the polenta not my fetish for purple objects.)

 Curry Glazed Chicken Legs

4 to 6 chicken legs

3 cloves garlic

2 minced jalapeños

2 teaspoons curry powder

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 orange, zested

Salt and pepper to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lime juice (from about 4 limes)

1 cup chicken stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels.

Using a food processor blend the garlic, jalapeños, curry, ginger, zest and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in enough olive oil to make a paste, 2 to 3 tablespoons.

Rub the paste into the chicken legs, season with salt and pepper and place in a large roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour to render the fat. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Pour off the fat and reserve for another use (such as creating a spicy chicken and blue corn polenta.)

Pour the orange juice, lime juice and chicken stock over and around the duck pieces and cover the pan loosely with parchment paper or foil. Return to the oven for 45 minutes to tenderize the meat.

Transfer the chicken legs to a platter. Scrape the edges of the pan with a spoon to incorporate the caramelized bits into the juices. Strain. Taste the pan juices and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Keep warm. Just before serving, crisp the duck in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Spoon the pan juices over the duck legs and serve with walnut apple salsa.

Walnut Apple Salsa

1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 limes)

2 tart apples, peeled and cored

1 small onion, finely diced

A handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, seeds reserved

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 tablespoon agave nectar

Salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted.

Pour the lime juice into a medium bowl. Finely dice the apples and toss with the onion in the juice.

Add the cilantro, peppers, ginger and agave nectar, tossing until well combined. Season with salt to taste. Add back some of the reserved jalapeño seeds to adjust heat of salsa.

Just before serving, add the walnuts.

Original recipe from New York Times Magazine.

Read More..