Turkey, Butternut Squash & Zucchini Curry With Wild Rice

Dinner this evening was a bizarre combination of what we had in the fridge and what I felt like. No real recipe - ground turkey mixed with butternut squash and zucchini with a with lot of curry!

Chicken & Coconut Curry

I used a new ingredient this evening... Red Curry Paste. It's bizzare. It came in a little plastic container but the paste was sealed in a bag. I had to squeeze it out into the container and it's really thick but it smelled like a dream (if your dreams consist of spicy curry). Here's the recipe I used (click on it and it will be big enough to read):

MY REVIEW: This was very good... but be warned it is extremely spicy. I will be using my red curry paste in future recipes so stay tuned..

JASON'S REVIEW: It was hot hot hotttttt!

Crockpot Chicken Curry

As always, my crock-pot creation does not look pretty! I found this highly rated recipe on the KRAFT website:

 

10 chicken thighs, skins removed (I used 6 and it was enough for 2 dinners and 2 lunches)

1 jar  (16 oz.)  Chunky Salsa

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbsp.  curry powder

1 cup Fat Free Sour Cream 

I added half a can of chickpeas too!

 

PLACE chicken in slow cooker. Combine salsa, onions and curry powder (chickpeas); pour over chicken. Cover with lid.
COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 5 hours).
REMOVE chicken to serving platter; cover to keep warm. Add sour cream to slow cooker; stir until well blended. Serve over the chicken. (This step was done a little differently.... I always find chicken breaks apart in the slow cooker no matter what I do. Instead of trying to take it out, I just stirred the sour cream in with everything. It worked out just fine - there just wasn't any huge chunks of chicken)

JASON'S REVIEW: He's not home but he liked it.

MY REVIEW: This was very good and I would probably make it again. It's the most curry powder I've ever used in one recipe but the flavor was not too strong. We had it with nan bread and salad tonight but for lunches I made up some rice to go along with it. I always really hate warming up curry in the microwave at work because everyone says the taste lingers in there but THAT'S TOO BAD.
 

Indian Meal (kind of) and Herbed Cherry Tomoatoes!

When my dad is out of town for work, we (my mom, Jason and I) have decided that we will go out to eat the foods my dad doesn't like! Last time, we had Mexican as he hates cilantro. The next on the list was Indian food because he doesn't like curry. As we have eaten out quite a bit in the last week, I decided to make this evenings meal at home. It's not really authentic Indian.. infact it's slightly Italian.. but it was good! Definitely better for us too.

The curry was made from a recipe I had in another post and nothing was changed. The chickpeas were also from a previous post with a few changes. Instead of using curry powder, I used garam masala and cumin. As well, I switched out the spinach for fresh kale from the garden.

I found the tomato recipe in the same Weight Watchers book as last post. Jason actually prepared this part of the meal! Here's the recipe for Herbed Cherry Tomatoes he used:

2pints cherry tomatoes
1tsp olive oil
2 garlic gloves, minced
1tsp sugar
1tbsp chopped fresh basil
1tsp chopped fresh oregano
1/4tsp dried rosemary (use fresh if you have it)
1/8tsp dried thyme (use fresh if you have it)
3/4tsp salt
1/4tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray shallow roasting pan with nonstick spray
2. Combine tomatoes and oil in large bowl; toss well. Spray lightly with nonstick spray and toss to coat. Add the garlic, sugar, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Transfer to roasting pan.
3. Roast until the tomatoes just begin to soften and crack, 8-10 minutes.

JASON'S REVIEW: He's in the bathroom and I don't want to wait but he ate it all and said it was "very good" at the time. I imagine that's what he would want to put here.

MY REVIEW: I really liked everything. You could put any herb on the tomato really and they come out so bright! Really added a little color to a kind of bland looking plate. The curry and chickpeas were good and I probably like the kale better than spinach. It's got a good texture in this dish.

