An unintentional and not all together unwelcome side effect of this year's food challenge, is that when I'm not thinking about pig I'm thinking a lot more about vegetables. This is possibly down to the amount of time I am spending on Leeds Kirkgate market. You can find me most Saturday mornings wandering around Butchers Row mulling over the porky possibilities. Afterwards, meat in hand, I like to fill my shopping bags with as much fruit and veg as I can carry home*.
I still find myself buying additional veg in the supermarket. A couple of weeks ago I went green veg mad and bought pak choi, kale and spinach. I must have been feeling run down and lacking in iron. We managed to plough our way through the greens but that was at the expense of the carrots I had already bought on the market.
My initial thought, whenever I have any leftover vegetables, is soup. However this wasn't a handful of carrots left over from a meal, this was a full bag of carrots whose potential had never been met. I felt that it was only fitting to make them the star of a meal but I couldn't get soup out of my head. It was the classic Carrot and Coriander that was haunting me. I just couldn't shift the idea of the sweet earthy and fragrant dish from my mind. I then realised that it wouldn't take much to convert the ingredients for a good soup into a great curry.
The base of the curry was onion, garlic and ginger, fried in ghee with mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin, coriander, fresh chilies and turmeric. Once the onion had softened and the spices were toasted I added the carrot, sweet potato and a little red pepper, along with just enough stock to cover the veg. By the time the carrots were tender the sweet potatoes had broken down into the stock to thicken the sauce. All that was left to do was to stir in some fresh coriander and serve with naan bread. I doubt that this is in any way authentic, but the flavour combination is so good it shouldn't be reserved just for soup.
*I'm going to start cycling to the market so the limit to my spend will be the capacity of my rucksack!
Showing posts with label Sweet Potato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweet Potato. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Carrot and Sweet Potato Curry
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Olympic Food Challenge: Togo - Crevettes aux Poivrons
Researching recipes for the Olympic Food Challenge has been equally interesting and frustrating. For some countries, recipes have fallen out of the internet and begged me to cook them. Togo was not one of those countries. Due to the unique way that Google searches the internet, I had page after page of food to-go!
I had all but given up when Z found a recipe for Crevettes aux Poivrons. It is such a simple recipe that I was worried that it would be bland, but I shouldn't have. The combination of ginger, garlic, peppers and prawns worked really well. The recipe suggested that we serve the prawns with sweet potato chips. I made some wedges but they were kind of surplus to requirements with the amount of prawns that I cooked.
Togo are yet to win a medal in the London Olympics. They won a bronze in Beijing but with only a few days left I can't see them matching it this time around. The team of six athletes can hold their heads up high however* as this dish was superb and we'll definitely be cooking prawns like this again.
*not that they'll be reading this, but you never know.
I had all but given up when Z found a recipe for Crevettes aux Poivrons. It is such a simple recipe that I was worried that it would be bland, but I shouldn't have. The combination of ginger, garlic, peppers and prawns worked really well. The recipe suggested that we serve the prawns with sweet potato chips. I made some wedges but they were kind of surplus to requirements with the amount of prawns that I cooked.
Togo are yet to win a medal in the London Olympics. They won a bronze in Beijing but with only a few days left I can't see them matching it this time around. The team of six athletes can hold their heads up high however* as this dish was superb and we'll definitely be cooking prawns like this again.
*not that they'll be reading this, but you never know.
Crevettes aux Poivrons
Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-togo-crevettes-aux-poivrons
Copyright © celtnet
Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-togo-crevettes-aux-poivrons
Copyright © celtnet
Crevettes aux Poivrons
Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-togo-crevettes-aux-poivrons
Copyright © celtnet
Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-togo-crevettes-aux-poivrons
Copyright © celtnet
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Vegetable Curry
There are occasions when you just need to use up all of those vegetables that are in the fridge. I'm not advocating cooking without due care and attention. I am advocating making the most of the food that is to hand.
After checking the store cupboards it was clear that a curry was the way forward. I wouldn't call it an authentic curry but I did choose the spices with the vegetables in mind. Most curries I cook start with mustard seeds but not tonight. I felt that the flavour would have been to earthy and mask the sweetness of the veg.
The base of the sauce consisted of a finely chopped red onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli. These were fried together with a tomato which added liquid and thickened the mixture. The first of the vegetables, butternut squash, along with a tin of chick peas and some water was added and left to simmer until tender.
The curry was then finished with a tin of coconut milk some leftover roast sweet potato and two bunches of spinach. If I had planned this curry and been out to buy the ingredients I probably would have omitted the squash and sweet potato. I would have included paneer and fresh coriander and ended up with a completely different meal. I'm glad I didn't because this curry was great.
After checking the store cupboards it was clear that a curry was the way forward. I wouldn't call it an authentic curry but I did choose the spices with the vegetables in mind. Most curries I cook start with mustard seeds but not tonight. I felt that the flavour would have been to earthy and mask the sweetness of the veg.
The base of the sauce consisted of a finely chopped red onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli. These were fried together with a tomato which added liquid and thickened the mixture. The first of the vegetables, butternut squash, along with a tin of chick peas and some water was added and left to simmer until tender.
The curry was then finished with a tin of coconut milk some leftover roast sweet potato and two bunches of spinach. If I had planned this curry and been out to buy the ingredients I probably would have omitted the squash and sweet potato. I would have included paneer and fresh coriander and ended up with a completely different meal. I'm glad I didn't because this curry was great.
Labels:
Butternut Squash,
Chick Peas,
curry,
Spinach,
Sweet Potato
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