mmmm Curry!

I've been wanting to make a curry dish for awhile now. Adam and I both love big bold flavors and it's those dishes that i tend to get the most excited about. Over the past couple weeks i've looked at a couple curry recipes and finally decided on one that didnt have a billion ingredients that would break my food budget and was simple to make.

I settled on one from How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman. I often fall back on this massive cookbook for when i have something that i'm not sure what to do with or i need a fairly basic recipe for something (like curry!). It's a similar style cookbook to The Joy of Cooking. Both are great resources to have in your kitchen.

The original recipe is Braised Cauliflower with Curry and Tomatoes (p.555 of his book) What i liked about this one in particular is that it used about 6 spices (common to most spice cabinets) to make your own curry spice mixture and that it used Cauliflower, something i've never tried cooking before. I made several changes to the original recipe based on what i remembered to buy from the grocery store and then i added a couple things to it to make it heartier. I made the mistake of not checking the recipe before buying my ingredients at the store, and sure enough, i forgot to buy tomatoes. Fortunately i already knew that i wanted to add eggplant to the curry and figured that the eggplant would take the place of the tomatoes and that i could add some tomato sauce that i had on hand to help substitute the flavor. I also added some chick peas, onion, chicken and chicken broth that were not in the original ingredient list.

So here's the adapted recipe i've come up with:

(for orginal recipe, see p.555 of How to Cook Everything)

Cauliflower, Eggplant and Chickpea Curry w/ Chicken

(Serves 4 plus some leftovers)

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. peeled & minced ginger

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 head cauliflower (about 1 1/2 lbs. trimmed of green leaves, cut into florets)

1 large eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

1-2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup tomato sauce (can substitute w/ canned diced tomatoes)

1 can chickpeas

prepared jasmine or brown rice (optional)

1 lbs. chicken pieces (tenderlions, breasts, or thighs - your choice) (optional)

If using chicken, season it w/ salt and pepper and cook till done, cover and set aside.

Heat oil in a large pan, add onion, ginger and garlic & saute a couple minutes.

Add salt and spices and cook stirring for 30 seconds to toast slightly and release their aromas.

Add cauliflower, eggplant, tomato sauce, chickpeas and broth. Stir to combine. Depending on the size of the pan your using, the eggplant will take up a lot of room at first, but don't worry, it will cook down considerably.

When eggplant has started to "wilt" and all ingredients seem well mixed together, cover and cook for at least 10-15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The amount of cooking time is up to you based on desired doneness of your cauliflower and desired the thickness of your curry. I liked it better a little softer with a thicker consistency, so i believe i cooked it for 15ish minutes.

Serve with rice and top with chicken.

As always, taste as your cooking and adjust seasoning as you like it.

My Review

One of the main things i liked about this dish is that it's very adaptable and there's great depth of flavor. It has some nice heat without being so hot that you can barely taste anything else. (helps clear those sinuses too) I'd recommend definitely using the spice mixture listed rather than store bought curry powder, it was way more flavorful. It can be made purely as a vegetarian dish or you can cook up some chicken with it to make it heartier for more protein. I'd recommend serving it with some nice jasmine or brown rice to help give some relief from the spice. (But no rice for me this time, still doing the low carb thing)

This made a ton of food. It served Adam and me dinner twice this week, gave me a lunch portion for work, and there was still a little bit leftover. Eggplant is still ridiculously on sale for 79 cents a pound so i got a massive eggplant for only $1.30! (The cauliflower was more expensive at $2.50 a head) The total cost of the meal for me was probably less than $10, including have to buy turmeric. (i already had the chickpeas, broth and tomato sauce). I really love that i can create delicious, hearty, healthy, rememberable meals while still remaining easily on my small food budget.

A few tips:

• When using fresh ginger, go ahead and buy a large piece of it even if you only need a little. It's generally pretty cheap so why not, and then you can always have it on hand when needed. The trick is to freeze it, but make sure you peel the whole thing first. Then when you want to use it, take it out and grate it on a microplane. (i thank Rachel Ray for that tip) Since i grated the ginger that way i went ahead and did the same for the garlic.

• Fresh cauliflower is kind of a pain in the butt to prep (at least to me it is). I would assume that frozen cauliflower would work fine in this dish but you may have to adjust the cooking time based on how well done you want it.

• Red wine does not help cool your mouth down when eating spicey foods

Who needs taco seasoning?

Taco Seasoning - i'll never buy it again. It's not worth the money, even if it is cheap. You can make much better tacos without it, and without all extra stuff like preservatives and mystery added ingredients.

OLD EL PASO TACO SEASONING INGREDIENTS:
Maltodextrin, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, spice, monosodium glutamate, corn starch, yellow corn flour, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, silicon dioxide (anticaking agent), natural flavor, ethoxyquin (preservative).

Recently i've been making a concerted effort to use more in season vegetables. This not only makes dinner healthier, but bulks up the meal with more food while still remaining very cheap. Eggplant, summer squash and green peppers are constantly on sale right now at the markets. Generally i find them for less than a dollar a pound. This week eggplants were $0.79 a pound, you can't pass that up. Ground turkey was also $1.99 a pound so i decided on making tacos for dinner. I figured that i could chop up the eggplant into a small 1/2 inch dice, cook it down a bit and season it well where you almost wouldn't even realize it was there. It mingled nicely with the meat and was delicious. I bet this would also taste great with some zucchini. When i made this last night, Adam said it made his list of "top ten dinners" that i've ever made.

I wanted to experiment with making my own taco seasoning since i find that when the store bought mixes are used, it often doesnt make me feel so great - probably from all the unnecessary added ingredients listed above, along with a lot of sodium. I looked at a couple taco recipes online and came up with my own mixture.

TURKEY TACO'S (4-6 servings depending how hungry you are)

1.3 lbs. Ground Turkey

1 Eggplant

1 onion

1 green pepper

1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes, drained

1 can of black beans, mostly drained (keep some liquid) + 1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar

Shredded Cheese for topping the tacos

1 1/2 Tbs. Chili Powder (i used Ancho Chili Powder)

2 tsp. Cumin

1 1/2 tsp Oregano

1 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Fresh ground Black Pepper

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

(all seasonings are estimates, i didnt measure exactly - adjust seasoning to taste as you're cooking)

In a large pan, brown meat then add vegetables and seasonings. Stir well to combine. The eggplant will decrease in size significantly. Add the diced tomatoes and cook vegetables, stirring often. While cooking meat and veggies, in a separate small pan cook down the beans with a splash of balsamic vinegar, plus some salt and pepper. (Balsamic vinegar is my not-so-secret ingredient in black beans). Add beans to pan with the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. My version is fairly mild in spiciness (but still full of flavor), so kick up the spice even more if you'd like!

Serve in whole wheat wraps, or taco shells with shredded cheese and other topping as desired. I'm doing a low carb diet so i just ate the meat and veggie mixture in bowl with some shredded cheese. i didnt miss the wrap or taco shell in the least bit!

Adam and I each had a healthy serving and there was plenty left for me to bring for lunch and for a 2nd dinner. Total cost was about $6 (i had the cheese and the whole wheat wraps already on hand). When people claim that you can't eat healthy on a budget, they're just not trying hard enough. Watch the sales, review the circulars and buy in season vegetables. You could stretch this meal even further by making some brown rice to go with it. It was 100x better than taco bell, much cheaper and way healthier!

A quick guide to what vegetables and fruits are in season