Naraya Cooking Health Recipe: curry

apple cider vinegar

CURRY ROASTED CAULIFLOWER & QUINOA SALAD

8:33 AM

curry

RAW VEGAN CURRY with MARINATED MUSHROOMS & ONIONS

4:09 PM

carrots

CURRIED CHICKPEA SALAD

10:49 AM

I love, Love, LOVE creamy chickpea salads! They are so addicting that I can literally sit and eat the whole bowl within a day. If you're familiar with my blog you already know about the Mashed Chickpea Salad and Cranberry Walnut Chickpea Salad. Now we are delightfully adding this curried chickpea salad to the collection. I honestly can't say that I love one more than the other. They each have a different flavor and are equally delicious in my book. But if you're a curry lover, you will be smitten over this salad! Inspired by a recent trip to Trader Joe's and saw their Curry Chicken Salad and knew it was time to make a vegan version. The ingredients are inspired by their ingredient list and it did not disappoint. I love the combination of curry with the sweetness of the raisins, along with the crunch from the carrots and cashews. It's a perfect blend of flavor and textures. The ingredients are simple so you can pull this together easily. It can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week making it easy to pull together to-go lunches or simply to have on hand for snacking. I can almost guarantee this will not be in your fridge for that long...it will be gone almost as soon as you make it! This salad can be served alone, with sliced red bell peppers as scoopers, on a bed of leafy greens or made into a sandwich. I encourage you to gather your ingredients and give this salad a try. I think you will find it to be as good as the others. In fact, it may just become your new favorite!

Curried Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

3 cups cooked or 2 cans (15 oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 - 3 carrots (about 1 cup), diced
4 - 5 scallions/green onions (about 1 cup), sliced
1/2 cup raisins, dried currants or chopped dates
1/2 cup raw or toasted cashews
1/2 - 2/3 cup thinned hummus or tahini, vegan mayo would work too (see notes)
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
mineral salt & cracked pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine hummus with lemon juice, curry & garlic powder and a generous pinch of salt. Blend until combined. Set aside. (If adding vinegar or maple syrup as per the notes below, add to the hummus at this time.)

In a medium mixing bowl, add chickpeas and roughly mash about 1/2 of the beans with the back of a sturdy fork or potato masher. Add in the carrots, scallions, raisins, cashews and hummus, mix well to combine. Taste for flavor adding mineral salt and cracked pepper to taste.

Serve as is, with sliced red bell peppers as scoopers, on a bed of leafy greens, with crackers or made into a sandwich with bread of choice.

Serves 4-6.

Notes:

I love the sweetness that the dried fruit gives and could use up to 3/4 cup so each bite has a little sweetness to it. Feel free to add extra raisins, currants or dates.

If your hummus is on the thick side, thin it out with water until desired thinness. Using a small bowl add a couple rounded tablespoons of hummus with 1 tablespoon of water. Adding more of each as you go until you have a thinner hummus. Do the same if using tahini. Feel free to use more for a super creamy salad. If your measuring by tablespoons...8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup and about 11 tablespoons = 2/3 cups (technically 10 T + 2t).

You can try tweaking this recipe by adding a tablespoon or so of apple cider or white wine vinegar to the wet mixture. It will give it a slight tang. You may also like to try adding a tablespoon of pure maple syrup or other liquid sweetener of choice to add a little sweetness all around. Adjust curry, adding more or less, to suit your taste.

Try replacing the carrots with diced red bell peppers for color variation.

Enjoy!

chickpeas

Curry + Sriracha Roasted Chickpeas

6:35 PM

basil

Curry Tomato Soup + Zucchini Noodles

7:08 PM

Growing up I was a Campbell's tomato soup girl, thanks to my mom who introduced me to this soup while pairing it with spaghetti noodles. For a teenager it was easy, fast, filling and I just plain loved it! Sometimes I would add milk making it a creamy version but most of the time I just simply added water. Now that I'm a little more grown up, I decided to take my old favorite and give it a much deserved homemade redo with a grown up flair. My inspiration comes from this recipe at 101 Cookbooks and also the recipe from Love & Lemons (I liked the zucchini noodles in place of pasta...how perfect for this redo!)

For this soup you can either use fresh or canned tomatoes (preferably fire roasted if using canned). Add to that some sweet onion, curry, basil, a bit of salt, red pepper flakes, lime and some coconut milk/cream and you have yourself a very wonderful tomato soup that pairs well with zucchini noodles, or any noodle of your choice! You can also use farro, rice or some other grain instead of noodles like Heidi suggests in her recipe at 101 Cookbooks.

Simple, flavorful and good to the very last bite, or sip if you will. Once the zucchini noodles are gone you will be tilting the bowl to finish! I do recommend using a non rimmed bowl for this soup unless you want to finish with a spoon.

Curry Tomato Soup + Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients (serves four)

4 small/medium zucchini
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
3 cups tomatoes (about 5 large), diced or 1 can (28oz) tomatoes + juices (pref. fired roasted)
2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon curry (red curry paste or yellow curry powder)
1/4 teaspoon cumin, or to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil, loosely packed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
salt to taste
1 can (14oz) coconut milk or cream or 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
limes, to serve

In a large pot, heat oil on medium, add onions and saute for five minutes, or until softened. Add tomatoes, water, curry, basil, red pepper flakes and salt, turn heat to medium high, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. If you want a creamy soup, add the coconut milk/cream after 10 minutes of simmering, continue to simmer for five more minutes. Or you can do as I did and add a few spoonfuls to your serving bowl. Once done, taste for flavor adding extra spices as needed.

