Cauliflower Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

1 large cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
1 can of chick peas
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tsp fennel seeds
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup tomato passata (strained tomatoes)
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
3 tbsp creamed coconut

Directions 

Chop cauliflower into florets. Peel and thinly slice carrot.  Drain chickpeas.  Set aside the cauliflower, carrots, and chickpeas.

Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add fennel seeds and stir for for 1-2 minutes until aromatic.

Stir in the crushed garlic, ground turmeric, curry powder, tomato passata, and water. Bring just to a boil.

Stir in the cauliflower, carrots, and chick peas. Add salt to taste. Cover the skillet with lid and simmer over low heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Final step is to stir in the creamed coconut. Continue to simmer for approximately 5 minutes or until coconut cream is incorporated and the cauliflower is tender.  Check for salt and adjust accordingly.

Serve warm and enjoy! 

Plenty of Inspiration

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!  Today, I want to share with you my latest cookbook find...

This is the book Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi - a famous London chef, restaurant owner, and food columnist for the Guardian newspaper in London, UK.

I first heard about Yotam Ottolenghi from my dear friend, Rachel, who lives in England.  I know how much she adores Ottolenghi and his recipes, so when I saw this book for sale in the reprinted American edition, I had to have it! 

This cookbook contains 120 vegetarian recipes.  Although I am not a vegetarian, I do enjoy vegetarian dishes, so there is much inspiration here, even for meat lovers! 

Let me share some of what I've experimented with thus far...

Sweet Potato Wedges, pg. 26

Okay, seriously, these are to die for!  I've tried sweet potatoes all sorts of ways - baked, fried, mashed, cubed, etc., but this recipe is my favourite.  It is melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  Ottolenghi provides a recipe for a dipping sauce to go with these...I didn't have all the ingredients, so I used plain old mayonnaise and served them with oven-roasted back ribs.  YUM!

This is me preparing to roast aubergine (eggplant) in the oven according to Ottolenghi's instructions on page 110.  The Maldon sea salt I used for this recipe was a gift from another dear friend of mine.

Aubergine with buttermilk sauce pg. 110
I served these as an appetizer - before our main course.
I must say, Nuno (my husband) and I have never been too fond of aubergine in the past. 
Ottolenghi's recipe turned out delicious!  I am a newly converted fan of the eggplant!

I decided to roast eggplant again another night using Ottolenghi's method, but this time I turned this vegetarian dish into a meat-lover's dream...

I made my meaty tomato sauce to go with it and grated some fresh parmesan cheese over top.

Vegetarian meets meat-lover!

I am looking forward to experimenting with many other recipes in this new cookbook!  It is filled with PLENTY of inspiration! 

I will leave you with this photo of my backyard early this morning...

It's Spring here, but it hardly looks that way.  I am crossing my fingers that the sun comes out and melts all of this away.  Sending warm thoughts to you.  I hope the sun is shining wherever you are!  Enjoy the rest of the week!  xoxo