Reeni's curried chickpea and cauliflower couscous

I should do this more often. And by "this" I don't mean eating wholesome, vegetarian dishes. I mean, I should do that more often as well, but what I was referring to is using other blogger's recipes. The problem is I have so many cookbooks and so many magazines I inevitably fall behind in my "recipes to try" schedule. Especially now that the weather is getting nicer and nicer I often opt to eat outdoors al local grottos (restaurants). Still, I wish I could make more new recipes because I feel that every time I find a new recipe that I like —which happens often— I have widened my horizons a little bit, which is always a good thing. 

This particular recipe was found on Reeni's blog, "Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice". If you have never checked it out before, I strongly suggest you do so as soon as possible. She's a terrific cook and a terrific photographer, so you'll find both beautiful pictures and awesome recipes there. 

As for my version of the dish, I tweaked it just a little, mostly because I didn't have almonds but I had a pint of cherry tomatoes I wanted to use before they went bad. The result? Delicious. I'm going to make this over and over again in the summer, since I ate the leftovers cold and it was still a great dish!

REENI'S CURRIED CHICKPEA AND CAULIFLOWER COUSCOUS

Adapted from Reeni's recipe

1 small yellow onion, diced

olive oil, for sauteing

sea or kosher salt and fresh black pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons hot curry powder

1/3 cup golden raisins, chopped

2 cups cauliflower florets, cooked

1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 cups fresh spinach leaves

3-4 cups instant couscous (whole-grain)

1/3 cup green onion, diced

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

plain yogurt, optional

In a large skillet saute onion in olive oil over medium-low heat until tender. Season well with salt and pepper. Add garlic, saute until fragrant. If pan is dry add more olive oil and mix in curry powder. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add raisins, cauliflower, chickpeas and spinach. Cook over low heat stirring often until heated through and spinach is wilted, seasoning well with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile prepare 1 + 1/2 cups dry couscous according to package directions.

Fluff up cooked couscous and mix into the chickpea mixture along with the green onion and cherry tomatoes. Serve as is or with yogurt if desired.

Curried cabbage

This is an entry for Reeni's Saturday Side Dishes. You can check it out here: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/

• Cabbage is another one of those ingredients, like cauliflower and broccoli, that I have discovered and incorporated in my life embarrassingly late. And when I say "late" I'm not talking about the 7th grade or my teen years. I'm talking about one or two years ago. I know, right? What the hell is wrong with me? What makes this even worse is that, unlike beets, I don't have any childhood trauma that explains my cabbage loathing. Nobody ever forced me to eat the stuff. My mother never cooked it, therefore I cannot even bitch about the house smelling like cabbage. I just assumed that cabbage —raw or cooked didn't matter— was bad. It had to be bad because it kind of looked like salad to me and, in case I haven't mentioned this before, I don't eat salad. None of it. No exceptions. 
• 
  
• And then one day I was at a friend's house and she had made homemade slaw and wanted my opinion. I tried to tell her that I knew nothing about slaw and that my opinion didn't really count on the subject, but she had people coming over for dinner and was a nervous wreck so I gave in. The slaw was fine. And what was even finer was the fact that raw cabbage didn't taste like salad at all. It was quite an epiphany, I tell you. The next time I went to the grocery store I made another amazing discovery: cabbage was dirt cheap. From that day on I've been making it in a zillion different ways, both raw and cooked. This particular recipe I have found on Cooking Light's website, tweaked it a little bit to my liking and bookmarked under my favorites.
• 
  
• CURRIED CABBAGE
• Adapted from Cooking Light
•    
• 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 1/2  cup  minced shallots
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 3  tablespoons  whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 2  tablespoons  curry powder
• 1  teaspoon  ground turmeric
• 12  cups  thinly sliced green cabbage (about 3 pounds)
• 1/4  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4  cup  apple cider vinegar
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add mustard, curry, and turmeric; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in cabbage and remaining ingredients; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

  
  

"Cream" of cauliflower with turmeric

After failing miserably at eating healthy both during January and February, I'm currently trying to make March my best month yet. We'll see how long that lasts. I figured I have about 4 to 6 weeks before taking off to Italy and I'd like to be as healthy and productive as possible between now and then. Of course it's a little tricky, being productive before moving, I mean. Moving is stressful and when you are moving across an ocean the stress tends to peak to new heights, so the logic response to that —for me— would be to sit around, drink wine and eat cheese. But, alas, I can't. For a number of reasons. The first one might sound shallow and vain. I really don't want to move to Italy with an ass the size of Brazil and my clothes not fitting me anymore. The second reason, I admit, I care less about. I have been told that I have to pack and organize before I leave —something that I could do while drinking wine and eating cheese, but requires me to get up from the couch.

