Chickpea curry

Cook or buy a can of cooked chickpeas.

Thinly slice 2 medium onions and saute a tthe bottom of a big soup pot. Sprinkle liberally with curry powder. Cube 2 potatoes (I like red potatoes here) and add in with the onions. Add more curry if needed. slice a red bell pepper and add to the potatoes and onions. Add 3-4C cooked chickpeas in liquid and reduce heat to med-low. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add one or more chopped zucchini and more curry powder if needed. Continue to simmer until zucchini is soft. Add salt, garnish with cashews, walnuts and/or fresh cilantro if desired. Good alone or over rice.

cold curry and pasta salad

I've been going to the sunset valley farmers market recently, and I bought another pesto from sgt peppers - red curry, which is mainly roasted red peppers and curry powder, with some sunflower seeds (in place of the pine nuts) and some parm.

TO prep for this recipe, I've already cooked up some chickpeas and have them stored in the fridge in their cooking broth, canned in fine too, you'll need about a cup of chickpeas for this recipe.

For the pasta, I like bowties (farfalle) or cavatappi, but gemelli would work well too.

Get a large pot of water on high heat for the pasta and a large saucepan for the curry sauce. Add a little oil to the pan, preferably peanut or olive. Finely chop a small onion and saute. Dice 3-4 medium roma tomatoes and set aside. Finely dice (like 1/4" cubes) a zucchini and a summer squash and add to the pan with the onions. Add the tomatoes to the pan when the onions begin to look translucent and reduce heat to medium. Season liberally with curry powder and a littel salt and pepper. Add 1 C cooked chickpeas with some liquid and reduce heat to medium low. Let simmer while you cook the pasta (probably 8-10 minutes). Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl or tupperware container.

Add 2-4 tbsp of the pesto to the pan, reduce heat to low and gently mix until the pesto and curry mixture are combined. Pour over the drained pasta and mix. Serve chilled or hot, depending on the season.

easy orange-ginger tofu stir fry

A quick and easy dinner or lunch.

add 1.5 C brown rice and 3C water to a cooking pot an bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat.

Cube 1/2 lb tofu and drain on paper towels. In a heavy bottomed saucepan or wok, saute the tofu until browned. While the tofu is browning, in a bowl mix together 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 C soy sauce, 1-2 tsp sambal, 1-3 chopped scallions if you have them, ~1tbsp grated ginger and 1 tbsp brown sugar. Peel part of the rind of an orange (using a vegetable peeler and mincing, or small grater) and add to the mix. When the tofu is browned, add to the liquid, adding a small amount of water (1-2 tbsp) if desired. Allow to marinate while you fix the vegetables.

Chop 1/2 medium head broccoli into florets, 2 carrots into diagonal rounds, slice several mushrooms and cut one zucchini into rounds. Saute for 2-3 minutes in the same pan you browned the tofu in, the add 2-3 tbsp of water and 1 minced clove of garlic and cover on medium until the carrots are tender but not mushy. Add the tofu and sauce and simmer uncovered on low. Check the rice to see if it's done (taste a small portion, if it's at all crunchy, it's not there yet, cooked brown rice is chewy, nutty and the grains should be opening up on the sides).

When the rice is done, top a portion with vegetables, tofu and sauce and enjoy. Garnish with cilantro if you like.

Cauliflower curry with cashews and raisins (and tomatoes and zucchini)

This is a great fast curry for cold days. Use the basic curry powder I've mentioned previously, or just experiment with a good mix of indian spices (ideally pepper, cumin, coriander and tumeric to start, add more spices as you gain confidence).

Roughly chop a head of cauliflower and cube a pound of tofu. Place both in a large saucepan and turn heat to high. Saute/simmer for 10 or so minutes, then chop 3 tomatoes and add to pan. Sprinkle with curry powder and chop two zucchini and add to pan. Add 1/2 C cashews, 1/2 C raisins, 1/2 C chopped cilantro and cover. Simmer for 20-30 minutes while cooking 1 1/2 C long grain white rice (1 1/2 C white rice, 3 C water, cover, boil and bring to a simmer for 20 mins).

Once rice and curry are done, serve together with yogurt and fresh cilantro to garnish.