indian

I've been planning this menu since I got my organic veggie bin on Thursday. Cauliflower, delicata squash, and eggplant screamed for Indian. Usually, I look for recipes where I can just throw everything into the same pan, but these recipes are not difficult. Especially if you use a food processor to do the mincing for you and roast all the vegetables at the same time.

Serve both curries with rice. The cauliflower, squash, peas recipe made enough to freeze a quart and still have one serving for leftovers. The eggplant recipe made a smaller batch, with just one leftover serving. The leftovers will make for a yummy lunch!

Curry with Cauliflower, Delicata Squash and Peas (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

Roast a small head of cauliflower and 2 delicata squash (peeled and seeded) with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Mince in a food processor and set aside: 1 large tart apple (peeled and cored), 3 large cloves of garlic, and a 2-inch piece of ginger (peeled and sliced).
Coarsely chop in a food processor 2 medium onions.
In a large, heavy pot heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil.
Add onions and apple mixture and cook for 5-7 minutes till softened and starting to color.
Add 2 Tbl curry powder, 1 Tbl flour and cook 3-5 minutes to lightly brown the curry powder and flour.
Add 14-oz can unsweetened coconut milk, 1/2 c chicken stock, and 1 tsp salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then add roasted cauliflower and squash.
Lower heat to medium and cook covered for 15 minutes.
Stir occassionally.
Stir in 10-oz bag of frozen peas.

Eggplant Curry (from allrecipes.com)

1 large eggplant
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in cumin seeds and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
Mix ginger, garlic, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and season with salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes over high heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5 minutes.

turkey chili

*based on America's Test Kitchen's All-American Beef Chili
Heat 2Tlb olive oil until shimmering
Add 2 medium minced onions, 1 minced red bell pepper, 6 minced cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup chili powder, 1Tbl ground cumin, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp salt.
Cook about 10 minutes until vegetables are soft.
Brown 2lbs ground turkey, 1lb at a time.
Add browned turkey to onion mixture.
Stir in 2, 15 oz cans of organic chili beans, and 2, 28 oz cans of crushed fire roasted tomatoes and bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer over low for 1 hour, stir occasionally.
Uncover and continue to simmer until thickened, 30-45 mins.

And just for fun, Sugar Cookie Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2tsp milk
2tsp corn syrup

Stir until sugar dissolves and icing is smooth.
Divide into bowls and add food coloring.
Use paint brushes to decorate sugar cookies.
Thin with milk if needed.

stuffed squash

Here's what we had for dinner tonight...



home grown delicata squash roasted with olive oil, thyme & sage
stuffing made with red pepper, celery, carrots, onions, kielbasa, toasted bread, chicken stock, thyme & sage