Curried barley salad

Here's one of the recipes I'll be making at The Westport Farmers' Market tomorrow, Thursday, September 8th from 11-1. Come on by for a taste.


1 C. uncooked pearl barley

2 C. water or stock

1 C. cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 C. grated zucchini, drained

1 C. chopped tomato

½ bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

¼ C. Golden raisins

Juice from ½ lemon

1 Tbs. finely chopped garlic

1½ tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. turmeric

½ tsp. Smoky paprika

2 tbs. Olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Combine barley and water in a pot with a lid; simmer for 30-40 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Or, try using a rice cooker. Add 2 1/2 cups water per cup of barley.

While barley cooks, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until barley is cooked. When barley is cooked, fluff with a fork and gently combine with vegetables. Season to taste with salt. Salad can be served warm or cold.

Learn more about Nicole Straight and Time to Eat’s cooking classes at www.timetoeat.tv.

Curried bulgur salad with golden raisins, pine nuts and green beans

Another great salad to serve or bring to any party. Use your Vidalia chopper for quick prep.

3 Tbs. olive oil
½ C. finely diced onion
2 tsp. curry powder
1 C. finely diced carrot
2 C. bulgur wheat
16 oz. (2 C.) chicken stock
1 C. golden raisins
½ C. dried apricots, diced
½ C. toasted pine nuts
1 C. fresh green beans, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
½ C. finely diced English cucumber

Heat olive oil in a pot on medium high heat. Add onions and sauté for 1 minute. Add curry powder, carrot and bulgur and stir to combine. Add chicken stock, raisins, apricots, and pine nuts. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes until liquid has absorbed. Remove from heat, add green beans, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep covered another 20 minutes. Add bulgur to a large bowl and toss in diced cucumbers. Cover and let cool completely before serving.

Thai coconut curried chicken and shrimp.

Norway was amazing and after eating delicious seafood for a week, I was longing for a curry.

Here's my recipe for Thai coconut curry with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. This dish is also delicious as a vegetarian dish, simply omit the chicken and shrimp and use diced extra firm tofu.

1 Tbs. peanut oil
salt and pepper
2 cubes each- frozen garlic and ginger
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 chopped onion
1 C. baby carrots, sliced on the diagonal
1 peeled potato, cubed
1/2 C. red bell pepper cut into slices
1/2 C. button mushrooms, cut in half
1 12oz. can light coconut milk
3 Tbs. mild curry paste
1/2 lb. uncooked shrimp
1 C. green beans, cut in half
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large pan with a lid on medium high heat. Season each side of chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add onions, garlic and ginger to pan and saute for 1 minute. Add chicken and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add carrots, potato, bell pepper, mushrooms, coconut milk and curry paste. Stir to combine, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 15 minutes. Add green beans, shrimp and lime juice, cover and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve over rice.

Roasted curried cauliflower and grilled shrimp

When I'm organized I like to do a lot of prep cooking on Sunday. Today was one of those days. While my girls sit happily on the couch, I made 2 C. servings of the following:

lentils
quinoa
Trader Joe's mixed grains (Israeli couscous, quinoa, orzo, etc...)

They are all basically the same to cook. Boil water and "Better than bouillon", a little olive oil and cook respective grains. The lentils take the longest, the quinoa the shortest and the TJ's mixed are somewhere in between.

While those cook, I made a roasted curried cauliflower which could not be any easier.

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat mat or aluminum foil. Wash cauliflower and bread into florets. Place cauliflower on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, a few pinches of kosher salt and a teaspoon of curry powder.

Bake for 15 minutes, turning the cauliflower once so it browns evenly.

I didn't know if my kids would eat this, but they LOVE it! It's not overly curried and has a nice rich flavor.

We are also having grilled shrimp.

Here's my recipe for shrimp:

Defrost peeled and cleaned uncooked shrimp in a bowl of warm water. Pinch tails off of shrimp. Add 2 tsp. of olive oil and the juice from 1 lemon and 1 cube of frozen garlic or 1 cube of fresh minced garlic. Toss to coat and grill on a HOT grill for 2 minutes per side.

YUMMY!

Coconut curried chicken with vegetables

I love coconut curry, but don't often make it at home.

Here's my recipe for coconut curry chicken with vegetables:

1 tbs. olive oil
1 cube frozen garlic
1 cube frozen ginger
2 tsp. red curry paste
4 pieces boneless, skinless, chicken thighs- cut into cubes
8 oz. coconut milk
1 C. quartered mushrooms
2 peeled and sliced carrots
1 C. thinly sliced peppers, (red, green, yellow)
1 C. snap peas
Kosher salt to taste
cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat oil in a large nonstick pan with a lid on high heat. Add ginger and garlic and stir to melt. Add cubed chicken and curry paste and stir to combine. Let chicken brown for 2 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Add coconut milk and carrots and reduce heat to medium. Cover and let cook for 8 minutes. Add peppers and mushrooms and season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste, and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Add snap peas before serving. The heat from the chicken will steam the snap peas.

