cooking up a storm

My favorite thing about summer is having lots of free time to cook. Without all of the school obligations that I normally have, I don't feel so guilty when I spend a good hour or two cooking up a storm. The past few nights have been pretty exciting with selections such as beef and veggie curry with ginger rice, pasta accompanied by a "beans and greens" italian style, and a yummy golden beet and carrot soup that I will be gobbling down the next few days for lunch. Each of these creations were developed out of a) necessity to provide some creative yet healthy food for the hubby, b) desire to use ingredients in my kitchen before they expire, and c) the challenge of trying to fit as many vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats in to each meal that I prepare.

As you'll find out, fulfilling each of these criteria is not the easiest thing to do. First of all, my husband, Zach, is easily bored by the basic mix of grilled chicken, veggies, and starch (God forbid, I prepare a meat entree without a sauce!) In his defense, I do admire his willingness to wait patiently for whatever creation I set in front of him, whether it be the usual favorite mussels and frites, or a boring option of pasta and salad. But for both of us, it's much more victorious when I can pull off a meal that has tons of flavor and complexity backed up my lots of nutrients in the ingredients (and getting the ingredients locally makes us feel even more like winners).

Take for instance, the experience we had with curry two nights ago. Zach LOVES curry and I am a fan as well. Since I want to avoid the extra salt that comes with buying prepared curry paste, I opt for preparing my own as much as I can. So when I ran in to some whole wheat naan at Sahara Mart the other day, I was immediately inspired to pair it with another batch of curry. The great thing about curry, is that you can pretty much put whatever veggies you want in it (purists might disagree, but I say why not add in veggies wherever you can). Aside from the curry powder and cayenne, most of the other ingredients are items that any decently stocked refigerator would provide: potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, vegetable oil, canned tomatoes, rice, and some fresh or ground ginger.

I can post a full detailed recipe once I get my pictures uploaded to my computer at home, but for now I'll just summarize the process. Sautee onions in oil until translucent. I added thin strips of beef (bc we had some steak in the freezer) just until browned. Remove the beef and cover with foil. Next I tossed in chopped carrots, potatoes, ginger, and garlic. Let sautee for about 5 minutes, then tossed in some broccoli florets (again, they were about to go so I tried to use them). Now the fun happens, I got about a palmful of madras curry powder, a palmful of cinnamon, and a pinch (we had ~3 pinches bc we like it hot) of cayenne poweder. I let this sautee for about a minute then put a lid on the pan to let the potatoes and carrots steam a little. Once the rice is cooked (followed package instructions but added a nub of ginger to the pot), pile the curry on top and go at it. Pair with a dry or sweet reisling for a sweet and spicy effect.

Things I would have changed:

-would have added some canned tomatoes to the mix before putting a lid on the pot. It would have mellowed out the flavor and gave a little more substance to the sauce.

-I wouldn't have used as much oil in the beginning to sautee the onions. It tasted quite oily which is not the desired effect when you want to eat healthy.



All in all it was a successful meal. I will post the full, detailed recipe probably tomorrow. Tune in for my next post about the golden beet and carrot soup and the italian style beans and greens.