Crock-Pot Curry

There are so many ways you can change this recipe. Add other vegetables, squash is pretty good here.

You can also leave out the chicken, just add the flour mix to the potatoes and cook the same. Then when you add the coconut milk the last 30 minutes of cooking add two or three cans of drained beans. I like garbanzo and kidney beans in there.
You can also leave the potatoes out or use less and serve it over rice instead of as a stew

If you want more heat in it use more or hotter peppers, I usually end up using 2 or 3 Serrano in place of the jalapenos

I should also mention that I had some company that is allergic to gluten, so I substituted an equal amount of cornstarch and it worked just fine

6 peeled and chopped potatoes
4 peeled and chopped carrots
1 small granny smith apple, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken tenders
3 Tbsp. Flour
4 Tbsp. Curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 can coconut milk

Place first sever ingredients in crock-pot in the order written. Combine flour, curry, cumin, and salt. Add the chicken and shake to coat. Place the chicken and flour in crock pot and add 1 c. water. Cook on high 3 - 4 hours or low 6 - 8 hours The last 30 minutes of cooking add coconut milk, if using low switch to high for last 30 minutes.

Pina Coladas and Saag

I have gotten hooked on saag. I have a friend that made me some and it was wonderful (Thank you Cheryl for introducing me to this wonderful dish!) Saag is an Indian spiced spinach curry that you can puree and eat with naan, or in my case soft fluffy pitas. But I only had a little spinach so I could only make a half batch, leaving me with a half can of coconut milk.


So I made pina coladas.


It needed more coconut milk though so I still have a half a can of coconut milk leftover. It's just a different half can than I had with the saag.

I'll post pictures as soon as my computer and cell phone figure out how to bluetooth again.

Pina Coladas
1 (20 oz) can pineapple, undrained
1 can coconut milk
20 ice cubes
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1 - 2 Tbsp. agave

Put all in a blender and blend until ice is crushed and drink is mixed throughout.
Since it was 10 in the morning and I don't drink this is (obviously) a virgin pina colada


Saag
Splash Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 - 6 cloves garlic
3 inch piece of ginger
1 1/4 c. water, divided
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1 lb. spinach
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp. vegetable bouillon (I used Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base)

Peel and chop the ginger a bit. Blend the ginger and 1/4 c. water until chopped pretty fine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a pretty large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the ginger water and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Add the spinach, seasonings, remaining water and vegetable soup base. Let that simmer, stirring, until the spinach cooks down and is dark.

Pour into a blender and puree until smooth and, then add the coconut milk and puree until combined. Taste and season with salt to taste.

A family member had cooked turkey over rice and poured this on top. All the while commenting on the radioactive green color.

Harira (Moroccan Lentil Stew)

Harira is a Moroccan stew traditionally made with lentils, garbanzo beans, and tomatoes. What else you add to it differs from family to family. Orzo is most commonly used, I just prefer the brown rice. Lamb is also traditional, but not very economical.

This is a great food storage/pantry staple recipe. Its mostly dried or canned ingredients. Dehydrated onions and celery work great in here.

The lemon juice (which I always keep a bottle of in my fridge) and the cilantro are the only exceptions. Cilantro is usually cheapest at Wal-mart. They sell it loose in the produce section for $0.88 a bundle. This is the one thing where fresh is important.

Dates are also usually added, a handful of chopped raisins work to, I usually leave them out though.

This is also one of Johns favorite meals

My camera phone doesn't do it justice. The stew is a rich golden red color.

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 can garbanzo beans
8 cups water
3 Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable bouillon cubes (chicken bouillon is really tasty here too)
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 large bunch chopped fresh cilantro
Salt to taste
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 can tomatoes, undrained
2 Tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup lentils
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. each sweet paprika, turmeric, ground ginger, ground coriander
1/4 tsp. each ground nutmeg, black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
¾ cup brown rice

Heat the oil in a large pot until hot and add the onions and cook until tender.

Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, 40 minutes, or until lentils and rice are both tender.

When tender remove from heat and serve.

It's a one pot meal (the best kind!)
Bit I still like to serve canned fruit with it.
Tonight's was frozen watermelon cubes.