Indian Lentils with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Eggplant

Saturday night, Joe and I stayed in and watched a movie. Unfortunately, I have a knack for wanting to watch depressing and scary documentaries. So we watched The Cove.

I have a pretty thick skin, but I almost didn’t make it through the movie. I had to turn away. There were definitely scenes that will haunt me forever. And it confirmed something that I’ve been thinking and praying about for a while now. The other night, when we went out to eat, I ordered a green chicken curry dish and felt like the chicken added nothing to the dish. In fact, I would’ve preferred either more vegetables or tofu. And after eating it, my body felt heavy and gross. But when I think about not consuming meat, part of me says, “But wait! What about barbecue (brisket and pork), prosciutto, roast chicken, pho, the sausage your mother-in-law brings down from Wisconsin, etc, etc?”

However, knowing what I know about the food industry writ large, animal intelligence, my theological commitments regarding nonviolence and the immanence of God in creation, and paying attention to my body and the way I feel when I eat certain foods, it’s essentially only a matter of time until I begin to abstain from meat. Following the advice of No Meat Athlete, I’m coming up with a plan to do this.

First, I will eat the remaining meat products that we have in our freezer but won’t buy any more for Joe’s and my joint consumption. Second, I will abstain from poultry, which I’m not that crazy about eating anyway and rarely get when we eat out. Third, I will phase out beef. And fourth, I will stop eating pork and pork products. I’m doing this more or less in the order that I like to eat things. For me, prosciutto > chicken breasts. For the time being, I will continue to eat seafood with an aim towards eating sustainable seafood. I don’t eat seafood nearly as often as I eat other meats since it is more expensive, but I feel like I need that to be flexible enough to eat in restaurants and at other people’s houses. Perhaps, eventually, that will fall by the wayside as well.

All this to say that you’ll be seeing a lot more recipes like this Indian Lentils with Spinach, Mushroom, and Eggplant.

Confession: I haven’t really found a way of eating eggplant that I particularly enjoy. I don’t hate it; I just don’t really like it, but we keep getting it in our CSA. Having it blend in with a bunch of other things is the easiest way for me to stomach it, and with all of the other tasty vegetables in here, I don’t mind it nearly as much.

Crockpot Before:

Crockpot After:

Tasty Indian vegetarian magic!

Indian Lentils with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Eggplant
source: Front Burner Blog

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, medium diced
• 1 eggplant, cubed
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1.5 cups whole mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1.5 cups lentils
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp curry
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (less if you don’t want it too spicy!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups fresh spinach

Preparation

Mix all ingredients except spinach together in a 6 qt slow-cooker. Heat on low for 6 hours or until lentils are al dente. Mix in spinach and close lid of slow-cooker until spinach is wilted. Serve plain as a stew or over brown rice.

Curried Red Lentil Soup

You should really wish that your computer screen had Smell-O-Vision because this soup smells divine, and it just so happens to be the perfect bridge food for fall. The ginger and cinnamon remind me of the upcoming pumpkin treats to be had, but it's also light and healthy. This is the kind of food that, when you're heating up the leftovers, everyone will poke their heads in to see what you're eating. I can guarantee that I'll continue making this all throughout the fall and winter because it's so comforting to both body and spirit.

Red lentils might be a little difficult to find, but I found some in a bag in the health/natural foods section of the store. They're so good that I might need to make a trip to Whole Foods to buy some in bulk though.

Curried Red Lentil Soup

source: Eating Well, September/October 2010

Yields 6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion,chopped
3 cloves garlic,minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, or parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons mango chutney
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Preparation

Heat oil in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno, curry powder, cinnamon, cumin and bay leaves and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes longer.

Stir in lentils and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.

Discard bay leaves. Stir in cilantro (or parsley), lemon juice and chutney. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with yogurt.

Chana Masala

For part 2 of what I'm deeming The Fastest (And Most Satisfying) Indian Dinner Ever: this chana masala, which I served with the Five-Minute Indian-Style Cabbage. For about 15 minutes total, this is certainly up there with some of the best Indian food that has come out of my kitchen. Flavorful and complex, I can't really say enough good things about this recipe. It really fits the Food alla Puttanesca criteria well: fast, cheap, and easy but still incredibly tasty and satisfying.

Chana Masala

adapted from: Cate's World Kitchen

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large Roma tomato, seeded and chopped
1 15oz can chickpeas, not drained (or about 2 cups cooked beans with liquid)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger

Preparation
Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium high heat, then add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown (5-7 minutes)
Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and curry powder, and let cook for about a minute. Stir in the tomato and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add the chickpeas and their liquid, turn the head down to medium, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it has thickened slightly. Stir in the fresh ginger, taste and add salt if necessary, then serve.

Five-Minute Indian-Style Cabbage

In the part of my life where I worked for an insurance company, one of my co-workers was an Indian women who brought in a smelly, yellow-tinted cabbage dish for lunch. At the time, I was repulsed by it, which was due, in part, to my idea that I didn't like cabbage. I don't know what I thought coleslaw was made out of. When two very large heads of cabbage arrived in my CSA box, I couldn't get that cabbage that my Indian co-worker used to bring out of my head.

