Tag Archives: curry

Roasted Vegetable Curry

Roasted Vegetable Curry

This recipe is based off of a recipe given to me by my sister’s neighbor, John. His version is a Chicken Curry and it’s fabulous! I begged for the recipe after eating it at my sister’s house. He was kind enough to give it to me with a bottle of the curry that he likes to use. The flavors are so great, I knew it had to be good with vegetables too…and it is!

I may have mentioned this before, but if you think you don’t like curry, please try this! My husband has always said that he doesn’t like curry and this is now one of his favorites! The curry seems to be balanced by the coconut milk in this recipe and I think that may be why he likes it so much.
You can certainly use any vegetables you want. The ones I’ve listed in the recipe are just some that I had in the fridge, but make it your own and add your favorites.
This curry is so simple. The hardest part may be chopping up the vegetables. Just put on some great music, maybe pour a glass of wine and it’ll be fun!  :D

Roasted Vegetable Curry

butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 zuchinni, cubed
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 red pepper, cubed
1 C. grape tomatoes, washed
1 bag pearl onions, peeled
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 T. + 1 t. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 -3 T. curry powder
1 14 oz. can reduced fat coconut milk
1/2 C. golden raisins
1/2 C. frozen green peas
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
After chopping all of your veggies, put them into your largest baking dish. The more room you have to toss them around the better. Speaking of tossing…toss them with 3 T. of the olive oil then put them into the oven and give them a few more tosses every so often.
Now, this part is tricky. After about 30 to 35 minutes, start testing the different veggies by poking with a fork. You want them to be almost done, but not all the way done since you’ll cook them on the stove for just a little more.  If they are not almost done, you may need up to 5 minutes more.
In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté the chopped onion with the 1 t. of olive oil for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the roasted vegetables. Be careful, they are hot, just use a large spoon to transfer them. Add the curry, coconut milk, raisins and peas. Bring the pot to a low simmer and continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until all of the veggies are soft but not mushy.

Notes:

  • Try to keep all of your vegetables uniform in size so they cook up about the same time.
  • I wasn’t able to find whole butternut squash for some reason, so I used the precut one in a package. Made things much easier.
  • Don’t make yourself nuts trying to peel those pearl onions! Just drop them into a small pot of boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and refill the pot with cold water, then just cut off the root end and they’ll peel super easy!
  • I like to serve the curry with either brown basmati rice or warmed naan, an Indian flatbread.
  • When reheating the curry the following day, you can add some vegetable or chicken stock to thin it out a bit.
  • I use Blue Mountain Country Hot Jamaican Curry. That is the curry that John gave me and I love it.  It comes in hot and mild.  I like the hot curry, but you may want to start with 2 tablespoons and see if you like it that hot!

Curried Chicken Waldorf Salad

Chicken Waldorf Salad Over Mixed Greens

We have started a tradition of going apple picking around this time every fall.  This year, we came home with some of the biggest apples ever!  They were Melrose apples.  They are delicious; crisp, sweet and little tart.

I had also made a huge pot of chicken stock that day to make some hot soup to come home to (those recipes are coming soon).  So with an abundance of apples and a whole cooked chicken, I just had to do something to combine the two.  This salad seemed perfect!

This recipe is a much healthier version of an original that uses lots of mayonnaise!  If you don’t have pre-cooked chicken already, the rotisserie chickens at the grocery store are a good option, but poaching a couple of chicken breasts is quite easy too with less fat and sodium.  I’ll tell you how to do that below.  They turn out very moist and tender.

If you wrinkled your nose when you first read the word “curry” as my husband usually does, give this a try.  He says he doesn’t like curry, but whenever I use it, he loves it.  The curry is not overpowering in this at all.  In fact, if you’d like, you can increase the curry up to 1 teaspoon.  I use Blue Mountain Jamaican Curry in this recipe.  I believe Jamaican curry is a bit sweeter than regular curry.

Served over a bed of greens, this salad is a treat for lunch.  My daughter actually took this to school today.  This salad packs up so easily as there is no dressing to worry about.

 

Curried Chicken Waldorf Salad

juice and zest of half of a lemon
1 heaping T. mayonnaise
3 heaping T. plain non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 t. curry
1/2 t. sea salt
black pepper to taste
1 – 1 1/2 C. shredded cooked chicken (in large pieces)
1 large apple, cubed
2 inner stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
1/2 C. golden raisins
1/4 C. chopped walnuts, toasted
mixed greens
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, mayonnaise, yogurt, curry, sea salt and pepper.  Add the chicken, apple, celery, raisins and walnuts.  Toss to coat all of the ingredients.  Serve on a bed of mixed greens.  Serves about 6.

Notes:

  • In place of the golden raisins, you can use red seedless grapes.
  • To toast the walnuts, place in a dry pan over medium heat.  Keep a close eye on them and toss them frequently until you begin to smell their nuttiness.

Poached Chicken Breasts

2 boneless chicken breasts
1 piece of lemon peel
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
chicken stock or water
Place the breasts and remaining ingredients in a pan.  If using water, add about 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.  If using the chicken stock, omit the salt. The chicken stock or water should just cover the breasts.
Bring the stock or water to a boil and immediately lower the heat to a very low simmer.  If you boil the chicken, the meat tends to get rubbery (yuk!).  Cover the pan, leaving the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat, keeping covered and let them sit for another 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
Allow the breasts to cool before shredding for the salad.