Once soup is done, remove from heat, let cool a few minutes and puree using a submersion blender or food processor (if using a food processor you may have to puree in a couple batches).

While soup is cooking or cooling, julienne or spiralize your zucchini. No need to cook as these will be served raw and warm a bit once the soup is served over top.

Serve with lime wedges, fresh basil and/or oregano and coconut milk/cream.

Notes:

Replace the coconut milk/cream with one cup unsweetened almond milk if your watching you're fat intake, or use lite coconut milk instead of full fat. I tried with the almond milk and loved it but the coconut milk is my personal favorite.

Also, try using soba noodles, brown rice, farro, quinoa or rice noodles in place of the zucchini noodles for something different.

• • •

For the spiralizer, I personally use this one. I have also seen this one recommended by Gena Hamshaw of Choosing Raw.

For the julienne tool, I use one like this. It will create the noodles you see below and store nicely in your utensil drawer.

Enjoy!

curry

Curry Red Lentil Stew with Kale & Chickpeas

10:20 PM

Coming to the end of fall and thought a nice lentil stew was in order. I happen to have all these ingredients on hand and decided to put them all together...it was a delicious success. I served this a couple ways. One was over a bed of rice, in a bowl all by itself. For the third way, I combined the leftover rice and stew together creating another wonderful way to enjoy leftovers. I topped my leftover stew with sliced avocado on top, I highly recommend doing this! Avocado is such a nice addition to almost any dish. All ways were hearty and filling while being full of wholesome nutrition. This recipe is easy to put together and is ready in under an hour.

I do have a few spices in here which include ginger, red pepper flakes, turmeric, curry and cumin. Feel free to simplify by just using curry and maybe another spice or two. You can still pull off a flavorful lentil stew with simply using curry alone as well. As with all recipes, adjust spices to taste adding anything more or less to your liking.

Curry Red Lentil Stew with Kale & Chickpeas

Ingredients (serves 6)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 - 2 tablespoons curry, to taste
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
himalayan salt to taste
1 tablespoons red pepper flakes, optional
1 can (15 oz) fire roasted tomatoes or two cups fresh tomatoes, diced
2 cups dry red lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans or 1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
6 cups water or vegetable broth, + more as needed
3 cups kale, julienned
juice of one lemon, optional
cooked basmati, brown or jasmine rice, as much as needed

In large pot or stock pot, heat your oil over medium heat, saute onion and garlic until onion becomes transparent. Add spices, tomatoes, lentils, garbanzo beans and 6 cups of liquids, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add in the kale and optional lemon juice, continue to cook for 10 minutes or until kale softens and wilts.

Serve alone, over rice or grain of choice...

Enjoy!

carrots

CURRY LENTIL & GREENS SOUP

1:50 PM

Soup season is underway. Still a little warm here but the sun is going down early making for cooler nights. This is a most delicious and nutritious meal on these cool nights, great for afternoons too. Use whatever greens you like...spinach, rainbow chard, beet greens...I had kale on hand for this round. Easy one pot dish ready in about an hour from start to finish. Will definitely be having this again....very flavorful with a hint of spiciness. Simply a lovely hearty soup for everyone to enjoy!

Edit: I have finally updated the pictures and recipe for this soup on 11/12/14. I didn't change much about the recipe except use less cumin. If you love cumin feel free to add 1 tablespoon. As an after thought I added a handful of currants to the soup. It was just what it needed, adding a bit of sweetness gives a nice contrast to the curry making it perfect!

CURRY LENTIL & GREENS SOUP

Ingredients

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or 1/4 cup water (for water saute)
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 tablespoon red curry paste or tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 - 2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 organic roma tomatoes, diced or 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
3 bay leaves
1 cup uncooked lentils or 2/3 cup lentils + 1/3 cup wild or black rice
mineral salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
6 cups water or vegetable broth (or combo)
3 potatoes, diced
1 bunch or package greens (I used kale, julienned)
raisins or currants, to garnish, optional

In large stock pot, heat olive oil/water over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onions, saute for 5 minutes. Add the curry/tomato paste and garlic, stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes. Add the curry, cumin and red pepper, mix to combine and cook for 3 more minutes. Add lentils, tomatoes, potatoes, then water/broth (in this order the tomatoes and potatoes won't splash), bay leaves, salt and pepper, bring to boil over medium high heat. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 35 min. Add the greens after the soup has been cooking for 15 minutes and continue to cook stir occasionally. Add additional water as needed, maybe up to 1 cup.

Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4 - 6.

Notes:

Use any dark leafy greens you like....spinach, kale, swiss chard, broccoli raab greens, beet greens ect. Just be sure to julienne your greens if they are large leafy ones.

Discard the bay leaves, or at least don't eat them. I have one shown in the soup just for the photo.

Add in a handful of raisins or currants for some sweetness at the end of cooking. Or, you may rather add some to the top of your individual servings. It's highly recommended!

If you're a big fan of cumin, add 1 tablespoon like the original recipe calls for.

Adapted from E.A.T. Broccoli Raab Green Curry Lentil Soup