Hi friends! This is an evolution of a recipe I already have shared on the site, Curry in a Hurry. Click here to read about the origin of that recipe and if you love chicken. Today’s version, however, is vegetarian.

I’ve gotta tell you, this vegetarian version of Curry in a Hurry is just as good as the original. Indian food just lends itself so beautifully to vegetarian cooking.

The first time I made this, I tried making paneer (a fresh cheese common in India) from scratch. It was delicious but took FOREVER. When I posted my paneer on Instagram and lamented the amount of time it took, several of my friends said, “Well, it shouldn’t have taken that long.” I followed this recipe from Aarti Party on the Food Network and I think the bottom line is that I could have increased the heat to speed things up. My paneer tasted great but when I discovered I could buy it at Sprouts, I may have broken into a little Hallelujah chorus right there in the cheese section. Maybe one day I’ll try making it again. We’ll see…

That’s about all I have to say about this recipe besides that fact that it’s simple and delicious!

If you want to try making baked homemade samosas, click here. The ones pictured in this post, however, are from the freezer section at Sprouts…and they are delicious! I’m getting really good at cheating at my Indian food, eh?

Vegetarian Curry in a Hurry

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1½ tablespoons oil
• ½ of a small onion, chopped
• 5 teaspoons curry powder
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 dried red chilies (I just used 1 so it wouldn't be too spicy for my kids)
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3-5 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cooked cauliflower florets
• Half package frozen peas
• 1 cup cooked potatoes, cubed
• 1 can chickpeas
• 8-12 ounces paneer, cubed

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent.
2. Add curry powder, garam masala, garlic and red chilies. Stir for one minute.
3. Add coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato paste and simmer until thickens, stirring regularly.
4. Add spinach, stir and cook until spinach as wilted. Add cauliflower, peas, potatoes and chickpeas and cook until heated through. Add paneer just before serving.
5. Serve over rice.

Notes

You can do any combination of the vegetables and cheese above - you could leave out the paneer and just do the veggies, or do paneer with just one or two of the veggies. Basically it's totally flexible and the measurements do not have to be exact either!

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Happy Thursday! Today’s podcast features a recipe tip inspired by my visit to Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont this week. I’ve got frozen dessert on the brain! 😉

Shownotes: 

• How to use xanthan gum in homemade frozen yogurt
• Curry in a Hurry (click through for links to good curry powder options)

It’s easy to listen to the show!

• Via the web: Just click play below!
• Via an app: For iPhone and iPad, subscribe to the This Week for Dinner Podcast on iTunes and listen to it through the purple Podcasts app. For Android devices, use the Stitcher, Podcast Addict or Pocket Casts apps. In all cases, launch the app, then search for This Week for Dinner Podcast. The benefit of using an app: once downloaded, you can listen to the show without an Internet connection.

Other Stuff!

• If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a rating and/or review on iTunes!
• Big thank you to d&m for providing the music for the podcast!

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Doesn’t this food look good?  It is. And I’ll get to it in a moment…but first, a little about what I’m up to this week!

On Friday, I’m heading up to the BlogHer Food conference, and that night I’m also co-hosting La Petite Soirée, a party for food bloggers. I will be co-hosting this little shindig with some amazing fellow bloggers: Helene Dujardin from Tartelette, Kristen Doyle from Dine & Dish, and Stefania Pomponi Butler from City Mama and Clever Girls Collective. It’s been a dream team, no question.

Did I mention, our party is going to be awesome? For food, we’re going to have a bunch of San Francisco food carts serving their delicious eats, and Chef Elizabeth Faulkner of pastry and Top Chef fame will be making cupquettes for the party (thanks to Scharffen Berger!), served alongside wine and drinks. The party is going to be held at a photography studio, which is the perfect venue for a bunch of camera-toting food bloggers! Speaking of those bloggers…we have an amazing guest list, with really talented and wonderful food bloggers and cookbook writers included. I’m giddy with excitement!

I always end up killing myself stuffing bags for all the parties I throw…La Petite Soirée is no exception! In fact, swag for the bags has completely taken over my patio and garage. And my back hurts a little. But it’s worth it! Here’s a little sneak peak.

One of the best parts of getting into blogging is the truly amazing people I’ve befriended along the way. Gudrun Enger from Kitchen Gadget Girl definitely falls into that category. I met Gudrun at BlogHer in Chicago last year and, lucky for me, she only lives 2 miles away! She took pity on me today and came over to help organize and stuff swag. Not only did she help me tremendously with party preparations, she brought me lunch! She kept saying, “It’s just leftovers.” But, uh, yeah, her leftovers ROCK and way kick my usual peanut butter and honey’s sandwich patootie.