This dish is very, very fast and very customizable. Next time, I want to throw a little ginger in and play with the spices a bit. You will want to have everything prepared and on hand before you start because once those mustard seeds start popping out of the oil and flying all over your kitchen, you're going to need to throw the rest of the ingredients in.

Five-Minute Indian-Style Cabbage

source: Herbivoracious

Ingredients

1/2 head green cabbage, cored and sliced thin
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter), or mustard oil, or more to taste
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
optional: garlic, ginger, unsweetened shredded coconut, fresh chilis or dried chili flakes, garam masala
optional garnish: cilantro, lemon juice

Preparation
Heat a large skillet or wok over a medium-high flame. Add the oil, wait 10 seconds, and immediately add the mustard seeds.
As soon as they start to pop, add the rest of the spices and any optional ingredients and stir-fry for 10 more seconds. Move quickly here so you infuse the flavor in the oil but don't burn them.
Add the cabbage and salt, and stir-fry until crisp-tender or tender, your preference. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Garnish with cilantro and/or lemon juice.

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Last year, when I became pescatarian for Lent, I went through and bookmarked a bunch of vegetarian recipes from Epicurious. Occasionally, when I'm looking for inspiration, I remember those recipes and revisit them. This time I realized that I had the makings for one of the dishes and put it on the menu. Better yet, it even used the slow-cooker, though it could be adjusted for the stovetop. Based on some of the reviews, I bumped up some of the spices and added more, but it was still a tad on the bland side. Next time I would add more garam masala, curry powder, and cayenne powder. The website calls this "spicy", but there was almost no heat!

Chickpea and Spinach Curry
adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried chickpeas, picked over
• 8 cups baby spinach leaves
• 2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
  
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Preparation

In large bowl, combine chickpeas and enough cold water to cover by two inches. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain chickpeas, then combine in slow cooker with 1 cup water. Cover and cook on high, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 3 to 4 hours. Add spinach, tomatoes and their juices, coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, curry, cayenne, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook 1 hour more. Sprinkle in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir in cilantro and serve.

Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry

A couple weekends ago, Joe and I were out with our realtor looking at houses. We walked into one of the places that was still presently occupied, and I noted that the family appeared to be Hindu based on religious figurines. Our realtor quickly picked up on the smell of curry in the house and asked if that bothered us. I responded, "Of course not! Our house smells like curry sometimes!"

The night I made this dinner, our house certainly smelled like curry. The fragrant garlic, onion, and ginger sauteed with the curry powder filled the house, which some people might mind, but I certainly don't. The chickpeas add some heft, though I still haven't mastered a good way of cutting a cauliflower into florets. I found the cooking times to be slightly longer than listed in the recipe, and I was concerned about getting the cauliflower soft enough, as there did not seem to be enough liquid for it to cook in. It turned out to be delicious though.

Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry
source: Closet Cooking

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon ginger (chopped)
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili sauce (optional)
1 head cauliflower (cut into florets)
1 (19 once) can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 cup water
1/2 pound green beans (trimmed and sliced into 1 inch long pieces)
salt to taste
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)

Preparation
1. Heat the oil in a large pan.
2. Add the onion and curry powder and cook until the onion is tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, chili sauce, cauliflower, chickpeas and water and and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the cauliflower is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
6. Add the green beans and cook until they are just tender and still crisp, about 3-5 minutes.
7. Serve on brown rice and garnish with cilantro.

Butter Curry

I seriously love Indian food, and fortunately Joe is right there with me. Even though I can't seem to make dishes quite like our favorite restaurants, I'm always pleased with my efforts to make Indian foods at home. This had just the right amount of heat and really great flavor. There are a bunch of vegetables in it as well, so if you're having trouble getting your 5 to 9 servings a day, try making this!

I did think it was a little odd that the recipe called for condensed tomato soup. I wonder if using tomato sauce would have a similar result. But the sauce had the perfect texture: not too thick and not too thin. Plus, once everything is chopped, this comes together rather quickly and makes your kitchen smell amazing. I served this over brown rice.

Butter Curry
adapted from Branny Boils Over

Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced

1 cup diced cauliflower

2 carrots, sliced

1 1/2 cups chickpeas
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup frozen peas

Directions

1. Saute onion, pepper, and carrot over medium heat in spray canola oil.
2. Stir in garlic, add cauliflower and chickpeas, and cook until all veggies are soft.
3. Stir in curry powder, garam masala, ginger, cumin, and salt. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring.
4. Pour in soup, milk, and frozen peas. Simmer at least 15 minutes.

Red Kidney Bean Curry (Rajmah)

I'm going to have to apologize for the unappetizing pictures during Lent. I imagine I'm going to be eating a lot of beans and curries and stews, which don't exactly photograph well.