In-A-Hurry Chicken Curry

Another recipe from the Jean Carper book:

1 1/2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces (I used two so we'd get 2 dinners and 2 lunches)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2tbsp curry powder
2tsp cornstarch
1 cup fat free chicken broth (I used 1 1/2 cups for no particular reason)
1/4 cup dried cherries or raisins (I used raisins)
1cup drained pineapple chunks
hot red pepper flakes

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add chicken and onion; saute for 3 minutes. Add curry powder, stir to coat chicken, and saute for 2 minutes. Blend cornstarch into chicken broth and add to skillet. Add raisins and heat until sauce bubbles. Add pineapple and pepper flakes. Simmer until pineapple is heated through and raisins are soft. Serve with brown rice (if you're some sort of genius who knows how to cook brown rice... if not, try couscous like I did).

MY REVIEW: Finally something I would cook again! This was great exactly as written and I wouldn't change anything. Just the right amount of curry and spice and the pineapple was so good in there. 2 thumbs up for sure. I served it with couscous and some steamed spinach and carrots.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was really good and I felt ethnic.

READER QUESTION: How can my jar of pickles say that there are 0 calories in a pickle? Jason says it's a typo and there has to be calories. They're such great pickles too. Can everyone reading this go and check their pickle containers??

Spinach Chickpea Curry

Tonights meal SOUNDED really great but in reality it was mediocre. I got it from this book:


1tbsp canola oil (I used olive)
1tbsp curry powder
1cup chopped yellow onion
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 cup chicken broth
salt & pepper (I didn't put salt in)
crushed red pepper flakes

In a large skilled, combine oil, curry powder, onions and garlic; saute for about 5 minutes. Add spinach, tomato sauce and 1 cup of the chickpeas. In a blender, puree remaining chickpeas with broth. Add to vegetables. Simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir in seasonings.

MY REVIEW: This was ok... I don't know if I'd make it again. I will eat it again however because it made LOTS. And what's the deal with brown rice? Not even my rice cooker can cook it properly. I'd serve it with couscous if I could turn back time.

JASON'S REVIEW: It filled me up. 2 thumbs up. (Jason just says whatever)

JASON WAS THE 1000th PERSON TO VIEW MY BLOG!! OR MAYBE IT'S BEEN VIEWED 1000 TIMES BY THE SAME PEOPLE! I DON'T KNOW!

Curry Vegetable Sauce with Pita Triangles & The Mango Cutter

This evening I tried something else from the same book. I don't think it was as successful. Maybe because I had visions of a thick and creamy rich curry sauce and all I got was a weak beige liquid. The flavor was ok but it was pretty runny... even after adding cornstarch to thicken it up. Perhaps it's because I always use skim milk when it calls for 2%? Around here we save the 2% for Jason's morning cereal.

In addition to the vegetables and curry sauce, I made some pita triangles. I used a recipe for a pita pizza in which the seasonings were just the base for the pizza toppings. That turned out nice. Here's the recipes:

Curry Vegetable Sauce
1tsp margerine
1cup chopped onions
1 carrot finely chopped
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic (I was lazy and used garlic powder)
2tbsp all-purpose flour
2tsp curry powder to taste
1cup vegetable stalk (I used my homemade chicken stalk)
1cup 2% milk (I used skim)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
(I added a handful of raisins - you should too!)

In saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, carrot celery and garlic; stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until soft and browned. Stir in flour and curry powder; cook, stirring 1 minute. Gradually whisk in stock and milk; continue cooking until thickened. Season to taste with pepper. Use as is or puree in blender (I put it in the magic bullet - I would say this is a must or it's like vegetable soup with chunks)

PITA TRIANGLES
For these, I whisked together some olive oil, lemon juice, parmasean cheese & dijon mustard. I brushed it over 2 whole pitas and then cut each into 4 triangles. Pop them in the oven until they're cripsy and voila! We're always looking for different ways to season these puppies... this one was a hit but I must say my all time favorite was when we put lime juice on them.

MY REVIEW: This was not what I expected but a good sauce thick with vegetables. It doesn't get any healthier than pouring veggies over more veggies! It seemed to be getting thicker as we ate however so the left-overs have potential. I may make this again but perhaps try it over rice or pasta. Pita chips get a thumbs up!

JASONS REVIEW: 4 out of 5 for the sauce - "it was tasty". As for the pita chips, "crunchy and delicious". He liked the dijon mustard flavor.

ALSO, I tried my new mango chopper for the first time tonight. It was a major success! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mangos but hates sticky messes. And since I know my mom is the only one who reads this, thanks for the mango chopper!