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.

Baked Gnocchi

I have to admit that I'm a sucker for creamy dishes. I know they aren't good for me, and I always try to "healthify" it to an extent. I try not to make too many of them, but I'd had this bookmarked since November! Plus, I threw it together Tuesday morning, and Joe put it in the oven when he got home, so dinner was ready when I walked through the door. Perfection!

I halved the original recipe and added some baby bella mushrooms I had lying around. I'm going to put the amounts of things that I used. The goat cheese permeates this dish would great flavor, and I used lots of fresh ground pepper.

Baked Gnocchi
source: Reservations Not Required, originally Giada's Everyday Pasta
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
1 (17-oz) package potato gnocchi
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
6 oz baby spinach
1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the gnocchi in a lightly greased 8x8 inch baking dish. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, half and half, broth, and flour over medium heat. Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir to combine. Add the spinach and mushrooms and toss to coat in the cream. Pour the cream and spinach mixture evenly over the gnocchi and gently spread the spinach out to cover.
Crumble the goat cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden in places, about 30 minutes.

Lentil-Goat Cheese Burgers

When I looked at my plate on Monday night, I realized that I had made everything on it: the burger, the pita bread, the hummus, and the salad dressing for the salad. It was a rare feeling of accomplishment, and I enjoyed it. I had been meaning to make these burgers for quite a while, and I am now regretting the time when they were not in my life.

I thought about eating these as a real sandwich, but I kind of like it without the bun. My mom used to serve us plain hamburger patties when I was a kid, and we would dip them in ketchup. So it's kind of like that but vegetarian. It also reminded me of falafel patties in a salad. I served this with a spring mix salad with black cherry vinaigrette, whole wheat pita, and hummus.

The goat cheese makes these seriously flavorful. Plus I love lentils. So the combination is killer.

Lentil-Goat Cheese Burgers
source: Cara's Cravings

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup dried lentils
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 ounces goat cheese
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

Place first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender; drain. Discard bay leaf. Place lentils in a large bowl; partially mash with a fork. Cool slightly.
Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly. Add onion mixture, cheese, and remaining ingredients to lentils; stir well to combine. Cover and chill 45 minutes.
Divide mixture into 3-4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
Heat a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Cook patties 5 minutes on each side or until done.

Whole-Wheat Pita Bread

When I was planning my meal for this week, I decided a nice accompaniment to one of the meals would be pita bread and hummus, and I had seen some recipes for pita bread floating around the blogosphere (okay, I admittedly have an unexplained hatred for that word and yet am using it anyway). Until now, I have left all of the kneading of my dough products up to my beloved bread machine, but I decided to brave this one by hand. The last time I tried to knead something, it ended up all over the kitchen and myself. I may have even found some sticky dough on the cat.

My new secret to making dough is patience. If I go into it with a very peaceful attitude, willing to forgive myself for any errors, the dough knows and behaves well. If I'm tense and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the dough will sense this and revolt in my very own hands. Hence, why I am only allowed to work with dough on the weekend.

This may not be the most amazing pita bread recipe ever, but it's easy, quick, and good. Oh yeah, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying pita bread at the store.

Whole-Wheat Pita Bread
source: Apple A Day

Ingredients
2 c. whole-wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp. (1 envelope) quick-rising yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4- 1 1/2 c. hot--not boiling--water
1-1 1/2 c. flour

Directions
1. Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl. Beat well about 1 minute.

2. Mix in the remaining flour, using just enough to make a soft, sticky dough.

3. Turn out on floured board and continue to knead for 5 minutes.

4. Divide into eight balls.

5. Roll out each one to about 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches in diameter. Place on very lightly greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise in warm place for 25-35 minutes .

6. Bake at 450 degrees for 4-5 min. per side, or until lightly browned.

7. Wrap immediately in a dishtowel for 3 or 4 minutes.

Chili Cheese Shrimp Etouffee

Nearly everyone I know is trying to save money and watch their spending, so it's not that unusual for our Friday night out to become a Friday night in. I try to make something a little out of the ordinary, and we splurge a little calorically. Before Lent started, I stocked up on frozen shrimp at Trader Joe's and then Kroger when it was on sale, so I'm trying to work through my stash. I wish I could find frozen crawfish tails somewhere, but so far I haven't had much luck.

When I was in Bloomington visiting my best friend Abby, her and her boyfriend took me to this great little Cajun/Creole place called Dat's. They both got the chili cheese etouffee, and I got something else that was also delicious. Even though they mocked me for requiring the use of the many hot sauces they had available to get the heat to my preferred level, I got to steal bites of their food as well. And this dish is a dead ringer for that.

Honestly, this might be one of the better dishes I've ever made. Many times, my dishes have one distinct flavor that's complemented by the other ingredients, but this is just an amalgamation of flavors without one sticking out from the others. For those of you afraid of spicy food, the cheese and cream will soothe your tongue, and you can also modify the amount of cayenne pepper and Tabasco. This also makes a large amount, so have a crowd over or be prepared for the leftovers!

Chili Cheese Shrimp Etouffee
adapted from: Is Life a Conundrum

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped green onions, plus more to garnish
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell peppers
1 cup diced onions
2 tsp. minced onion
1 cup Rotel Original diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 TBS tomato paste
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups shredded aged cheddar
1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1 tsp. chili powder
Pinch ground coriander
Pinch groun cumin
Pinch ground cloves
Dash Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
1 pound cooked shrimp (or crawfish, chicken, or some combination of the three)
Cooked white rice, to serve
Dry sherry, to garnish

Preparation

1. Make a roux by melting the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat and then blending in the flour, consistently stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the roux is a golden color.
2. Add the green onions, celery, bell peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes and cook until the onions have browned.
3. Add the thyme, tomato paste, basil and peppers (black, white, cayenne).
4. Add the stock, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered until the mixture becomes thick.
5. Add the cheese, half-and-half, chili powder, coriander, cumin, cloves, Worcestershire, and Tabasco and stir until the cheese and half-and-half are blended in well.
6. Gently stir in the crawfish, shrimp, and/or chicken and serve over fluffy white rice. Garnish with chopped green onions and drizzle with dry sherry.