Broccoli peanut curry

My husband said this was the best thing i have ever cooked. I am not sure i agree, but it was pretty tasty and super easy. So easy.

1 small onion, chopped

Handful salted peanuts (i like the Aldi brand)

Sufficient oil to saute

1 can tom kha soup*

1 c natural peanut butter (no sugar – just smooshed peanuts)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 lb broccoli, cut in bitesize chunks

Water or coconut milk as needed to thin the sauce

*Check the ingredients – some contain fish sauce, which is tasty, just not veg friendly.

Saute onion and peanuts in oil until onion is floppy. Reduce heat and stir in peanut butter. When peanut butter is melty, add the tom kha soup. If there are large hot peppers in the soup, you may consider removing them depending on your spice preference.  Stir until the sauce is smooth, and add sugar. Add broccoli, stir to coat with peanut awesomesauce, cover your pot, and cook to desired doneness over medium low heat. ~10 minutes is my preference, but check frequently. Add water or coconut milk as needed to thin sauce.

Serve with rice

 

 

Cantaloupe Chutney

We devoured this with slices of brie onblack bean burgers. It was amazing.

1/2 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and chopped smallish

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp crushed red pepper

6 cardamom pods, peeled and crushed

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ginger paste

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 c lemon juice

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup yellow raisins

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped rough

Crush the cardamom and cloves in a mortar and pestle and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Add red pepper flakes, cardamom, cloves and ginger. Fry for 30 seconds. Add sugar and cashews, stir to coat with spices.  Throw in cantaloupe and the rest of ingredients. Mix well and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Add more red pepper flakes if you want. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until chutney is syrupy and fruit is carmelized.

Allow to cool a bit, then puree coarsely in food processor. Store in refrigerator.

Adapted from http://abcdsofcooking.com/2010/08/cantaloupe-chutney/

Watermelon Curry

This is a really simple recipe if you start with a seedless watermelon. Using a regular watermelon is a bit more labor intensive… but that’s what I bought before I decided to make a curry.  I was inspired by a variety of Rajasthani recipies.

Ingredients:

1/3 giant watermelon or one personal size

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper*

2 tsp oil

2 tsp fennel

1/2 tsp fenugreek

Healthy dash of chaat masala

Chop up watermelon into bitesize chunks, and de-seed if you went with a seedy melon.  Puree about 2/3 with the garlic, turmeric, paprika, and cayenne pepper.

Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add fennel and fenugreek seeds, and saute for about 30 seconds to brown.

Add watermelon puree to the pan, simmer on medium heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until sauce voolume has been reduced by about 50%.

Add the rest of the watermelon chunks, and stir frequently until warm.

Serve over rice. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and cucumber on the side.

*i skipped the cayenne when i was pregnant, because of heartburn.

Eggplanty Goodness

This is one of my rare non-vegetarian recipes, but easy enough to leave out the fish sauce to make it vegetarian/vegan!

1 small onion, diced

a quantity of oil sufficient to saute onion

2 green chilies (the short skinny ones that you would use in indian or thai cooking.  I have no idea what they are called in american supermarkets)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp turmeric

salt to taste

3 heaping tbsp garlic

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 eggplant, sliced thin

6 oz mushrooms, destemmed and cut in quarters

1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added

2 splashes rice vinegar

1 splash fish sauce (leave out for vegan recipe!)

1/2 cup or so water

hearty dash of sambar powder

dusting of chana masala mix

squirt of lemon juice

In a large skillet, saute onion and green chili with cumin, salt, and turmeric until onoins are floppy.  Add sliced green chilis, garlic, and ginger paste, continue to saute until chili starts to soften.  Add eggplant and mushrooms, stir to coat in spice and onions.  After about 10 minutes, add 1 can of tomatoes with juice, a couple splashes of rice vinegar, a dash of fish sauce, and 1/2 cup of water (or enough to cover the bottom of the pan).  Stir frequently to coat the eggplant with liquid. Add a hearty dash of sambar powder and dust the entire surface of the food with chana masala mix,  If you use the brand I got, it contains sodium bicarbonate, so it will fizz when it hits the acidic food.  Continue stirring occasionally until eggplant is well cooked.  Add a splash of lemon juice right before serving.  Eat with Naan or your choice of bread.

Minty Blueberry Lemonade Popsicles

You had me at blueberry.