Which brings us to the food from the beginning of this post. Gudrun brought Cauliflower Curry, a Delicata Squash and Pumpkin dish, brown rice and naan bread. Mmmmmm. Gudrun is one of my cool friends who is part of a CSA and does a great job using up all the fresh grown food she receives each week. I’ll get there…one day!

Click more to see the recipes from my delicious lunch!

Cauliflower Curry

 

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From Chef Jonathan Miller, via Gudrun Enger (complete with Gudrun’s notes below)

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets, stems pieces roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 quarter-size slices ginger, peeled (Gudrun used 2 tsps of ground ginger.)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 Serrano peppers (Gudrun had a green jalapeno, so that’s what she used. It was a spicy pepper, but the dish was not super spicy)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup yogurt
• 1 cup water
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• small handful of cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in large sauce pan until almost smoking, and saute the cauliflower florets until lightly browned. Remove to a bowl.
2. In a food processor, process the cauliflower stems, onion, ginger, garlic, and Serrano until finely chopped, almost a puree. Transfer to a bowl. Do the same with the tomatoes, transfer to separate bowl. Whisk yogurt, water and nutmeg together until smooth.
3. In the same pan you used to brown the cauliflower florets, cook the cauliflower stem/onion mixture until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir regularly. Add in tomatoes puree and cook until most of the juice has evaporated, up to 10 minutes more. Add in coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Add in yogurt-water-nutmeg liquid with ½ the cilantro and bring back to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low, add the cauliflower florets, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is cooked to your liking (I kept it a little on the al dente side).
4. Finish the dish with remaining cilantro and another sprinkle of garam masala. Great over rice!

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Delicata Squash & Pumpkin with Cider Glaze

 

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From Epicurious

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 2 medium delicata squash (about 2 pounds) or other firm winter squash (Gudrun did half delicata squash and half pumpkin)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup very coarsely chopped fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1½ cups fresh unfiltered apple cider or juice
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. If using delicata squash, peel it with a vegetable peeler, cut it lengthwise in half, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Cut each piece lengthwise in half again, then crosswise into ½-inch -thick slices. Other types of squash should be peeled with a chef’s knife, seeded, cut into 1-inch wedges, then sliced ½-inch thick.
2. Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over low heat. Add the sage and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the butter just begins to turn golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not brown the herbs. Cooking the herbs in butter mellows their flavor and improves their texture.
3. Add the squash to the skillet, then the apple cider, water, vinegar, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat at an even boil until the cider has boiled down to a glaze and the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with pepper, and additional salt if needed.

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I’ve been a real slacker cook lately.  I mean, it WAS my birthday after all. But I’m back in the kitchen and, as per Nate’s request, I’ve been trying new recipes more often lately.  The latest experiment – Curried Squash and Chicken Soup, a recipe from my good friend Natalee.

It was quite yummy and healthy to boot.  And SO EASY.  The only trick is finding the curry paste, which is usually at Asian markets.  But seriously, even on a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, this soup added no extra stress whatsoever.

A few quick notes. Nate commented it would be good on rice if it was a little thicker.  I may try that – I’ll either cut the water or add a little cornstarch at the end.

And, believe it or not, I have lemongrass growing in my flower garden!  So, I threw a few whole blades of grass into the crockpot and pulled them before serving.  It gave the soup such a great, fresh flavor!

Without further ado, the recipe!

Featured Recipe: Curried Squash & Chicken Soup

 

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From Eating Well via my friend Natalee Maynes

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Poultry

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 1 10-ounce package frozen pureed winter squash
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ½ cup water
• 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced (can be added to soup raw) (Jane note: I just threw big hunks of raw chicken in that I cut with kitchen scissors, then broke it up with a fork at the end)
• 1 6-ounce bag baby spinach (Jane note – I would chop up the spinach a bit before throwing it in for better texture in the soup)
• 2 kaffir lime leaves (or 2 T lime juice)
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• ½-1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Natalee’s favorite way to do this is in the crockpot because it allows all of the yummy Thai flavors to come out. Just throw it all in and cook on high for two or three hours–yummy! A great addition to this (but tricky to find anywhere except an Asian market) is LEMONGRASS!!! It is divine and makes it even that much better.

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