US VegWeek 2014 — Take the Pledge!

I've been taking a little time away from the blog and enjoying my son's Spring Break, but I'm back! Take a look at this, read through it and consider joining me in the 7-Day VegPledge!

From USVegWeek.com:
Kicking off on Meatless Monday and the day before Earth Day, US VegWeek 2014 (April 21-27) is a weeklong celebration exploring the many benefits of vegetarian eating—for our health, the planet, and animals. This year’s celebration will be bigger and better than ever!

Restaurants are offering specials on delicious vegan fare; events from cooking demonstrations to movie screenings are being held throughout the country; and thousands of people nationwide — including elected officials — are taking the 7-Day VegPledge. After all, with 52 weeks in a year, why not make at least one meat-free?

So Good, So Good

I've been watching a lot of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, but "so good, so good" really fits this recipe. It's actually delicious and has the ability to be as spicy or mild as you'd like.

Vegetarian Korma from www.allrecipes.com

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1 small onion, diced                                          
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 4 carrots, cubed                                                
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced
• 3 tablespoons ground unsalted cashews
• 1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt                                                   
• 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream 
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until tender. Mix in ginger and garlic, and continue cooking 1 minute. Mix potatoes, carrots, jalapeno, cashews, and tomato sauce. Season with salt and curry powder. Cook and stir 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
2. Stir peas, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and cream into the skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Ground cashews? I thought that would be too much like flour, so I chopped them quite a bit. I think the dish would be good with larger cashew pieces as well. 

I felt like such a chef making this meal. Wasn't it beautiful while adding the ingredients? :)

Did I mention that this is so good? I used way less salt than called for, yellow peppers since I had those in the house, and based on some of the reviews I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream. I added the coconut milk in step 1 (another recommendation in the reviews) to help the potatoes cook. Ten minutes is not nearly long enough for that. I didn't have fresh cilantro either, but I served the meal with whole-wheat naan bread and brown rice. Yum. My son and I both really enjoyed this. The sad part is that Ron is out of town and not even here to be official taste tester! We have plenty of leftovers, so maybe he can have some tonight when he returns. The nutritional information on the allrecipes page shows tons of sodium, but mine is pretty low. Check your tomato sauce and also your frozen peas. Yes, sometimes, salt is added to frozen veggies! Good ingredients make a recipe good.

Here's the tomato sauce I use. If you don't mash your own tomatoes, this is the next best thing!

Action Item: I think I've said this before, but try allrecipes.com if you haven't already. I found this recipe using the "search by ingredient" option. I had yellow bell peppers and potatoes in the house that needed to be used, so I searched just with those two ingredients.

For Further Reading: I like to use Sun Brand Madras Curry Powder, but you can make your own if you don't have a favorite. Lots of recipes are out there, here's one to try.

(Patsy, if you've read this far... is this similar to the curry dish you made us long ago? It was one of Ron's favorites!)