Indian-Spiced Kale and Chickpeas

This is delicious! It's healthy, inexpensive, and easy too!



Ingredients:
extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch of kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped
1 cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

Directions:
♥ Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
♥ Add kale and cook, tossing with two large spoons, until bright green, about 1 minute.
♥ Add broth, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt.
♥ Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Stir in chickpeas; cover and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Source: http://www.realage.com/NutritionCenter/Recipes/Indian_Spiced_Kale_and_Chickpeas.aspx

Barley with Butternut Squash, Apples and Onions

*Happy Fall!
*I made this last night. It's delicious, cheap to make, low fat, and good for you! yay!



Ingredients

3/4 tsp table salt, divided
1/2 cup uncooked barley
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cup butternut squash, diced
1 cup onion(s), chopped
1/2 cup sweet red pepper(s), diced
1 medium apple(s), peeled, cored, diced
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup fat-free, reduced-sodium vegetable broth

Directions

Bring 3 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; add barley. Cover saucepan and simmer barley until tender, about 30 to 35 minutes; drain.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add squash, onion and red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are browned and almost tender, about 8 minutes.

Stir in apple, garlic, thyme, black pepper and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, until apple is almost tender, about 2 minutes; stir in broth, scraping bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Stir in cooked barley; toss over low heat to mix and coat. Remove from heat and serve. Yields about 3/4 cup per serving.

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe Source: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=402621

Salade de carottes à l'eau de fleur d’oranger

Salade de carottes à l'eau de fleur d’oranger
(aka Carrot Salad with Orange Blossom Water)



I made this Moroccan dish last night to accompany some salmon that I put on the BBQ. I loved it, but Lucas didn't like the scent of the orange blossom water. He said it smelled like perfume and not something he should eat. Ah well.

I thought it was delicious!

Ingredients :

600g of carrots (1.3 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons orange blossom water (purchased at local Indian grocer)
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
frech chopped flat leaf parsley and cilantro leaves to garnish

Method:
Peel the carrots and cut them in half and lengthwise. Put them in a pot with just enough water to cover them, 1/2 the garlic, and the sugar. Boil until just tender. Drain.
While the carrots are boiling, mix together the olive oil, orange blossom water, remaining garlic, and pepper. Return the carrots to the pot with this mixture and sauté over low heat for a few minutes to combine the flavors.
Remove from heat, put in a serving dish, and mix with the chopped parsley and cilantro.

Yummy. Yum. Yum.

Recipe and Picture Source: http://www.la-cuisine-marocaine.com/recettes/entrees-froides-173.html

Two things that make me happy ...

Beers ... and a quick veggie patty melt!


So, there's a Polish supermarket a couple of blocks from my house that has a beer section that is just awe-inspiring. ;) They have beers from nearly every country in the world that makes beer. They even had the beer I had in Casablanca, Morocco (pictured above)! I also picked up the Zywiec Porter which is a delightful brown-sugary dark beer with 9.5% alcohol. tee hee hee.

I made this delicious, quick, and low-fat veggie patty melt for dinner yesterday to accompany my Casablanca beer.

I was quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients:
1 Boca® burger patty (or other veggie patty)
1 yellow onion, sliced in thin strips
olive oil to fry onion
1 slice 2% white American cheese
2 slices bread
mustard

Preparation:
1. Sauté the onion in a bit of olive oil until it's brown. Mmm.
2. Microwave your veggie patty and toast your bread
3. Spread mustard on toast and layer burger, cheese, onions.
4. Serve with your fave side and a nice cold beer.

MMmmmmm.

Blueberry Yogurt Bran Muffins!

Lower fat and delicious! I made these on Saturday morning and after having a bunch of friends over on Saturday night - they were gone!

Recipe Source: http://www.recipezaar.com/86793

Ingredients:
400 g any flavour yogurt (about 14 oz ... I used low fat plain)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar (increase to 1 cup if you prefer sweeter muffins)
2 large eggs
1 cup oil (or 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup apple sauce)
2 cups natural bran (not cereal, the real wheat bran)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour (can be white or whole wheat)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup blueberries (I always use about 2 cups, I like lots of blueberries in my muffins)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350°.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with Pam.
3. Measure yogurt into medium bowl and mix in baking soda, it will foam and it is supposed too; set aside.
4. In a large bowl beat together sugar, eggs and oil.
5. Add bran and vanilla.
6. In a separate bowl mix together flour and baking powder.
7. Gradually add the flour and yogurt mixtures alternately to the sugar mixture.
8. Fold in blueberries.
9. Bake 20-35 minutes.
10. Makes 12 very large muffins or 18 large muffins. (For real - It made 12 good size muffins and an entire tray of the mini muffins! yay!)

Vegetarian Crock Pot Lasagna

Easy and delicious! Load it up and forget it!

I made this last night and it was pretty darn good. I used an extra can of tomatoes in mine and added some italian spices. I set the crock pot on low for 2 hrs 40 minutes. Yum!

Ingredients
1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) package no-boil lasagna noodles
1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Italian cheese blend or 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup frozen veggie crumbles (Like Boca, etc)

Directions
1. In medium bowl, combine marinara sauce and tomatoes with their juice.
2. Spray 4.5-6 quart slow cooker bowl with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Spoon 1 cup tomato-sauce mixture into bowl.
4. Arrange 1/4 of noodles over sauce, overlapping noodles and breaking into large pieces to cover as much sauce as possible.
5. Spoon about 3/4 cup sauce over noodles, then top with 1/2 cup ricotta, and 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
6. Spread half of spinach over cheese.
7. Repeat layering 2 more times beginning with noodles, but in middle layer, replace spinach with frozen crumbles. Place remaining noodles over spinach, then top with remaining sauce and shredded cheese.
8. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low 2.5 to 3 hours or on high 1.5 to 1.75 hours, or until noodles are very tender.

Recipe Source: http://www.recipezaar.com/204366

BANDHAKOPIR DALNA (BENGALI CABBAGE CURRY)

I made this last night. It's one of my favorite cheap recipes because, if you already have the spices, you really just have to buy a head of cabbage (uber cheap at less than $3) and some ginger. I usually skip the potatoes and serve this over basmati rice with some sour cream on top. Yummmmmmmmmmm.

Ingredients:
1 lb cabbage, sliced finely
2 potatoes, cut in small cubes
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp turmeric
1 1/4 to 2 tsp green chili paste (I substitute with THAI KITCHEN brand green curry paste)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 inch ginger grated
1 tbsp butter
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Method:
♥ Fry cubed potatoes in hot oil in a wok until lightly browned. Remove from oil and keep aside.
♥ To the hot oil add cabbage. Sprinkle with salt.
♥ Stir and cover. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove cover.
♥ Add the turmeric, chili paste, cumin, coriander and ginger. Stir and fry until the spices are well blended with the cabbage.
♥ The cabbage should be nearly cooked at this stage.
♥ Add 1/2 cup water and add potatoes. Adjust salt and add sugar to taste.
♥ Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are cooked and there is practically no gravy in the pan.
♥ In a frying pan, heat butter. Add the bay leaves and garam masala. Stir fry a couple of minutes and pour over bandhakopir dalna.
♥ Stir the cabbage and remove from heat.
Recipe Source: http://festivals.iloveindia.com/durga-puja/cabbage-curry.html