Mind you, I'll still drink wine. Because let's be honest: I don't think I can stay sane, pack and organize without a little help. But the food, I've decided, has to be healthy. And good for me. Hence this "cream" of cauliflower, that contains no cream at all. I invented it after having a long conversation about anti-cancer foods with my mom, who's reading a very interesting book on how to prevent it by eating the right things. Cauliflower, turmeric and black pepper are all ranking high in preventing cancer and I have to say, after taking a first spoonful of my new creation I was incredibly pleased with the result. It's great for you and it tastes amazing. What else could one want?

CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER WITH TURMERIC

2 pounds cauliflower florets
2 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons turmeric
1 1/2 cups plain natural yogurt

Place broth and cauliflower in a large pot and bring broth to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with turmeric. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until florets are tender.
Puree with an immersion belnder. Stir in yogurt, adjust seasoning and enjoy hot or cold.

Indian pepper chicken

If you had to pick one kind of ethnic food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? As much as I love Thai and Vietnamese, I think mine would be Indian. And it goes without saying that I live in a metropolitan area where there are only three Indian restaurants -two of which are ridiculously far from where I live, and the third one is so expensive you'd think you are at a top rated French bistro. This, of course, sucks, because I grew up a stone's throw away from Bombay Club, the best Indian restaurant in Milan and, as far as I'm concearned, in the whole world. When Tommy and I were visiting my hometown two years ago we went there all the time and, on our last night in Europe, I managed to forget my purse under our table. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but my passport happened to be in there and we had to catch a flight to Miami the very next morning. I don't think you have to be Sigmund Freud to figure out that inconsciously I didn't want to come back to Florida.

Anyhow, the purse was retrieved and we did come back to Florida and we also came back to the lack of good Indian food, so shortly afterwards I bought a book called "Fresh Indian" and started trying some recipes. Most Indian fare takes a while to make, as meats are braised in liquid for a long time, but this dish, the pepper chicken with jasmine rice, takes less than 20 minutes to cook and it's a very, very satisfying dish on a damp and chilly night (yes, the weather is still sucking here in Florida, so for those of you who are palnning vacations: wait until April!!!)

INDIAN PEPPER CHICKEN 

Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, coarsly ground
4 whole cloves
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
Salt
Sour cream or yogurt, to serve

In a large frying pan heat up the oil, then add the peppercorns, bay leaves and cloves. Stir fry for a minute, until fragrant. Season chicken with salt and add it to the pan along with the minced garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for a few minutes, until chicken pieces start to color.

Add broth, curry powder and turmeric and stir well. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Drizzle with yogurt and serve over jasmine rice.

Traditional Indian chicken curry

I first tried chicken curry when I was very young. Somehow my mother tricked me into trying it despite my pickiness, and I instantly fell in love with it. Her recipe was a revised French version of the Indian classic: a velvety curry sauce made with cream and yellow curry powder.

As a teenager I tried my first real Indian curry in a small restaurant a few blocks away from my house in Milan, Italy. You could order your food mild, medium, hot or Indian hot. While the rest of my dining companions opted for mild I decided to have my curry medium. It was very spicy, delicious, and completely different from my mother’s. Real Indian curry has no cream in it and it’s rich with a variety of spices, none of which is actually called “curry”.

The version I cook today is closer to the traditional Indian recipe, with the addition of apples, something I borrowed from my mother’s formula. When I say it’s very spicy, I’m not joking: if spicy food is not your thing use less garam masala and use regular tomato juice instead of the hot one. Or just suck it up and eat lots of naan with it.

INDIAN CHICKEN CURRY WITH NAAN BREADI

For the curry:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

Half a lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger

(8 ounce) can peeled, chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tablespoons garam masala

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

1 apple, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 cups water

1 (5.5 ounce) can hot tomato juice

For the naan:

1 ball of pizza dough (Publix sells fresh dough in the bakery section)

2 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of minced garlic


In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with lemon juice, salt, and pepper to coat. Let it marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the cumin and cook 1 minute, until lightly toasted and fragrant. Add chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook until onion is tender, about two minutes.

Add tomatoes, and season with chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin, coriander, and paprika. There is no “right” amount of spices: it’s up to you to decide what is the best combination. Continue to cook and stir 2 minutes.

Add yogurt to the saucepan and stir until well blended. Add chicken pieces, and apples. Mix in water and tomato juice. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer about 40 minutes, until sauce has thickened and meat is done.

While the chicken simmers, heat up a grill pan and cover it with cooking spray. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the garlic.

Divide the pizza dough in 8 pieces and flatten with your hands. Dip each piece in the butter mixture and throw on the hot grill pan. Cook on both sides (careful, it cooks fast), remove from grill and keep warm.

Serve bread with chicken curry.