Like Deb says on Smitten Kitchen, this curry is the Indian cousin of an American chili. I only had light red kidney beans, but I'm sure the dark red would've stood out more and made it more colorful, so if you're really into aesthetics, go for the dark red kidney beans. This was nice and spicy because I doubled the cayenne pepper and used a serrano pepper. Some plain yogurt on top cooled it down slightly. If you don't like the flavor of fresh ginger, go ahead and reduce the ginger a bit; it definitely had a strong taste of ginger.

I wasn't the biggest fan of this. It was all right, but something was a little off about the flavors. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it that night. It certainly made my kitchen smell like an Indian restaurant though!


Red Kidney Bean Curry [Rajmah]
adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
Serves 6

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 plum tomato, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large green chili, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8 ounce can of tomato sauce or 8 ounces of one of your choice
3 cups boiled red kidney beans or 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, undrained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Preparation
Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat for one minute.
Add ginger, garlic, onion, green chili, and let sizzle for one minute.
Add the tomato sauce, salt and remaining spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the kidney beans with water or canned red kidney beans (undrained) plus one additional cup of water, and tomatoes.
Bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro.
Serve over rice or with naan.

Indian-Inspired Chickpeas and Spinach in a Tomato Cream Sauce

All good stories involve some tragedy, just like this dish. As I was working Sunday evening, I began to feel a bit nauseous. I figured once I had something to eat, it would go away. So I got home and started to prepare this dish, all the while feeling worse and worse. After it was done, I felt so bad that I couldn't bear to eat it, so I forced some leftover soup down and went to bed.

The next day, feeling much better, I ate this for lunch and was blown away. Not only did it look just like something I would order at an Indian restaurant, the spice level was much hotter than Indian food I've had in Tennessee, a good thing of course. Really, it isn't hot enough until your nose is running and you've broken out in a sweat. The heat level is customizable, so don't let that stop you from trying this recipe.

The original recipe creator used this as a side dish, but I think it's the perfect vegetarian meal. You might want to double it if you're feeding it to two hungry people as a main course however.

Indian-Inspired Chickpeas and Spinach in a Tomato Cream Sauce
source: Savory Safari

Ingredients:
One can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used two cups of prepared dried chickpeas)
4-5 large handfuls baby spinach (about 4 oz.)
1 ½ cups low-sodium plain tomato sauce
1/3 cup whipping cream, at room temperature
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
½ Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. Asian chili garlic sauce
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne
1/2 tsp. curry powder
½ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. ground coriander (I forgot to include this.)
½ tsp. garam masala
½ cup water

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 2-3 minutes. Add chickpeas and toast, stirring frequently, for another 2 minutes or so.
2. Add tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Stir in all remaining spices and check seasoning, adding more of your favorite spices if desired.
3. Whisk in cream and return to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently.
4. Begin adding spinach in batches, adding small amounts of water as necessary to wilt the spinach and keep sauce at desired thickness.
5. Once all spinach is added and wilted, turn the heat down very low and cover. Simmer 5 minutes covered, and hold warm until ready to serve.

Serve with brown rice and/or garlic naan, and enjoy an Indian feast!

I am also submitting this to Joelen's Indian-Jewish Adventure.
Check it out!

Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers

It's been an Indian-inspired burger-type week in our house, but they're so easy to prepare in the morning and then fry them up as soon as I get home. I can have dinner on the table within 20 minutes of walking through the door, and that's crucial with our schedules.

This recipe is another one courtesy of Liz at Liz's Cooking Blog. Joe and I both liked this one a lot. I tweaked the recipe a little bit since I only had a pound of meat, and we like spicier food. I tend to err on the side of food being over-spiced rather than bland. The cardinal sin of our dinner table is bland food.

I got my ginger when we were at the Nashville Farmers Market, and we stopped into an Indian-owned international market. It was like heaven for me, all the spices and lentils and massive jars of ghee and tahini. They had knobs of ginger in a giant cardboard box on the floor, and I snatched one up knowing that this recipe called for fresh ginger.

While I was frying up these burgers, they almost smelled like breakfast sausage. Joe even remarked, "You always make the house smell so good." The flavor starts off heavy on the ginger and then segues into the heat of the cayenne pepper. The cumin yogurt sauce is just enough to cool off the tongue with its creaminess but still keep you interested.

I served this with a sliced tomato.

Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers (adapted from Liz who adapted it from Everyday Food)

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken
3 tablespoons of minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (doubled from the original recipe)
Coarse salt
fresh ground pepper
4 whole wheat pita halves
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced on the diagonal (optional)
fresh cilantro

Cumin Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, scallions, ginger, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, and cayenne. Add salt and pepper to taste; mix well. Set aside for at least 10 or up to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for cumin-yogurt sauce.

Make 4 patties, and grill or fry for 2-3 minutes per side or until done.

Put one pita half on each plate. Place one patty on each, as well as cucumber (if used), a few sprigs of cilantro and the cumin-yogurt sauce and serve.