Quick Apple Curry and Green Bananas

I have to thank Debbie for teaching me how to cook Green Bananas, they are so amazing. We really enjoyed them paired with the Quick apple curry.

Green Bananas

Bring a stockpot of salted water to a boil. Cut both ends and score a slit down the length of 8 green bananas. Add prepared bananas to boiling water. Cook until the peels are brown, bananas have somewhat split open and the insides are soft. Drain bananas. Mash them with a potato masher and add 1 tbsp fresh parsley, 1 tbsp butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Quick Apple Curry

This recipe is designed to use some left-over meat from a roast. If I do not have that I just steam two frozen chicken breasts or use chickpeas.

1 onion sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
2 tbsp butter
chicken
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup hot broth or stock (I steamed my chicken with lime, so I used the left over broth from the steaming)
1 green apple sliced
1/2 cup golden raisins

In a large skillet melt butter, slowly cook onions, garlic and pepper until the onions are opaque. Add the cooked chicken to warm it. Add the curry and cook for 1 min. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and veggies and cook 1 min. Slowly add in the broth and stir scraping the bottom until the sauce thickens. Add the apples and raisins, cover and cook for about 5 min to cook the apples. Serve the curry over the mashed green bananas.

Lentil Dahl (in a crock pot)

This dish is insanely easy to prepare, and it comes out sooooo well. I got a bag of Naan, traditional Indian bread, at Trader Joes for $2, and we ate out of a common bowl together. It was a fun family meal and everyone gobbled it up.

Dahl

1 cup lentils
3 cups water
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
1 cup chopped stewed tomatoes
1 can chick peas
salt and pepper

I dumped all of this in my crock pot, and in 3 hours it was ready to eat. Enjoy!!

Easy Brown Bread (goes well with empty the fridge soup)

I found this recipe because I needed a healthy option to go with chili and I didn't have any yeast. It works with such simple ingredients, and it is super quick. Great family favorite.

Easy Brown Bread
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp veggie oil
1 cup milk or almond milk

Preheat oven to 450. Grind oatmeal in food processor or blender. In a large bowl combine oatmeal flour, wheat flour baking powder and salt. In separate bowl dissolve honey into veggie oil, then add in milk. Combine both mixtures until soft dough is formed. I usually mix this well and then turn it out onto the pan to make a round loaf, it is REALLY soft. It can be reshaped easily with wet fingers, and bakes well on a baking stone or an oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. We love this bread with soup.

Spinach Artichoke Pesto

Last night I was not feeling like cooking anything exciting, but my lazy day turned up something pretty amazing. I decided to boil up some wheat pasta, but I didn't have any of the old standby canned tomatoes. I did however have some spinach and a can of artichokes, so I decided to throw it into the Vitamix and see what ensued. The result was a bright green creamy and deliciously flavorful pesto sauce. The nuts and spinach are still raw so all of the vitamins and essential oils are still in tact. Enjoy!

Spinach Artichoke Pesto Sauce

4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup whole raw walnuts
3 - 1/2 inch cubes of Parmesan cheese
1 generous cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup drained artichoke hearts
Salt and pepper to taste

-place all ingredients in a good blender or food processor in the order listed. Turn the machine on low to begin chopping the bottom ingredients (about 20 seconds), then turn your machine on high and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Continue to blend and add up to 1/2 cup of water to thin sauce to a consistency you are pleased with. Ours looked like a bright green smoothie, and it worked beautifully on the pasta.

Almond Butter

Now that Aaron is over a year old he can start eating nut butters. I have wanted to try and make some myself, and did some research to find a good recipe. Normally I would do the first thing my Vitamix cookbook suggested, but I was disappointed to read that the Almond Butter recipe called for over 2/3 cup of canola oil. If I was reading a label in the grocery store there is no way that I would purchase a nut butter with added oil, so i took to the internet.
I found lots of recipes adding butter, oil, honey etc... and many that required roasted or blanched nuts instead of raw nuts with the essential oils intact. Finally I found this recipe at www.rawmaxing.com (link below) that uses only almonds, and has very helpful photos and tips. The process takes 10 min, running the food processor for 2 min and then scraping down the sides five times. It worked so well, and was very fun. After the second scrape the almonds tasted sweet and smelled like the sweet almond extract used in cooking. The final product is a little stiff, but similar to organic peanut butter. Everyone really likes it, and Joseph has already requested having it as part of his snack tomorrow. Make some heart healthy Almond butter, have patience and enjoy. :)
http://www.rawmazing.com/recipes/raw-recipe-almond-butter/

apple chili

The other night I was making 100 cupcakes for Joseph's 100th day of school celebration, and I had made Aaron's birthday cake, so I was pretty much tired of being in the kitchen. Keith decided he would make dinner, and he created this awesome chili that I really appreciated and had to share.

Keith's apple chili

1 yellow pepper diced
1 onion diced
4 garlic cloves minced
2 apples diced
4 cups stewed tomatoes
2 cans garbonzo beans
2 cans cannelini beans
1 can black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregono
dash cyanne pepper
dash ground mustard
1/2 tsp peprika
salt and pepper


Saute the veggies and apple in olive oil. Drain the beans, and add all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 25 min.

Marrakesh Stew

This stew uses warm winter vegetables, and is great on a snowy yucky New England night like tonight. Marrakesh is a city in Morocco, and the Moroccan spices in this stew give it a sweet and spicy unique taste.

Marrakesh Stew

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice
4 large carrots
2 parsnips
2 russett potatoes
1 acorn squash
salt and pepper
1 can diced tomatoes (15.5 oz)
3 3/4 cups veggie broth
2 small eggplant
1 can chickpeas

In  an 8 quart pot heat oil. Over medium heat cook onion until soft. Add spices and cook for one minute. Chop all veggies to 1 inch pieces. Add  carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and squash. Saute until starting to brown. Add tomatoes and broth (the liquid should just cover the veggies). Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add eggplant, simmer 20 more minutes. Stir in chickpeas and simmer 5 min. Serve with couscous or rice.