1 pt fresh blueberries

Handful of fresh mint leaves

enough lemonade to fill your popsicle molds when mixed with the other ingredients

Add everything food processor, blend. Pour into your popsicle molds and freeze at least 4 hours.

I did not add enough lemonade the first time around, so I divided the mixture between the molds, froze it for an hour without inserting the sticks, then added more pure lemonade to the individual popsicles. They are very pretty, but it does add a step 🙂 If you do it this way, don’t forget to add the sticks!

Edited to add: these are even better than I expected. Make them.

Perfect blueberry pie filling

Take 1 lb fresh (preferred) or thawed frozen (acceptable substitute) blueberries.  Add 1/2 c lemon juice and 1/2 c brown sugar, mix and let sit for a moment.  In a separate bowl, mix 1/4 c corn starch and 1/4 c flour.  Sprinkle mixture over blueberries, one mixing one spoonful at a time, until they are lightly coated.  Use in blueberry pies, cobblers, on waffles, or wherever else you may need a blueberry filling (hint: everywhere).  Cook at least 20 minutes at 350 degrees for saucy goodness, though longer time or higher temperature is fine too, depending on your recipe.

So good.  seriously. so good.

Basic Upitu

Upitu is basically fancy cream of wheat. It’s got veggies and spices and cashews (which we know to be both fancy *and* schmancy).  This recipe is just a really basic overview, infinite variations are always possible.  This recipe serves about 4-5 people for breakfast.

1 c. chopped veggies, including but not limited to peas, beans, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers.  I use frozen veggies because it is easier and I’m lazy. note this is one cup TOTAL, not one of each.

3 c. upma or regular cream of wheat (or Creamywheat as my grandpa called it)

a quantity of oil suitable for sauteing

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

ground red pepper to taste

1/4 large onion, sliced

a large quantity of garlic

1/4 c cashews

~6 c water

In small stovetop pot or microwave, mix peas, beans, carrots, potatoes, and bell peppers and cook in water until soft.

in a large pan, dump dry upma/cream of wheat over low heat, stir until it starts to brown.  Remove from pan and set aside.

In your large pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, red pepper, and salt. Once seeds have slightly browned, add garlic and onion, saute until floppy.  Add remaining veggies and cashews and continue to saute. When they are cooked to satisfaction, add roasted upma and water. You can use the water you cooked the veggies in for part of this quantity. My auntie says to use a ratio of 1:2 upma to water, but I usually find that to be a little dry and end up adding a bit more.  Stir and lower heat.  Continue to stir until the water is absorbed. Check salt/spice level and adjust as needed.  If the upitu gets too dry, add more water.  Serve hot.

Leeky Tater Soup

I got an immersion blender.  This means now I can make all the soups, all the time. I love potato soup.  I love the delicate flavor of the leeks.  I love running around the house with a leek held to my head like a unicorn horn yelling “I’ve sprung a leek!”

1/2 medium size onion, diced

3 leeks, white and light green sections sliced into 1/4 in rounds

a whole lot of garlic

8 golden potatoes. cubed. you can use any variety, but red skins make the soup a strange color.

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

salt to taste

water of sufficient quantity to boil potaotes

oil of choice

in a soup pan, saute onions, garlic, and  2/3 of the leeks in oil until onions are transparent and leeks are floppy. Add cubed potatoes and sufficient water to cover them.  Add spices.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are soft.  Use the immersion blender to homogenize your soup.  Adjust spice levels as needed.  Add remaining leeks to soup and simmer until they are floppy.

if your soup is too thick, add more water. If it is too thin, cook it longer.

Enjoy!

Easy Hummus

If I had known how easy hummus is, I would have started making it years ago. Seriously, this takes about 5 minutes and most of that is looking for the can opener. I swear it was here yesterday.

in a food processor, mix:

2 cans chickpeas, drained

1 c tahini

1 c olive oil

3 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp chopped garlic

salt to taste

blend until smooth. Adjust levels of all ingredients to preference. Add a splort or three of sri racha if you want some spice. Serve with a dash of smoked paprika if you like your food to be pretty.

Condiment obsession

This week, I have a new condiment obsession.

Mix: 1 part tahini and 1 part dijon mustard, a splash of lemon juice, and a splort of sri racha to your preferred spice level.  Eat on EVERYTHING.