Curried Vegetables

Here’s a blog I did for the ecoLiving website – what a great spot. Check it out at: www.ecolivinglondon.org

Bleak winter days call for bright winter meals, full of colour and flavour to perk us up. But that’s just my opinion! Honestly, I find it hard to decide what to cook this time of year when our outdoor farmers’ market is closed and the garden is covered with snow. Fortunately there are a host of produce vendors that do care about supporting local and there are very productive greenhouses within a reasonable distance. It is not impossible to get local this time of year, and eating a balanced diet is always important, no matter what time of year it is.

So, this is what I made for dinner the other night and it is open to your interpretation and seasonal variations! Bright, colourful, spicy and nutritious, served on a bed of brown rice, this curry makes an easy weeknight dinner.

Grab all the Veggies in the Fridge Curry

2 tablespoons (30 mL) vegetable oil

2 large onions, sliced

2-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1-2 jalapeno or other hot pepper, seeded and minced

2 Tablespoons (30 mL) curry paste

1 cup (250 mL) carrots, peeled and sliced

3 sweet peppers, red or green or yellow or orange, seeded, sliced

1 can (approx 1 ½ cups, 375 mL) coconut milk

2 cups (500 mL) cauliflower florets, blanched

2 cups (500 mL) broccoli florets, blanched

1-2 cups (250-500 mL) green beans, blanched

1 can (19 oz, 540 mL) chick peas, drained and rinsed

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup (60 mL) of cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup (125 mL) toasted coconut

• In a large saucepan heat oil over medium high heat. Add the onions to the pan cook and stir for about 15 minutes, until the onions are getting golden brown and caramelized.
• Add the garlic, ginger, hot peppers to the pan, cook and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the curry paste, carrots, and sweet peppers. Let cook for another 5 minutes or so. Pour coconut milk into pan; bring to the boil, lower heat to simmering and stir in cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, and chick peas. Let simmer for 5-10 more minutes. Check seasoning.
• Serve curry on a bed of rice. Garnish with cilantro and toasted coconut.
• Serves four -six.

It’s a Sunny January Day

Oh, I’m so happy to see the sun! It feels like it’s been a looong time. I’m celebrating by putting aside the left-over Christmas chocolates and reaching for something a bit healthier.

Soup is my winter go-to food. It’s easy to make even without a recipe. Well, I’m a bit of a recipe hoarder, but I’ll often go out on a limb and wing it, especially with soup. One of the family’s favourite soup recipes is from the cookbook ‘Crazy Plates’ by Janet and Greta Podleski. The only changes I make to their recipe are that I use organic ground beef, home-made beef stock, carrots and potatoes from our garden, I up the garlic quite a bit as I’m using our own fabulous garlic. Here it is (a la Dolway Organic Garden):

1 lb or so of organic ground beef, get this cooking in a six litre soup pot set over medium high heat. Add 1 large chopped onion (it doesn’t matter if the beef is cooked when you add the onion), let the onion cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in 2-3 stalks of chopped celery, 1 chopped green bell pepper, 4 cloves garlic minced. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes or so, until the beef is cooked. Stir in a can of diced tomatoes, about 6 cups of organic beef broth, 2 medium size organic potatoes, washed well and diced, 2 carrots, peeled and diced, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1-2 teaspoons of dried basil, 1 teaspoon paprika. Get all of this simmering for half an hour or 45 minutes, then add in some chopped savoy cabbage. The original recipe calls for 3 cups, but I generally add more than that. Let all this simmer for another half an hour or so, make sure potatoes and carrots are tender. Grind in some pepper, sprinkle with salt to taste.

That’s it! So delicious and easy, and if you are feeling really energetic, while the soup is simmering, why not make some quick French Bread? Here’s an easy recipe:

French Style Loaf

1 1/2 Tbsp (22 ml) active dry yeast

1 Tbsp (15 ml) granulated sugar

2 cup (500 ml) warm water

5 to 6 cups (1.5l) all purpose flour

1 Tbsp (15 ml) salt

1 egg white, beaten

• Combine the yeast with the sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. The yeast will burble to the top of the liquid. Meanwhile, stir together five cups of the flour with the salt.
• Gradually add the flour mixture into the yeast mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have stiff dough. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it is no longer sticky, about 10 minutes.
• Coat the inside of the large bowl (no need to wash it) with a small amount of butter or oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning the dough so it is coated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Punch down the dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and shape into two long, French style loaves. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the loaves onto the sheet. Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in five or six places, and brush with the egg white.
• Place in a cold oven, set the oven temperature to 400 ° F, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the loaves are well browned and hollow sounding when you knock on the bottom.
• Makes two loaves.