I served the curry with basmati rice.

Coconut curried lamb stew

I was almost certain that my kids would NOT eat tonight's dinner, but following my own advice, I decided to make it anyhow and give it a try.

Start by sauteing 2 onions in a little peanut oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, I used the Le Creuset. Sprinkle 1 lb. of cubed lamb meat with kosher salt, curry powder, turmeric and a little black pepper.

Add the lamb to the pot once the onions have sauteed for 2 minutes. Brown the lamb for 3 minutes. While the lamb browns, peel 2 small new potatoes and cut into small cubed, add to the pot. Peel and chop 3 carrots and add those in as well. Add in 1 can of light coconut milk, and stir to combine everything. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover for 40 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving, add in the juice from 1/2 a lime and a cup of snap peas cut in half.

Serve over Jasmine or Basmati rice. The kids devoured it, and I was really pleased. The grown-ups added a handful of fresh cilantro leaves and a little bit of red pepper flakes.

I am inspired to continue trying some more new dishes.

Curried shrimp with couscous

We had friends over for dinner last night and I had made some grilled curried shrimp for a party recently, so I decided to make these. The recipe is very easy and great for a dinner party.

Defrost 1 bag of uncooked, peeled, cleaned and deveined shrimp
Once thawed, add to a Tupperware with
3 Tbs. of Olive Oil
2 Tbs. of Curry powder
1 Tbs. of ground Tumeric
1 Tbs. cumin
pinch of kosher salt and pepper

Let marinade overnight or for at least 20 minutes.

Heat grill to HIGH. Once hot, add shrimp and cook for 1 minute per side, turn once. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I served this with a couscous that I made with golden raisins, toasted slivered almonds and chopped green onions.

It was a great summer time meal and very easy to make.

Coconut curried chicken with garbanzo beans and raisins

We had a pretty quiet weekend here. I took the girls to the NY Museum of Natural History yesterday where they are having a cool live butterfly exhibit. We all enjoyed a little trip to NY.

I had a little chicken left over from the one I roasted a couple days ago and decided to throw a few things in a pot and see how it turned out. I knew the kids would NOT eat this so they got cheese quesadillas and fresh snap peas for dinner which they were happy about.

I added 3 cubes frozen ginger and garlic to a nonstick deep pan. When those started to sizzle, I added in about 2 cups of the shredded chicken, 1 c. of light coconut milk and 1 can drained and rinsed garbanzo beans. I stirred everything around and let it come to a boil. I added in 1 tsp. of curry powder, about 1/2 tsp. of Galangal, which is Thai powdered ginger and a good pinch of salt. I wanted to add in some red pepper flakes, but could not find any.

I added in about 1/2 C. of chicken stock, a handful of baby carrots, and a handful of raisins. I let the whole thing come to a low boil for about 15 minutes.

I served it over a little of the lime coconut rice that I had bought from Trader Joe's. It's cooked and sealed in a clear plastic bag. It's found in the rice section of the store. It just needed to be heated in the microwave for a couple minutes.

This made a much larger meal than I thought, but it was really tasty and I ate it with a salad of pea shoots that I drizzled a little olive oil over with a pinch of salt and a tiny pinch of sugar.

It is definitely worth trying.

Roasted curried cauliflower

Abby brought home a GIANT trophy from her chess tourney today, well- all of the kindergartners brought home giant trophies. She had fun and is quite proud of herself. Needless to say, we were all pretty tired from the excitement of the day.

We hung around the house and I made some curried roasted cauliflower and some "shake n bake" style thinly sliced pork chops.

I combined:
1/2 C. panko
1 C. Italian bread crumbs
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt
pinch of black pepper

I dipped the chops in milk, then rolled them in the breading. I baked them in the oven at 450 on a foil lined cookie sheet for about 18 minutes. They were tasty, but not as crunchy as the "shake". I think if I were to add some cornmeal that would have crisped them up a bit. Try it and let me know.

Here is a delicious recipe for roasted curried cauliflower. I tend to go pretty light on the curry so my kids will eat it.

Preheat oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Cut cauliflower into quarters then quarter again. Arrange cauliflower on cookie sheet so they don't overlap.

Drizzle a little olive oil on the cauliflower, you can go light, it's just so the curry has something to adhere to.

Sprinkle about a teaspoon of curry over all of the cauliflower. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 18-20 minutes, The cauliflower browns beautifully and tastes great!

I have a chicken I am going to roast tomorrow night with carrots, shallots and celery.